Ring racing is a general term for most types of automobile and motorcycle racing, conducted on specially built racing tracks (racetracks) with an even hard surface. The name is due to the fact that during the competition a car ( motorcycle ) moves along a closed path (“ring”), in contrast to such disciplines as rally , rally raids , climbing a hill , drag racing , etc., where a participant moves between given points. However, some types of competitions held on a closed path ( rally-cross , karting ), traditionally do not belong to the circuit races.
Cars (motorbikes) designed for circuit racing are usually specially prepared for driving on a flat surface that provides good grip and, as a result, high lateral accelerations. As in other motorsport disciplines, such cars (motorcycles) are divided into classes or test groups. Examples of such classes in motorsport are Formula 1 , Formula 2 , Formula 3 , GP2 , GP3 , GT1 , GT2 , GT3 , in Russia - Touring, Legends , Super Production , Mittet and others. Examples of competitions (championships, cups, trophies) for ring races: “Formula 1 Grand Prix”, “FIA GT1”, “FIA GT2”, “FIA European Truck Racing Championship”, in Russia - “Russian Cup in the Legends class”, “Russian Championship in the class” Touring ”“, “Cup of Russia in the Mittet class ” , etc. In motor sports: “ MotoGP ” abroad, in Russia - the Russian Championship on road-ring motor racing (RSBK).
Series of ring racing competitions, as a rule, combine several racing classes that participate in races in turn during the race weekend. Classes within the series can be peer-to-peer (an example is the “Russian Super Series” combining the Mitget, Legends and Lada Grant classes), or have a pronounced emphasis on one of the classes (an example is “Formula 1 Grand Prix”), according to to which the rest are “support races”. Sometimes several classes that are close in speed are combined in one race, for example, “24 hours of the Nurburgring” (more than 10 classes), in Russia, “Touring” and “Super-Production” within the framework of the Russian Series of Ring Races.
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Terminology
Autodrom - a closed, fenced area with characteristic structures used for competitions. As a rule, a race complex is a whole complex of structures intended for both the placement and maintenance of racing equipment, and for the reception of spectators. Modern racetracks, in addition to the track, include a paddock , parking lots, pit building (technical boxes), stands] a race control tower, a hospitality center and other facilities.
A racetrack is a route, as applied to circuit races, limited by white lines along which cars move during a competition.
Track - a racetrack designed or adapted for car racing, with safety structures, including curbs, departure areas, energy-absorbing and stopping fences and nets.
Ring track - a closed track starting and ending at one point.
History
Car racing began almost immediately after the creation of cars equipped with gasoline internal combustion engines . The first organized competitions were held on April 28, 1887 in France along the Neuilly Bridge - Bois de Boulogne route. The first race, in which the participants started simultaneously, took place in 1895 ( Paris - Bordeaux - Paris, 1178 km). The first organized series of competitions can be considered the "Speed Week", held in Nice , France, at the end of March 1897, where most of the existing racing disciplines were collected, including climbing a hill and sprint. The first international competitions, that is, those in which, in addition to the individual standings, the standings of the participating countries appeared - the Gordon Bennett Cup.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the first stationary race tracks appeared. They provided more comfort and were safer for spectators than racing on public roads. The oldest racetrack in the world is Milwaukee Mie (USA, Wisconsin), opened in 1903. True, before that, it was used for equestrian sport. Therefore, his championship is disputed by the British Brooklands race track, specially built for motorsport in 1907 in the center of the British aircraft industry, where the Vickers factory and airfield were located. The construction of this facility marked the beginning of the tradition of locating racetracks near or at the site of air bases and airports. After World War II, most British racing tracks were built on this principle. In Russia, a typical example is the ADM Autodrome (Myachkovo) , the construction of which at the prepared site of the same-named airfield made it possible to significantly reduce costs. At the end of the 40s, racing rings were organized organizationally, which today are among the most commercially successful sports enterprises in the world: NASCAR in the USA and Formula 1 in Europe.
In the USSR
In the Baltic states, ring races began to develop even before its accession to the USSR. On the Estonian Pirita-Kose-Kloostrimetsa highway, the first motorcycle races took place in 1933, and car races in 1934. In 1938, the Mezapark opened near Riga ; since the 1930s, races have been held near Pärnu (Estonia). Since 1961, the Luzhniki Stadium has been used in Moscow for circuit racing in Moscow; however, after the fatal accident of Rudolf Goldin in 1965, races were banned there. In St. Petersburg, ring races have been held since 1958 near the Kirov Stadium on the Nevskoye Ring circuit. The first Soviet sports complex, specially built for ring racing, is considered the in Bikernieki forest (Latvia, 1965). The second stationary circuit - "The Seagull " near Kiev (1975). The last such project was carried out in Georgia near the capital ( Rustavi Autodrom ), and this is so far the only one of the Soviet routes reconstructed according to modern requirements of the FIA (2010-2011).
In Russia
After the collapse of the USSR, all stationary racetracks ended up outside the borders of Russia. Ring races resumed in 1994 on the temporary city highway "Sparrow Hills" in front of the building of Moscow State University. Lomonosov , the organizer was a private company ASPAS. In 1995, ring races are held on the roads of the NAMI testing ground near Dmitrov , then the reconstruction of the Nevsky Ring begins. In 1998, the Tolyatti-Ring city highway was opened, while an asphalt racing track was laid out on the airfield of the Khodynka airfield . The 1999 Russian Championship is held in six stages on three routes - Togliatti Ring, Khodynka - Moscow Ring and Nevsky Ring, the Russian Cup has 3 stages. Classes of racing formulas (national Formula 1600 and Formula Russia, international Formula 3) and body classes (Touring, Volkswagen Polo Cup) are developing. In 2001, Khodynka was closed due to the beginning of residential development, and the Moscow stages were transferred to the Vorobyovy Gory. At the same time, the first configuration of the race track is being built at the Myachkovo airfield . In 2006, the Nevsky Ring was closed in connection with the reconstruction of the stadium. Kirov. Myachkovo is being rebuilt according to the requirements of the FIA Category III. Upon completion of the reconstruction, the ADM highway in Myachkovo for two years becomes the country's only autodrome. Since 2005, the Russian ring classes have been divided into two series - the “Russian Super Series” , which includes “formulas” and sports prototypes , and the Russian Touring Car Championship , which combined most of the body classes. In 2007, the second stationary route of Russia, the Red Ring, opened in Krasnoyarsk . In 2008, the Northern European Cup ( FIA NEZ ) in the Formula 3 class takes place for the first time in Myachkovo. The international class Legends is appearing in Russia. Due to financial problems, Formula Russia and Formula 3 championships are closing. In 2009, the construction of the Smolenskoye Ring and Nizhniy Novgorod Ring stationary routes is completed. In 2010, the international truck race (stage of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship ) was held for the first time at the Smolensk Ring. Championship of Russia 2009—2011 only available in body classes as part of the RTCC series. In 2011, the Russian Super Series includes two new classes - Mitjet and Lada Granta . In August 2011, all classes of the Super Series receive the status of the Cup of Russia.