Motorcycle racing
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| Two motorcycles racing at Lydden |
Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and bike racing) is a motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major genres include road racing and off road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.
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
Grand Prix motorcycle racing refers to the premier category of motorcycle road racing. It is divided into three distinct classes:
- 125 cc — Engines in this class are two-stroke. This class is also restricted by rider age, with an upper limit of 25 for newly signed riders and wild card entries and an absolute upper limit of 28 for all riders.
- Moto2 — Introduced by Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder of the competition, in 2010 as a 600 cc four-stroke class. Prior to that season, the intermediate class was 250 cc with two-stroke engines. Moto2 races in the 2010 season will allow both engine types; from 2011 on, only the four-stroke Moto2 machines will be allowed in this class.
- MotoGP — 800 cc four-stroke.
Grand prix motorcycles are prototype machines not based on any production motorcycle.
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| MotoGP racing |
Superbike racing
Superbike racing is a category of motorcycle road racing that employs modified production motorcycles. Superbike racing motorcycles must have four stroke engines of between 800 cc and 1200 cc for twins, and between 750 cc and 1000 cc 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.
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| Super bike racing |
Supersport racing is another category of motorcycle road racing that employs modified production motorcycles. To be eligible for Supersport racing, a motorcycle must have a four-stroke engine of between 400 and 600 cc for four-cylinder machines, and between 600 and 750 cc for twins, and must satisfy the FIM homologationrequirements. Supersport regulations are much tighter than Superbikes. Supersport machines must remain largely as standard, while engine tuning is possible but tightly regulated.
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| Super sport racing |
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| Endurance racing |
True road racin
True road racing is run on tracks built from closed public and/or park roads and sometimes extra pieces of purpose built track. In the past true road racing was very commonplace but today few races have survived and even fewer have been added. Only one truly international championship exists at present by the name of “International Road Racing Championship” (IRRC). Most races are held within Europe. Irelandis probably the country with the most true road racing circuits still in use. The Isle of Man probably has the most tracks per inhabitant or surface area. Other countries where true road races are held are the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain (though due to law only outside England or in parks), the Czech Republic, New Zealand and Macau
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| Road racing on temporiary |
Motocross (or MX) is the direct equivalent of road racing, but off road, a number of bikes racing on a closed circuit. Motocross circuits are constructed on a variety of non-tarmac surfaces such as dirt, sand, mud, grass, etc., and tend to incorporate elevation changes either natural or artificial. Advances in motorcycle technology, especially suspension, have led to the predominance of circuits with added “jumps” on which bikes can get airborne. Motocross has another noticeable difference from road racing, in that starts are done en masse, with the riders alongside each other. Up to 40 riders race into the first corner, and sometimes there is a separate award for the first rider through (see holeshot). The winner is the first rider across the finish line, generally after a given amount of time or laps or a combination.
Motocross has a plethora of classes based upon machine displacement (ranging from 50cc 2-stroke youth machines up to 250cc 2-stroke and 450cc 4-stroke), age of competitor, ability of competitor, sidecars, quads/ATVs, and machine age (classic for pre 1965/67, Twinshock for bikes with two shock absorbers, etc).
Supermoto
Supermoto is a racing category that is a crossover between road-racing and motocross. The motorcycles are mainly motocross types with road-racing tyres. The racetrack is a mixture of road and dirt courses (in different proportions) and can take place either on closed circuits or in temporary venues (such as urban locations).
The riding style on the tarmac section is noticeably different from other forms of tarmac-based racing, with a 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).
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| Super motor rider |
Drag Racing / Sprints
Drag racing and/or sprints is a racing venue where two participants line up at a 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 (e.g., Santa Pod), temporary venues (e.g., runways or drives of country houses). In addition to “regular” motorcycles, top fuel motorcycles also compete in this category.
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| Drag racing |
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