A Beginner’s Guide to Motorsports

by Henry Su

If you were to ask the average American what they knew about “racing”, likely, NASCAR would be what comes to mind, along with rednecks and Southern pride. Although NASCAR is closely coupled with the American motorsport identity, the art of making something go fast is celebrated the world over in tons of diverse, exciting forms. From endurance racing in France to rally at Pikes Peak and drifting championships in Japan, professional racing leagues attract the world’s best drivers in a bid to win fame, glory, and perhaps even a championship title. 

World Rally Championship

Considered by some the most skill-intensive of racing disciplines, rally involves driving from point A to point B as fast as possible. Sounds easy, right? But throw in dirt, trees, rocks, and winding roads of the world’s most unpredictably dangerous locales, and give drivers one make-or-break shot with no practice runs, and suddenly you’ve come up with man’s rebuttal to the relative monotony of road driving: professional rally. Modified road legal cars are pushed to their absolute limits as drivers navigate long courses in events hand-picked for their beauty and danger. The only aid afforded to a rally driver is their trusty co-driver in the cockpit. Since courses are often dozens of miles long with hundreds, if not thousands, of treacherous turns and deceitful banking, and drivers often have no idea what may lie ahead, a co-driver navigates using pace notes in real time. The potential of a spectacular accident is never more than a few feet away on each side. This all adds up to create a feeling of raw intensity WRC fans love. Some of the most legendary drivers in the racing mythos are forged in the fires of professional rally.

World Endurance Championship

    If you’ve ever been involved in a long road trip, you may be familiar with the sheer endurance required to drive eight hours on the interstate. The endurance racing of the WEC revels in that grueling sensation of being trapped behind the wheel and throws in wheel-to-wheel overtakes along with some of the world’s fastest cars being pushed to their absolute limits for hours on end to spice things up. Championship races range from a “short” four hours to the famously brutal 24 Hours of Le Mans. Teams are responsible for building a car that can handle the demand of each corner on track being taken hundreds of times at speed, as well as training drivers to race at peak performance for hours at a time. WEC teams also spark innovation in production cars, as parts built to last under extreme stress often are well suited to use in consumer vehicles. Pit stops often swap out drivers with replacements driving long stints and fixing parts that may have worn out or broken on track in the shortest time possible. With starting grids involving 30+ cars in four classes racing simultaneously, endurance, precision, and adaptability from drivers and teams alike is the name of the game. Supercars from Ferrari and Aston Martin in the GTE-Am race against futuristic prototypes in LMP1, and dozens of overtakes per race require careful maneuvering from every driver on the track. The WEC is widely regarded as the proving ground for some of the most focused and disciplined drivers in racing as a whole. 

Formula 1

Formula 1 is renowned the world over as the “purest form” of racing. F1 boasts the world’s fastest cars, the world’s flashiest drivers, and a storied history spanning seventy years of championships. Huge investments, stringent regulations, and close competition define the spectacle of the F1 “traveling circus”. In the calendar year, Formula 1 travels to the world’s most famous auto circuits in countries around the world, from Canada to Singapore, and is broadcasted to millions of fans worldwide. With two drivers each representing ten teams, the grid represents the very best drivers in motorsport. F1 runs two championships during the season: the World Drivers’ Championship, awarding the most successful drivers, and the World Constructors’ Championship, crowning the most consistently delivering team. Loyal fans follow their favorite constructor or driver through trials and tribulations as the season evolves. Fifty-five lap races often see drivers on the podium within seconds of each others’ times.

Although F1 is a complicated marriage of variables, the three main factors at play are the team, the car, and the driver, and each facet has a huge effect on the performance of the others. Teams are responsible for soliciting the funding necessary to remain competitive, with the top budgets reaching in excess of $450 million. Teams’ pit crews manage pit stops, swapping out four tyres in two blindingly fast seconds. They also manage the extensive R&D behind creating the insanely fast open-wheel track monsters the sport is so famous for. Cars are some of the most technical creations ever to put wheel to asphalt as each year compounds the innovations of the last to push the envelope of what is possible in a land vehicle. Each component must be engineered to incredible specifications and are often swapped out or modified from week to week to meet the challenges of the next track on the calendar. Finally, drivers are held to the utmost standard of skill and endurance, fighting with their cars at 200+mph speeds through sickening turns, often under many Gs of lateral force, for the duration of the race. Drivers are also the faces of their teams, and throughout the years of racing, amidst trackside tragedies and furious rivalries, have accrued personal glory and flown the banner of their team to forge a lasting legacy. Drivers like Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Kimi Raikonnen, and Lewis Hamilton have fought incredible battles on the track, and earned recognition as legendary national icons. The sheer spectacle of Formula 1, with all its champagne spraying at the podium, espionage scandals, and driver drama has established it at the forefront of motorsporting worldwide.

    Although these are only three of the dozens of professional championships held year-round, they demonstrate some of the highest levels of skilled driving that the sport has to offer. The adrenaline rush of watching a car pound down the circuit or leap from the crest of a dirt trail on the Isle of Man is hard to beat. Racing is a rabbit hole: the more you watch, the more excitement there is to discover.