Ice racing - WikiHQ

right|thumb|[[Volkswagen Beetle racing on ice]]

Ice racing is a form of racing that uses cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, or other motorized vehicles. Ice racing takes place on frozen lakes or rivers, or on groomed frozen lots. As cold weather is a requirement for natural ice, it is usually found at higher latitudes in Canada, the northern United States, and in northern Europe, although limited indoor events are held in warmer climates, typically on ice hockey rinks (motorcycles and ATVs only). Tracks in North America vary from 1/4 mile to several mile-long (~400 m to several kilometer-long) circuits.

Track

Tracks used for ice racing include ovals and road courses.

In the UK, ice meetings have been staged at ice rinks. The longest running event, at Telford, features riders using conventional machines with spiked tires. In the late 1960s ice racing was staged at a number of rinks in Scotland and the machines used were rally-based machines with all season tires.

Tires

thumb|upright|Close-up of a studded tire

Ice racing tires are either studded or non-studded. Canada's national touring series is sanctioned by the Canadian Motorcycle Association.

Automobile ice racing

thumb|Studded tires on autos causing limited visibility

thumb|Automobile ice racing in the late 19th century.

Automobile ice races have been most successful in France, where the Trophée Andros series, sponsored by an industrial jam (fruit preserver) manufacturer attracts ex-F1 drivers like Alain Prost or Olivier Panis, manufacturer-backed entries of sophisticated 4WD cars and international television coverage. The Trophée Andros races mainly use damped snow (that is not very different from ice regarding car handling) tracks in French ski resorts with a final race on artificial ice in Paris Stade de France. The 2006 trophy includes one round in Andorra. On several occasions a round also took place in Canada, in the Canadian Challenge, which is held yearly and is the most notable Ice Racing event in North America.

In the 1960s and 1970s, there were two major Ice Racing Championships, the North American Ice Racing Championship and the European Ice Racing Championship. The North American was held in Anchorage, Alaska and their champions include Earl Bennett and Chuck Higgins, while Mexican Formula One driver Pedro Rodríguez won his class and an exhibition race in 1970, and was 2nd overall.

Elsewhere, ice racing has proven to be a largely recreational pastime. There is no professional ice-racing sanctioning body in North America,). Some amateur and professional dirt track and paved track racers use ice racing to hone their skills or to practice for the summer season. This same SS classing, although referred to as Super Stud or Studded class, by some American Clubs (such as the Anchorage Alaska Sports Car Lions Club) require any car running studded tires to meet at least IT rules and requires a roll cage and full safety gear. Some clubs even encourage people to ice-race their daily driver, and have strict no-contact rules to allow that safely.

In Russia there is a rally raid event, called the Northern Forest run on ice and snow in the last days of February in the outskirts of the city of St Petersburg. Also, in Russia there is popular winter track racing, where pilots race on short ice oval track, usually hippodromes, covered with ice during winter.

Conventional rallying also takes place on ice. Most notably, the tarmac of the Monte Carlo Rally is occasionally covered with snow and ice. The Sno*Drift rally in Michigan is another example of such events.

Race vehicle

There are many classes of racing vehicles. The racing vehicles are frequently divided into studded or non-studded tire classes. Nearly all dirt track racing vehicles could be raced on ice. Flying snow and ice powder limits visibility, so some vehicles are required to have a bright light, normally red or yellow, on the back of the car for greater visibility in the powder.

Motorcycle ice racing footage can be seen in the Bruce Brown documentary On Any Sunday.

Media

References

Popp, Dennis (1973) Ice Racing,
Trauttmansdorff, Ferd Ferd's Ice-Racing Stories