Motorcycle racing Totally Explained

Everything about Motorcycle Racing totally explained

Motorcycle racing (also known as Moto racing and Bike racing) is a motorcycle sport involving racing motorcycles. The FIM is the international sanctioning body for motorcycle racing and most nations have their own governing bodies. Other breakaway/independent bodies exist on both a national and an international level.

Categories

The FIM classifies motorcycle racing in the following four main categories. Each category has several sub categories.

Road racing

Road racing is the racing of motorcycles on tarmac. Races can take place either on purpose-built racing circuits or on closed public roads.

Motorcycle Grand Prix

cc, 250 cc and MotoGP. Grand prix motorcycles are purpose-built racing machines that are neither available for general purchase nor can be legitimately ridden on public roads.

Superbike racing

cc and 1200cc for twins, and between 750cc and 1000cc for four cylinder machines. The motorcycles must maintain the same profile as their roadgoing counterparts. The overall appearance, seen from the front, rear and sides, must correspond to that of the bike homologated for use on public roads.

Supersport racing

four-stroke engine of between 400 and 600cc for four-cylinder machines, and between 600 and 750 cc for twins, and must satisfy the FIM homologation requirements. Supersport regulations are much tighter than Superbikes. Supersport machines must remain largely as standard, while engine tuning is possible but tightly regulated.

Endurance racing

Endurance racing is a category of motorcycle road racing which is meant to test the durability of equipment and endurance of the riders. Teams of multiple riders attempt to cover a large distance in a single event. Riders are given the ability to change during the race. Endurance races can be run either to cover a set distance in laps as quickly as possible, or to cover as much distance as possible over a preset amount of time.

Sidecar racing

sidecar road racing. Older sidecar road racers generally resembled solo motorcycles with a platform attached, modern racing sidecars are purpose built low and long vehicles. In sidecar racing a rider and a passenger work together to make the machine perform.

True road racing

Motocross

Motocross has a plethora of classes based upon machine displacement (typically 125 cc/250Fcc MX2 or MX Lites and 250 cc/450Fcc MX1 or MX), age of competitor (typically for youth), sidecars, quads/ATVs, ability and machine age (classic for pre 1965/67, Twinshock for bikes with two shock absorbers, etc).

Supercross

Supermoto

The riding style on the tarmac section is noticeably different from other forms of tarmac-based racing, with different line in corners, sliding of the back wheel around the corner, and using the leg straight out to corner (as opposed to the noticeable touching of the bent knee to the tarmac of road racers).

Enduro and Cross-country

Enduro

There is a World Enduro Championship (WEC) that has events across Europe, with a few excursions to North America. The most significant event in the Enduro calendar is the International Six Day Enduro ISDE (formerly the ISDT), where countries enter teams of riders (for example Enduro's "World Cup"), as well as club teams - the event combines amateur sport with the professional level sport, it also takes place in a much more geographically dispersed range of locations.
In addition to traditional Time Card Enduros held over a long lap, a variety of other forms of sport have been taken up; notably "Short Course Enduros", a shorter (in lap length) form of Time Card Enduros Hare scrambles and "Hare and Hounds".

Cross-Country Rally

Cross-Country Rally are much bigger than enduros. Typically using larger bikes than other off road sports, these events take place over many days, travelling hundreds of miles across primarily open off road terrain. The most famous example is the Dakar Rally, travelling from Western Europe (often Paris) to Dakar in Senegal, via the Sahara desert, taking almost two weeks. A FIM World Rally championship also exists encompassing many events across the world, typically in desert nations. These events often run alongside "car" rallys (under the FIA).

Track racing

Track racing is a form of motorcycle racing where teams or individuals race opponents around an oval track. There are differing variants, with each variant racing on a different surface type.

Indoor Short Track and TT Racing

Indoor races consist of either a polished concrete floor with coke syrup or other media sprayed or mopped onto the concrete for traction for the tyres of the motorcycles, or on dirt that has been moistened and hard packed, or left loose often called a cushion. Motorcycles race on an oval track, or over a single jump with a right hand turn called a TT track. Similar to size of the Arenacross Arenas or sometimes smaller the riders must have accurate throttle control to negotiate these tight Indoor Race Tracks.

Speedway

dirt or loosely packed shale. Competitors use this surface to slide their machines sideways (powersliding or broadsiding) into the bends using the rear wheel to scrub-off speed while still providing the drive to power the bike forward and around the bend.

Grass Track

Long Track at world level), often on grass (although other surfaces exist) and even feature elevation changes. Machinery is very similar to a speedway bike (still no brakes, but normally two gears, etc).

Ice Speedway

Board track

Auto Race

Auto Race is a Japanese version of track racing held on an asphalt oval course and seen as a gambling sport.

Other categories

Drag Racing / Sprints

dragstrip with a signaled starting line. Upon the starting signal, the riders accelerate down a straight, quarter-mile long paved track where their elapsed time and terminal speed are recorded. The rider to reach the finish line first is the winner. This can occur upon purpose built venues (for example, Santa Pod), temporary venues (for example, runways or drives of country houses). In addition to "regular" motorcycles, top fuel motorcycles also compete in this category.

Hill Climb

Further Information

Get more info on 'Motorcycle Racing'.

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