Motorcycle racing
Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and bike racing) is the 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 sport of racing motorcycles on hard surfaces resembling roads, usually paved with tarmac. Races can take place either on purpose-built racing circuits or on closed public roads.
Traditional road racing
Historically, "road racing" meant a course on closed public road. This was once commonplace but currently only a few such circuits have survived, mostly in Europe. Races take place on publics roads which have been temporarily closed to the public by legal orders from the local legislature. Two championships exist, the first is the International Road Racing Championship, the other is the Duke Road Racing Rankings. The latter accounts for the majority of road races that take place each season, with an award for the highest placed rider. Prominent road races include the Isle of Man TT, North West 200 and the Ulster Grand Prix. Ireland has many road racing circuits still in use. Other countries with road races are the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, New Zealand and Macau.
