Top 35 Greatest Auto Racing Events In The World

AUTO RACING (also known as car racing, motor racing or automobile racing) is a sport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. There are numerous different categories of auto racing.

Auto Racing News, Reviews & Resources

• Auto racing - Wikipedia.
• beginner's guide to... the Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend - "As the fastest, most technically advanced motorsport on the planet, Formula 1 can seem extremely complex. But if you’re a new fan of the sport, there’s absolutely nothing to fear as we can explain it all in our beginner’s guide. Here’s everything you need to know about the Formula 1 race weekend..." Formula 1.
• Dakar 2022: An Exclusive Pre-Race Look Behind The Scenes With Can-Am - "It’s December 31 and South Racing Can-Am has just wrapped their preparations for the start of Dakar 2022, a monumental race known for pushing competitors mentally and physically over 7,000 kilometers over a span of almost two weeks. This year marks the 44th year of the race and its third year in Saudi Arabia."
• Goodwood brings glorious end to English social season - "A peek inside Britain's secret garden party."
• Inside the East African Safari Classic, one of the world's gnarliest motor rallies - "'It's just about you, the road and your maker'."
• Safari Rally - rally held in Kenya. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1960 it was renamed the East African Safari Rally and kept that name until 1974, when it became the Safari Rally. Widely regarded as one of the most popular African rallies, it was set to make a return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2020 after an 18-year hiatus, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead making its return in 2021.

Top 35 Greatest Auto Racing Events

• 2024 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RACE CALENDAR | F1 Schedule 2024 - "Formula 1 has announced the calendar for the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship, approved by the World Motor Sport Council. The calendar features 24 races and begins in Bahrain on March 2 and finishes in Abu Dhabi on December 8. Click on any Formula 1 race from the 2024 season Grand Prix calendar today for results, reports and highlights, plus full details of the F1 schedule, with dates, times and the full weekend program."
• From cutting curfews to grid penalties - 10 rule changes you need to know about for the 2023 F1 season - "While F1’s rules are remaining largely the same in 2023 following last year’s major reset, there are still technical and sporting changes of note for the campaign ahead, as we explain in our pre-season rundown..." Formula 1.
• Formula 1 announces calendar for 2024 - "The calendar features 24 races and begins in Bahrain on March 2 and finishes in Abu Dhabi on December 8."
• Three key stand outs from the 2024 F1 calendar - "The season begins with two Saturday races. Races move position to support regionalisation. Formula 1 set for bumper 24-race calendar."
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• 24 HOURS OF LE MANS - world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France.
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• Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - the 19th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was announced in early 2007 at the Abu Dhabi F1 Festival in the United Arab Emirates. The first race took place on November 1, 2009, held at the Hermann Tilke designed Yas Marina Circuit. The inaugural race was Formula One's first ever day-night race, starting at 17:00 local time. Floodlights used to illuminate the circuit were switched on from the start of the event to ensure a seamless transition from daylight to darkness. Subsequent Abu Dhabi Grands Prix have also been day-night races. (21-23 November, 2014).
• Astor Cup Race - (1915-).
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• Australian Grand Prix - the 1st race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Rolex Australian Grand Prix. Motor race held annually in Australia. The Grand Prix is the oldest surviving motor racing competition held in Australia having been held 77 times since it was first run at Phillip Island in 1928. Since 1985 the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is now held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit at Albert Park in Melbourne. (14-16 March, 2014).
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• Austrian Grand Prix - the 8th race of the Formula One calendar. Formula One race held in 1964, 1970–1987 and 1997–2003. The Grand Prix is set to be revived at the Red Bull Ring during the 2014 Formula One season. (20-22 June, 2014).
• AUZRUN - "Australia's first and Australias only open road rally."
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• Bahrain Grand Prix - the 3rd race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. Formula One Championship race in Bahrain sponsored by Gulf Air. The first race took place at the Bahrain International Circuit on 4 April 2004. It made history as the first Formula One Grand Prix to be held in the Middle East, and was given the award for the "Best Organised Grand Prix" by the FIA. (4-6 April, 2014).
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• Belgian Grand Prix - the 12th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Shell Belgian Grand Prix. (Dutch: Grote Prijs van België, French: Grand Prix de Belgique, German: Großer Preis von Belgien) is an automobile race, part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race of Belgium was held in 1925 at the Spa region's race course, an area of the country that had been associated with motor sport since the very early years of racing. To accommodate Grand Prix motor racing, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps race course was built in 1921 but it was only used for motorcycle racing until 1924. After the 1923 success of the new 24 hours of Le Mans in France, the Spa 24 Hours, a similar 24 hour endurance race, was run at the Spa track. Since inception, Spa-Francorchamps has been known for its unpredictable weather. At one stage in its history it had rained at the Belgian Grand Prix for twenty years in a row. Frequently drivers confront a part of the course that is clear and bright while another stretch is rainy and slippery. It is one of the most popular races on the Formula One calendar, due to the scenic and historical Spa-Francorchamps circuit being a favorite of drivers and fans. (22-24 August, 2014).
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• Brazilian Grand Prix - the 18th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Grande Prêmio do Brasil. Formula One championship race which occurs at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos, a district in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. (7-9 November, 2014).
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• British Grand Prix - the 9th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Santander British Grand Prix. Race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The British and Italian Grands Prix are the oldest continuously staged Formula One World Championship Grands Prix. (4-6 July, 2014).
• BULLRUN LIVE RALLY - the most glamorous and high profile of the new breed of high-end luxury lifestyle automotive rallies. Each year, a hundred of the world's finest super-cars embark on an epic eight-day rolling party across the U.S.A.
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• Canadian Grand Prix - the 7th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Grand Prix du Canada. (Known in French as the Grand Prix du Canada) is an annual auto race held in Canada starting in 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario as a sports car event before it alternated between Mosport and Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Quebec after Formula One took over the event. After 1971 safety concerns led to the Grand Prix moving permanently to Mosport. In 1978, after similar safety concerns with Mosport the Canadian Grand Prix moved to its current home on Île Notre-Dame in Montreal. (6-8 June, 2014).
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• Chinese Grand Prix - the 4th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: UBS Chinese Grand Prix. A round of the Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, designed by Hermann Tilke. When completed in 2004, it was the most expensive Formula One circuit facility, costing $240 million. The track is 5.451 km long and features one of the trickiest corners combinations on the Formula One calendar, comparable to that of Istanbul Park's turn 8, also designed by Tilke. Turn 1 and 2 are a very demanding 270 degree, right-handed corner combination that requires a lot of speed whilst entering and it tightens up towards the end. (18-20 April, 2014).
• Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix - since 2001. Vintage motor sports car race held annually on the grounds of Fælledparken in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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• DAKAR RALLY - (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as "The Paris–Dakar" or "Paris to Dakar Rally"). Since 1979. Annual Dakar Series rally raid type of off-road race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, but due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, the 2009 Dakar Rally was run in South America (Argentina and Chile). It was the first time the race took place outside of Europe and Africa. It has stayed in South America from 2009 to the present (2013). The race is open to amateur and professional entries. Amateurs typically make up about eighty percent of the participants.
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• East Africa Safari Classic Rally - "First run in 2003, the legendary East Africa Safari Classic Rally is a nine-day rally covering up to 5,000km across the region. Safari Classic rekindles the spirit of the original Safari Rally, which put East Africa on the motorsport map and earned an unassailable reputation as the world's toughest rally."
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• European Grand Prix - the 8th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe. (Sometimes referred to as the Grand Prix of Europe) is a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held regularly from 1999 until 2012. The most recent host venue for this event was the Valencia Street Circuit in Valencia, Spain, hosting the race from 2008 until 2012. The race was removed from the calendar in 2013. In 2016 the race will return, being run on a street circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Fri 17 – Sun 19 Jun 2016).
• FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RACE CALENDAR 2022 - "F1 Schedule 2021 - Official Calendar of Grand Prix Races." A 23-race F1 calendar for 2022, including the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Click on any GP for full F1 schedule details, dates, times & full weekend program. Imola and Australia subject to FIA WMSC approval.
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• German Grand Prix - the 10th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Großer Preis von Deutschland. Annual automobile race that has been held most years since 1926, with 73 races presently having been held. The race has had a remarkably stable history for one of the older Grands Prix, having been held at just three different venues throughout its life; the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg and on odd occasion AVUS near Berlin. The race continued to be known as the German Grand Prix, even through the era when the race was held in West Germany. (Cancelled).
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• Goodwood Festival of Speed - since 1993. "The largest motoring garden party in the world." Annual hill climb featuring historic motor racing vehicles that is held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, U.K.
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• GUMBALL 3000 - since 1999. Annual British 3,000-mile (4,800 km) international road rally which takes place on public roads, with a different route around the world each year. Founded in 1999 by Maximillion Cooper, it sees an annual entry of 120 cars, which are mostly exotic and powerful sports cars. However, more unusual entries (such as police cars and camper-vans) have been seen. The Rally is not a serious race in the traditional sense of rally races - there are no prizes for being fastest or official timekeeping of any sort. Organizers emphasize that it is a road trip adventure and not a race.
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• Historic Grand Prix of Monaco - May 9-11, 2014. Circuit of Monte-Carlo. Organized by the Automobile Club de Monaco since 1997, the Historic Grand Prix is a "biennial" event that takes place two weeks before the Formula 1 Grand Prix.
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• Hungarian Grand Prix - the 11th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Magyar Nagydíj. First held on June 21, 1936 over a 3.1-mile (5.0 km) track laid out in Népliget, a park in Budapest. The Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union, and Ferrari teams all sent three cars and the event drew a very large crowd. However, politics and the ensuing war meant the end of Grand Prix motor racing in the country for fifty years. A major coup by Bernie Ecclestone, the 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix was the first Formula One race to take place behind the Iron Curtain. Held at the twisty Hungaroring in Mogyoród near Budapest, the race has been a mainstay of the racing calendar. Run in the heat of a central European summer, it also held the distinction of being the only current Grand Prix venue that had never seen a wet race up until the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. (25-27 July, 2014).
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• Indian Grand Prix - the 16th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Airtel Indian Grand Prix. (Sometimes referred to as the Grand Prix of India) is a motor race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship currently being held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida near New Delhi. The first event took place on 30 October 2011 as the 17th race of the 2011 Formula One season. (25-27 October, 2013).
• INDIANAPOLIS 500 - American automobile race, held annually over the Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The event lends its name to the IndyCar class, or formula, of open-wheel race cars that have competed in it. The event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is considered one of the three most significant motorsports events in the world.
• INDYCAR - name of an American-based open-wheel auto racing sanctioning body. IndyCar sanctions three racing series, the premier IZOD IndyCar Series (often abbreviated ICS or IICS) with its centerpiece Indianapolis 500, and developmental series Firestone Indy Lights and the U.S. F2000 National Championship, which are both a part of The Road To Indy.
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• Italian Grand Prix - the 13th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Gran Premio d'Italia. One of the longest running events on the motor racing calendar. The first Italian Grand Prix motor racing championship took place on 4 September 1921 at Brescia. However, the race is more closely associated with the course at Monza, which was built in 1922 in time for that year's race, and has been the location for most of the races over the years. (5-7 September, 2014).
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• Japanese Grand Prix - the 15th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Japanese Grand Prix. Race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Traditionally one of the last, if not the last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix has been the venue for many title-deciding races, with 13 World Champions being crowned over the 27 World Championship Japanese Grands Prix that have been hosted. The first two Japanese Grands Prix in 1976 and 1977 were held at the Fuji Speedway, before Japan was taken off the calendar. It returned in 1987 at Suzuka, which hosted the Grand Prix exclusively for 20 years and gained a reputation as one of the most challenging F1 circuits. In 2007 the Grand Prix moved back to the newly redesigned Fuji Speedway. After a second race at Fuji in 2008, the race returned to Suzuka in 2009. The Japanese Grand Prix was supposed to continue alternating between Fuji Speedway and Suzuka Circuit, owned by perennial rivals Toyota and Honda, respectively. There had been speculation that both tracks would host Grands Prix, with the readoption of the Pacific Grand Prix moniker used by the TI Circuit when it hosted Grands Prix in 1994 and 1995. The race made Japan one of only six countries to host more than one Grand Prix in the same season (the others being Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy and the USA). It was discontinued primarily due to its location in a remote area of Japan. (3-5 October, 2014).
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• Korean Grand Prix - the 14th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Korean Grand Prix. Formula One race held in South Korea. After months of speculation, on October 2, 2006 it was confirmed that the event would actually take place in 2010, and would be hosted by the Korea International Circuit. It has also been revealed that the race will be promoted by a public-private company. The deal is for seven years with a five year option that would ensure the race to be held until 2021. (4-6 October, 2013).
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• Malaysia Grand Prix - the 2nd race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix. First included in the Formula One World Championship in 1999, the current Malaysian Grand Prix is held at the Sepang International Circuit at Sepang, Malaysia. FIA-sanctioned racing in Malaysia has existed since the 1960s. From 2011, the race has changed its name to the Malaysia Grand Prix. (28-30 March, 2014).
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• Mille Miglia - (Thousand Miles) was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before the war, eleven from 1947). The race was banned after two fatal crashes. The first was the crash of a 4.2-litre Ferrari 335 S in 1957 that took the lives of the Spanish driver Alfonso de Portago, his co-driver/navigator Edmund Nelson, and nine spectators, at the village of Guidizzolo. The car supposedly landed on top of Portago and Nelson cutting them in half. Five of the spectators killed were children, all of whom were standing along the race course. Portago desperately wanted to win this race and waited too long to make a tire change. The crash was caused by a worn tire. The manufacturer was blamed and sued for this, as was the Ferrari team. Since 1977, the "Mille Miglia" has been reborn as a regularity race for classic and vintage cars. Participation is limited to cars, produced no later than 1957, which had attended (or were registered) to the original race. The route (Brescia-Rome round trip) is similar to that of the original race, maintaining the point of departure / arrival in Viale Venezia in Brescia.
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• Monaco Grand Prix - the 6th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Grand Prix de Monaco. A Formula 1 race held each year on the Circuit de Monaco. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the world, alongside the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (informally known as the Triple Crown of Motorsport). (22-25 May, 2014).
• RALLYE MONTE-CARLO - since 1911.
• RALLYE MONTE-CARLO HISTORIQUE - since 1998
• ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA - formerly known as the 24 Hours of Daytona, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on a 3.56-mile (5.73 km) combined road course.
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• Russian Grand Prix - the 16th race of the Formula One calendar. Grand Prix motor race briefly held in the 1910s in St. Petersburg. It is expected that on the 100th anniversary of the last Russian Grand Prix, a new round of the Formula One World Championship will join the calendar in 2014. After several decades of attempting to re-establish the race, Bernie Ecclestone and the head of Krasnodarsky Krai Development Technologies Sharing Centre Mikhail Kapirulin officially signed a contract in attendance of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin for the race to be run in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on a yet to be constructed Olympic Park Circuit. (10-12 October, 2014).
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• Singapore Grand Prix - the 16th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix. Motor race on the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The event takes place in Singapore on the Marina Bay Street Circuit and was the inaugural F1 night race and the first street circuit in Asia. (September 20, 2020).
• Spa 24 Hours - endurance racing event held annually in Belgium at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
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• Spanish Grand Prix - the 5th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: Gran Premio de España. (Catalan: Gran Premi d'Espanya). Formula One race, that as of 2013, will alternate every year between the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona and the Valencia Street Circuit in Valencia, Spain. (9-11 May, 2014).
• TARGA FLORIO - open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near Palermo. Founded in 1906, it used to be the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Championship until 1973. After 1973, it was a national sports car event until it was discontinued in 1977 due to safety concerns. It is since run as a rallying event, and is part of the Campionato Italiano Rally, the Italian national rally championship.
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• United States Grand Prix - the 17th race of the Formula One calendar. Race title: United States Grand Prix. Motor race which has been run on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The race later became part of the Formula One World Championship. Over 42 editions, the race has been held at ten locations, most recently in 2012 at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. (31 October - 2 November, 2014).
• Vanderbilt Cup Race - (1904-1968/1996-2007).