Motor racing calendar 2021

Motorsport remains one of the most exciting spectacles in the sporting world. Fans from all over travel to get a piece of the action. While millions enjoy the action on their screens nothing beats the experience of seeing it for real, enjoying the buzz of excitement and the thrill of noisy engines being pushed to the limit.
With a good number of motorbike and car racing events getting cancelled or postponed in 2020, many event organisers have announced provisional dates for their 2021 events, giving fans something to look forward to in the new year. Here, we’ve listed some of the ones you may want to enjoy, be that in person or from the comfort of your sofa in 2021. However, please remember that these dates and timings are not definitive, and they might change due to the ongoing pandemic.

The Dakar Rally is an annual rally race, open to amateurs and professionals. It’s one of the most extreme racing events with sections of this rally including off-road, sand dunes, mud, rocks, and salt flats among others. Also, the competitors find themselves in extremely hot or cold temperatures throughout the race.
The 2021 Dakar Rally is going to take place from Sunday, 3 January - Friday, 15 January. The race will start and end in Mecca, Jeddah, with a rest day in between in Ha’il. Find the entire route here. You can view the full 2021 rankings here.

The World Rally Championship is an annual rallying series where the drivers race souped-up versions of popular hatchbacks like the Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris and Hyundai i20 on some of the toughest and roughest routes. After narrowly missing out on his first world title in a dramatic final round this year British hopes will be pinned on Welshman Elfyn Evans, driving for Toyota alongside seven-time world champion Sébastien Ogier.
The 2021 World Rally Championship will start from 21 January at the WRC Rallye Monte Carlo and will go on for the next 10 months, till 14 November 2021, where the final race will take place in WRC Rally Japan. Out of the 12 venues announced, nine races will take place in Europe and three outside Europe, and Croatia will be hosting a race for the first time ever in its capital city Zagreb. View the full World Rally Championship 2021 calendar.

Daytona 500 is a 500-mile motor race that takes place each year at Daytona Beach, Florida. Held at the Daytona International Speedway arena, this event has been running since 1959.
In 2021, Nascar’s Daytona 500 is set to take place on Sunday 14 February with limited venue capacity to allow for social distancing.

F1 Championship is motorsport’s iconic, top-level series and attracts millions of viewers from all over the world.
The 2021 F1 Championship is set to take place from 28 March – 12 December. The Formula One Grand Prix will start in Sakhir, Bahrain and the final race will take place in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit. The 2021 F1 calendar can be viewed here. Lewis Hamilton, part of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team is the undisputed king of the sport at the moment following a dominant performance in 2020 that saw him earn his seventh championship title and beat Michael Schumacher’s record for race wins.

MotoGP is the two-wheeled equivalent of F1 and the very top level of global motorbike racing.
A provisional MotoGP 2021 calendar has been released with 19 venues. The 20th is yet to be decided. The season’s opening race is currently set to take place in Qatar on Sunday 28 March and the final race in Termas de Río Hondo, Argentine after the semi-final in Spain on Sunday 14 November. After Joan Mir bagged the title of the 2020 MotoGP World Champion, the team line-up for the new season can be viewed here. Learn more about Moto GP.

The British GT Championship was originally started by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993.
The 2021 season will comprise of nine rounds. It’ll kick off from Brands Hatch on Saturday 22 May and continue till 17 October 2021, with the final race taking place at Donington Park, with racing versions of familiar roadgoing supercars like the Lamborghini Huracan, McLaren 720S and Bentley Continental GT all racing neck and neck for glory. You can view the full schedule and results.

British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing event held annually in the UK since 1958, the sight of familiar looking road cars like the Honda Civic and BMW 3 Series battling in close-fought races always popular with the crowds.
In 2021, the BTCC will comprise of total 30 rounds. The championship will cover nine different circuits, starting from Thruxton Circuit, Andover on 8 May and ending at Brands Hatch’s Grand Prix circuit on 24 October. View the full 2021 British Touring Car Championship calendar here. You can also view the full drivers standing here

1000 Miglia, also known as Millie Miglia, is a 1,000-mile classic car rally celebrating the famous race of the same name that reached its height in the early 1950s. These days it’s officially not a flat-out race like the old days but it still hosts some of the most fabulous cars and is held among fantastic Italian scenery in a celebration of the country’s love of motorsport, attracting celebrities and high-rolling car collectors alike.
In 2021, the 39th edition of the Millie Miglia will take place from 16 – 19 June, where the participants will drive from Brescia to Rome and back. The 2021 1000 Miglia route can be viewed here. You can also view the final results here.

Indianapolis 500, also known as Indy500, is the highlight of the American open-wheeled racing calendar.
The 105th edition of the Indy 500 will be taking place on Sunday, 30 May 2021 with thirty-three drivers racing for 500 miles to cover 200 laps. The race will start at 12:45 pm and will take place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. You can find the list of 2021 winners here.

The Nürburgring 24 Hours takes place annually on the Nordschleife and GP-Strecke circuits in Central Germany’s Nürburgring. The fierce battle for local pride among German manufacturers sees Audi R8s, Porsche 911s, Mercedes-AMG GTs and more going neck-and-neck on this most challenging of circuits and is always an amazing spectacle, enjoyed by fans who camp in the adjoining forests for a view of the action.
The 49th edition of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring will take place from 3 – 6 June 2021. Find more information. In Nürburgring 2021, a Porsche 911 GT2 RS set the record time of 6:43.300 minutes for the fastest production car lap, beating a Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series' record time of 6:43.616 minutes set in 2020.

Le Mans 24 Hours is the oldest endurance racing event to date. It takes place annually in Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France.
The race usually takes place in June, but in 2020 the 88th edition of the race was postponed to September due to the pandemic. The 89th season of Le Mans will take place from 21 - 22 August 2021. More information can be found on the official website. Related: What are Le Mans Hypercars?

The W series is a women-only racing event that began in 2019 and crowned British driver Jamie Chadwick as its first champion. The 2020 W series event, which was supposed to be the second edition of the series, was cancelled owing to the pandemic.
It’s now set to return in 2021. According to the provisional calendar, the 2021 W series will run from 25 June to 24 October. The races are part of eight F1 support racing events, and the opening race is set to take place in Austria. You can view the full calendar here.

The TT is a legendary motorbike race traditionally held on closed public roads on the Isle of Man. This event has been cancelled for 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic. It's now scheduled for 29th May - 10th June 2022.
However, an all-new road-racing event inspired by the TT and named the Diamond Races will be taking place on a 12.4-mile circuit on the Isle of Wight in October 2021. Find out more.