Formula One

Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motor sport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name is a set of rules which all participants and cars must meet. The F1 world championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held usually on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers and one for constructors.

It is a massive television event, with millions of people watching each race in 200 countries. The cars race at high speeds, often greater than 320 km/h (200 mph) and are capable of pulling up to 6 g in some corners. The performance of the cars is highly dependent on electronics, aerodynamics, suspension and tires. The formula has seen many evolutions and changes through the history of the sport.

Europe is Formula One's traditional centre and remains its leading market. However, Grands Prix are held all over the world and, with new races in Bahrain, China, Malaysia, Turkey and the United States since 1999, its scope continues to expand with India being added to the schedule starting in 2010. Of the 17 races in 2007, 9 are outside Europe. As the world's most expensive sport, its economic effect is significant, and its financial and political battles are widely observed. Its high profile and popularity makes it an obvious merchandising environment, which leads to very high investments from sponsors, translating into extremely high budgets for the constructor teams. In recent years several teams have gone bankrupt or been bought out by other companies.

The sport is regulated by the FIA. Formula One's commercial rights are vested in the Formula One Group.

A1 Grand Prix

A1 Grand Prix) is an open-wheel auto racing series. It is unique in its field in that competitors represent their nation as opposed to a constructor, which is traditional in most formula racing series including Formula One. As such, it is often promoted as the World Cup of Motorsport. The series is ratified and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l' Automobile (FIA), and races (collectively known as A1GP World Cup of Motorsport) are held in the traditional Formula One off season, the northern hemisphere winter.

The A1GP formula provides for one car to be delivered to each team. Each such car is mechanically identical, built with many technical restrictions designed to limit performance, reduce running costs, and prevent any one or number of teams gaining an advantage through better equipment. This regulation provides a level playing field in which it is hoped driver skill and team effort becomes the primary factor for success.

Specifically, the cars have a 600 kg monocoque chassis designed by Lola and model-370/660R13 slick tires from Cooper. Zytek provide a performance-limited 3.4 litre V8 engine, however its performance limitation can be overcome by the driver pressing a button on their steering wheel. This so-called boost button or overtake button increases the engine output, revs and horsepower while the accelerator remains depressed, increasing speed and facilitating easier overtaking. The overtake button may only be used a limited number of times in each race, which is pre-programmed beforehand and identical for each car.

A1 Grands Prix of Nations take place over a three-day period, from Friday to Sunday. The teams are given five sets of dry weather slick tires, and two sets of wet weather treaded tires per weekend. However, if the weather is extreme, the team can be given more wet weather tires at the expense of the slick tires. The race weekend starts with two one-hour practice sessions held on the Friday, and then another on the Saturday morning. A two-hour qualifying session takes place on Saturday afternoon, and two races take place on Sunday. Primarily, the three practice sessions are for car setup and track familiarisation before the official competition begins with Saturday qualifying. Three different drivers may participate in the three practice sessions; the driver elected for qualifying or for one of the races must have taken part in at least one such practice session.

Team TVS Racing

In the highly competitive automobile industry in India, TEAM TVS RACING has emerged as the undisputed two wheeler leader. TVS Motor Company is strongly committed to Motor Racing, in India. Participation in Motor Racing is a logical extension of the product development and testing process of the company.

June 10, 07, Baroda: In what was evidently a nail biting round of the MRF Supercross championship, team TVS Racing continued their winning June 10, 07, Baroda: In what was evidently a nail biting round of the MRF Supercross championship, team TVS Racing continued their winning momentum at the Round 3 of the National Supercross held in Baroda this morning. The prestigious ‘Foreign Open’ class was the most gripping and engaging round playing decider to who would top championship points, after the gruesome tie of 71 points that C S Santosh managed at Round 2 in Coimbatore against Karan Kadam, both riders from TVS Racing. Both Moto 1 and Moto 2 were won by the ever stylish C S Santosh who achieved top honors and went ahead in championship points achieving 111 points Vs Karan Kadam who now trails at 106 points..
‘Moto 1’ of the Foreign Open Class, which had a sensational start saw TVS Racing’s C S Santosh lead the pack followed by Karan Kadam right from the very first turn. The ever charged Baroda fans saw their favorite TVS Racing rider Karan Kadam loosing balance on lap 3, falling off his bike, allowing CS Santosh to comfortably widen his gap. The entire race was spectacular with the fans wooing in the best rider right up to the very end. Karan Kadam narrowed down the gap to literally come head to tail against CS Santosh, but was unable to overtake him to leave CS Santosh emerge victor of Moto 1 with a 3 point lead against team mate Karan Kadam. Privateer Yogesh Barguje of Pune, reincarnated on a TVS 250 FX finished 3rd at the end of the race.

Air racing

Air racing is a sport that involves small aircraft and is practiced around the world. It is somewhat similar to auto racing; however, corporate sponsorship and broadcast media coverage occur at a much lower level than in auto racing.

The first event in air racing history was held in 1909; the Reims Air Race from Reims, France to England lasting a week, drawing the most important plane makers and pilots of the era, as well as many celebrities and royalty. The event was won by Glenn Curtiss, who outsped the second place finisher by five seconds. Curtiss was held as "Champion Air Racer of the World". This event was held yearly for many years. Later on, the England to Australia air race was instituted, with commercial airlines such as Air France, Imperial Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Pan Am, Qantas and others participating. The major event was suspended during World War II and never brought back.

Between 1913 and 1931 there was the Schneider Trophy which was very significant in advancing aeroplane design, particularly in the fields of aerodynamics and engine design, and would show its results in the best fighters of World War II.

In 1921, the United States instituted the National Air Meets, which became the National Air Races in 1924. In 1929, the Women's Air Derby became a part of the National Air Races circuit. The National Air Races lasted until 1939. The Cleveland Air Races were one of the most important events of the National Air Races and outlived the circuit by ten years, being held until 1949. That year, pilot Bill Odom suffered a fatal crash during a race, killing himself and two other people in a nearby house. In 1947, an All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race (AWTAR) dubbed the "Powder Puff Derby" was established. It ran successfully until 1977. In 1964, Bill Stead, a Nevada rancher, pilot, and hydroplane racing enthusiast, organized the first Reno Air Races at a small dirt strip called Sky Ranch, located between Sparks, Nevada, and Pyramid Lake. The so-called National Championship Air Races were soon moved to the Reno Stead Airport and have been held there every September since 1966. The five-day event attracts attendance totalling about 200,000, and includes racing around courses marked out by tall pylons by six different classes of aircraft. It also features civil airshow acts, military flight demonstrations, and a large static aircraft display. Other promoters have run various pylon racing events across the nation, including races in Mojave, California in 1978; at Hamilton, California, in 1988; in Phoenix, Arizona in 1994 and 1995; and in Tunica, Mississippi in 2005.

Recently, Red Bull has created a series called the Red Bull Air Race World Series in which competitors fly singly through a series of gates, between which they must perform a prescribed series of aerobatics maneuvers. Usually held over water near large cities, the series has attracted large crowds and brought substantial media interest in air racing for the first time in decades.

Relay racing

During a relay race, members of a team take turns swimming or running parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. In the Olympic games, there are many types of relay races that are part of track and field.

Based on the speed of the runners, the generally accepted strategy used in setting up a 4 person relay team is: second fastest, third fastest, slowest, then fastest (anchor). Each segment of the relay (the distance run by one person) is referred to as a leg.

(A swimming relay order follows a slightly different strategy. Usually, the slowest swimmer races in the second slot, creating an order as follows: second fastest, slowest, third fastest, and then fastest.)

Each runner must hand off the baton to the next runner within a certain zone, usually marked by triangles on the track. In sprint relays, runners typically use a "blind handoff", where the second runner stands on a spot predetermined in practice and starts running when the first runner hits a visual mark on the track (usually a smaller triangle). The second runner opens his/her hand behind her after a few strides, by which time the first runner should be caught up and able to hand off the baton. Usually a runner will give an auditory signal, such as "Stick!" repeated several times, for the recipient of the baton to put out his hand. In middle-distance relays or longer, runners begin by jogging while looking back at the incoming runner and holding out a hand for the baton.

, the two standard relays are the 4x100 meter relay and the 4x400 meter relay. Traditionally, the 4x400 meter relay finals are the last event of a track meet, and is often met with a very enthusiastic crowd, especially if the last leg is a close race. It should be noted that it is hard to measure exact splits in a 4x400 (or a 4x100) relay. For example, if a team ran a 3:00 4x400, it does not mean every runner on the team has to run a 45 second open 400, because a person starts accelerating before he/she has the baton, therefore allowing for slightly slower overall open 400 times. A 4x400 relay generally starts in lanes for the first leg, including the handoff. The second leg then proceeds to run in lanes for the first 100 meters, after which point the runners are allowed to break into the first lane on the backstretch, as long as they do not interfere with other runners. A race organizer then puts the third leg runners into a line depending on the order in which they are running (with the first place closest to the inside).

4x200, 4x800, and 4x1600 relays exist as well, but they are more rare, especially at the high school level, where schools generally have only one or two competitive strong runners in such events.

A team may be disqualified from a relay for:

• Losing the baton
• Making an improper baton exchange
• Making two false starts (or in some cases only one)
• Improperly overtaking another competitor
• Preventing another competitor from passing
• Willfully impeding, improperly crossing the course, or in any other way interfering with another competitor

The largest relay event in the world is the Penn Relays Carnival, which attracts over 15,000 competitors annually on the High School, Collegiate and Professional levels, and over its three days attracts upwards of 100,000 spectators. It is credited with popularizing Relay Racing in the sport of Track & Field.

The world's largest series of relay races (in terms of number of races) is the Ragnar Relay Series. There are Ragnar Relays in Utah, Arizona, Minnesota, and Washington State. The world's longest relay race is Japan's Prince Takamatsu Cup Nishinippon Round-Kyūshū Ekiden, which begins in Nagasaki and continues for 1064 km.

Ski Racing

A ski is a long flat device worn on the feet designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now primarily used for recreational and sporting purposes. Also, a ski may denote a similar device used for other purposes than skiing, e.g., for steering snowmobiles.

Snow skis glide on snow because downward pressure, as well as heat from surface friction, melts the snow directly under the ski. This creates a very thin layer of water directly under the ski upon which the ski glides. Ski wax is used to decrease drag by increasing the water repellent properties of the base.

The original Nordic ski technology was improved during the early twentieth century so that skiers could make turns at higher speeds. New ski and binding designs, coupled with the introduction of ski lifts to carry skiers high up on mountains, enabled the development of today’s most prominent category of the sport, alpine skiing.

Skis were originally wooden planks made from a single piece of wood. They are now usually made from a complex assembly of components including glass fiber, Kevlar,titanium, other polymers or composite materials, though many may still contain wooden cores.

Most skis are long and thin, pointed and curved upwards at the front to prevent the ski from digging into the snow. The user is attached by bindings which in turn hold the ski boots. Beginning in the early 2000s, many ski manufacturers began designing their skis and bindings together, creating an 'integrated binding system.' These systems serve two purposes. First, they often use a railroad track style design, to allow the toe and heel pieces to slide, which in turn allows the ski to flex deeply, without a flat spot underfoot, caused by the presence of a binding. Second, it forces the consumer to purchase both skis and bindings from the same manufacturer, increasing sales.

Car Racing

Motor racing or Car racing is a sport involving racing automobiles. Car racing began in 1895, and now it is one of the most popular sport of world.

Car Racing began soon after the construction of the first successful car running on petrol.

In auto racing, the car setup is the set of adjustments made to the vehicle in order to optimize its performance. Adjustments can be made in suspensions, brakes, transmission, engines, tires, and many others things.

Dirt racing has been part of Americas racing heritage since the sport was born, and can still be found at local tracks everywhere.

Aerodynamics has played a major role in car racing since the late 1960s, when introduction of the first inverted wings appeared in some formulas. After that time, improved wing systems taken from the aeronautic technology made leaps forward, improving consistently lap times, increasing cornering speeds and vehicle stability. With the introduction of the ground effect a few years later the vehicles used a third element (the underbody) to produce downforce, and hence improve the performances.

By studying the trends of the last thirty years we see that aerodynamics is a reason behind the success of a racing car, since tire and engine technology have made a comparatively small progress. Furthermore, tires are not manifactured to fit the particular needs of a single racing team, while engines (in Indy Cars) often are developed in series for more than one team.

Aerodynamics is a subject more open to speculation, interest, advancement. These conclusions lead us to the analysis of the aerodynamic tools: computational aerodynamics, wind tunnel testing, and aerodynamic design and optimization.

The first design that used aerodynamics other that body streamlining did not appear until the 1960s. By then it was recognized how an increase in downforce would provide more grip to the track and hence more speed. This idea was technically developed by Chevrolet- Chaparral in 1966 with their Can-Am racing car. The engineers mounted an inverted wing on two vertical struts above the rear axial. The wing could be pitched during racing to provide the optimal value of downforce.

These ideas were developed quickly, and a few years later several Formula 1 teams mounted inverted wings on the rear axial, combined with a smaller front wing.

Introduction of Sealing Skirts

Another important innovation was introduced by Chevrolet- Chaparral in 1970. It consisted in reducing the pressure under the car by means of suction and lateral sealing skirts. Their sucker car (model Chaparral 2J) reached cornering speeds of 1.7 g, and soon was considered too dangerous. It was banned after a few races.

Introduction of Ground Effect Cars

The ground effect car was introduced by Team Lotus in their 1978 Formula 1 car. By shaping the underbody with appropriate channels, and using side pods to increase the effective area, the car provided much larger values of downforce. The idea, again, was simple. Ground effect was a known concept in aerodynamics. It just needed a technical solution to be fully exploited.

The Role of the Wind Tunnel

Racing teams have been devoting more and more time to the development of the aerodynamics of their cars. They have done so (and they still do it) with track and wind tunnel testing. Track testing is widely recognized for being too expensive and dependent on many casual events. The advantage, of course, is that the car is tested in its actual configuration in a real world situation.

The wind tunnel is the technical answer of the aerodynamic engineers. The wind tunnels are nowdays very sophisticated, and allow a wide range of studies, including modeling of the car in compete configuration, ground plane simulation, etc.