Touring car racing

Touring car racing is a common term for a number of distinct automobile racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars. It is notably all the rage in Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, and Australia.

What constitutes a touring car?

While rules differ from country to country, most series require that the competitors start with a standard bodyshell, but nearly every other component is allowed to be heavily modified for racing, including engines, suspension, brakes, wheels and tyres. Wings are generally additional to the front and rear of the cars. Regulations are generally designed to limit costs by banning some of the more exotic technologies available (for instance, many series insist on a "control tyre" that all competitors must use) and keep the racing close (sometimes by a "lead trophy" where winning a race requires the winner's car to be heavier for subsequent races). In this, it shares some resemblance with the American NASCAR series, but raced exclusively on road courses and street circuits rather than the American series' primarily oval tracks.