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70-497: The British Motorcycle Racing Club (BMCRC), informally Bemsee , is the largest motorcycle racing club of its type in the UK and organises a range of championships including Clubman and Supersport 600, Thunderbikes , Superstock 1000 , Formula 400s and sidecars . Founded in 1909, it was originally based at the classic Brooklands circuit near Weybridge in Surrey . During the 1960s

140-400: A secondary imbalance . This is caused by the acceleration/deceleration of the pistons during the top half of the crankshaft rotation being greater than that of the pistons in the bottom half of the crankshaft rotation (because the connecting rods are not infinitely long). As a result, two pistons are always accelerating faster in one direction, while the other two are accelerating more slowly in

210-631: A 3.2 L turbocharged Mitsubishi engine (used the Pajero/Shogun/Montero SUV) and a 3.0 L Toyota engine. European and Asian trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating between 7.5 and 18 tonnes typically use inline four-cylinder diesel engines with displacements around 5 litres. Larger displacements are found in locomotive, marine and stationary engines. Displacement can also be very small, as found in kei cars sold in Japan. Several of these engines had four cylinders at

280-435: A dedicated community of riders, collectors, and fans who appreciate the history and craftsmanship of these classic machines. Some of the regulations include, air-cooled two-Stroke engines, drum brakes and kick starters. These features add to the nostalgic charm and require riders to adapt their riding techniques accordingly. Hare scramble is the name given to a particular form of off-road motorcycle racing. Traditionally

350-465: A different line into corners, sliding of the back wheel around the corner, and using the leg straight out to corner (as opposed to the noticeable touching of the bent knee to the tarmac of road racers). Enduro is a form of off-road motorcycle sport that primarily focuses on the endurance of the competitor. In the most traditional sense ("Time Card Enduros"), competitors complete a 10+ mile lap, of predominately off-road going, often through forestry. The lap

420-600: A displacement of 1.5–2.5 L (92–153 cu in). The smallest automotive straight-four engine was used in the 1963–1967 Honda T360 kei truck and has a displacement of 356 cc (21.7 cu in), while the largest mass-produced straight-four car engine is the 1999–2019 Mitsubishi 4M41 diesel engine which was used in the Mitsubishi Pajero and has a displacement of 3.2 L (195 cu in). Significant straight-four car engines include: Many early racing cars used straight-four engines, however

490-704: A few sea-front promenades , generally with one set of timing equipment, for the 1 ⁄ 4 -mile distance, although some used 1 ⁄ 8 -mile, as still happens at the Ramsey seafront as the Ramsey Sprint , part of added attractions during the Isle of Man TT and Manx Grand Prix events. Santa Pod Raceway was the first permanent drag-strip established in UK and Europe in 1966. Writing in his 1970 book, Peter Carrick stated: Though basically similar, sprinting and drag racing have essential differences. Sprinting

560-429: A given amount of time or laps or a combination. Motocross has a plethora of classes based upon machine displacement (ranging from 50cc 2-stroke youth machines up to 250cc two-stroke and 450cc four-stroke), age of competitor, ability of competitor, sidecars, quads/ATVs, and machine age (classic for pre-1965/67, Twinshock for bikes with two shock absorbers, etc.). Supercross (or SX) is simply indoor motocross. Supercross

630-800: A hare scramble can vary in length and time with the contestants completing multiple laps around a marked course through wooded or other rugged natural terrain. The overall winner is the contestant who maintains the highest speed throughout the event. In Florida, Hare scrambles start the race with a staggered starting sequence. Once on the course, the object of the competitor is to complete the circuit as fast as possible. The race consists of wooded areas or open fields. Cross-country rally events (also called Rallye Raid or simply Rallye , alternate spelling Rally ) are much bigger than enduros. Typically using larger bikes than other off-road sports, these events take place over many days, travelling hundreds of miles across primarily open off-road terrain. The most famous example

700-436: A line along a common crankshaft. The majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the exceptions of the flat-four engines produced by Subaru and Porsche) and the layout is also very common in motorcycles and other machinery. Therefore the term "four-cylinder engine" is usually synonymous with straight-four engines. When a straight-four engine is installed at an inclined angle (instead of with

770-484: A motorcycle class which is the equivalent of Speedway on ice. Bikes race anti-clockwise around oval tracks between 260 and 425 metres in length. Metal tire spikes or screws are often allowed to improve traction. The race structure and scoring are similar to Speedway. Board track racing was a type of track racing popular in the United States between the second and third decades of the 20th century, where competition

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840-605: A motorcycle must be at least 25 years old to be considered vintage. The sanctioning body for most US vintage racing is the American Motorcyclist Association . The main organizations that sponsor vintage racing are the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA), BikeBandit and WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, which has several vintage classes along with modern racers. Of historical importance

910-482: A motorcycle must have a four-stroke engine of between 250 and 600 cc for four-cylinder machines, and between 600 and 750 cc for twins , and must satisfy the FIM homologation requirements. Supersport regulations are much tighter than Superbikes. Supersport machines must remain largely as standard, while engine tuning is possible but tightly regulated. Endurance racing is a category of motorcycle road racing which

980-456: A much more geographically dispersed range of locations. In addition to traditional Time Card Enduros held over a long lap, a variety of other forms of sport have been taken up; notably "Short Course Enduros", a shorter (in lap length) form of Time Card Enduros Hare scrambles and " Hare and Hounds ". A variant of Enduro called Hard Enduro also exists which take Enduro racing to extremes with even larger, longer and tougher courses than Enduro, it

1050-519: A passenger shifts body weight across the sidecar is crucial to its performance around corners. Sidecar racing has many sub-categories including: Motocross (or MX) is the direct equivalent of road racing, but off-road, a number of bikes racing on a closed circuit. Motocross circuits are constructed on a variety of non-tarmac surfaces such as dirt, sand, mud, grass, etc., and tend to incorporate elevation changes either natural or artificial. Advances in motorcycle technology, especially suspension, have led to

1120-475: A polished concrete floor with coke syrup, or other media sprayed or mopped onto the concrete for traction for the tyres of the motorcycles, or on dirt that has been moistened and hard packed, or left loose (often called a cushion). Similar to the size of the Arenacross Arenas or sometimes smaller, these tight indoor race tracks require the riders to have accurate throttle control to negotiate them. In

1190-401: A time when regulations dictated a maximum displacement of 550 cc; the maximum size is currently at 660 cc. Straight-four engines with the preferred crankshaft configuration have perfect primary balance . This is because the pistons are moving in pairs, and one pair of pistons is always moving up at the same time as the other pair is moving down. However, straight-four engines have

1260-644: Is a World Enduro Championship (WEC) that has events across Europe, with a few excursions to North America. The most significant event in the Enduro calendar is the International Six Days Enduro (formerly the International Six Days Trial), where countries enter teams of riders (i.e. Enduro's "World Cup"), as well as club teams – the event combines amateur sport with the professional level sport, it also takes place in

1330-490: Is a form of motorcycle racing held on paved road surfaces . The races can be held either on a purpose-built closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads . Historically, "road racing" meant a course on closed public roads. This was once commonplace but currently only a few such circuits have survived, mostly in Europe. Races take place on public roads which have been temporarily closed to

1400-514: Is a race against the clock, even if other competitors are taking part at the same time. Drag racing is more of a contest, often between a couple of racers . Where a time was one-way only, any record could be regarded as strip-only, as for official recognition of world and national records two qualifying runs had to be completed in opposite-directions within one-hour, to negate the effect of wind, with an average time resulting. Writing in 1974, Motorcycle News contributor Jim Reynolds stated: " This

1470-479: Is designed to bring together all disciplines of Enduro – Hard Enduro, Classic Enduro, Cross-Country and Beach Racing. The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship is the main championship in this category. Another variant of Enduro is Vintage Enduro which combines the elements of off-road racing and long-distance touring, making it a popular choice among enthusiasts who enjoy the challenges and nostalgia associated with vintage motorcycles. Vintage Enduro events often attract

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1540-411: Is desired. A normal event lasts for 3 to 4 hours, although longer events are not uncommon. Some events, particularly national and world championship events take place over several days and require maintenance work to be carried out within a limited time window or while the race is running. To prevent circumvention of the maintenance restrictions, the motorcycles are kept overnight in secure storage. There

1610-468: Is drag racing, a young sport in England, but growing faster than any other ". In hill climbing, a single rider climbs or tries to climb a road going up a hill in the fastest time or the furthest up the hill before ceasing forward motion. Tarmac events are typically on closed public roads and private roads. The same concept is also used off-tarmac, usually on steeper hills. In Landspeed motorcycle racing,

1680-412: Is made up of different stages, each with a target time to complete that stage in exactly, there are penalties for being early and late, thus the goal is to be exactly "on time". Some stages are deliberately "tight", others are lax allowing the competitor to recuperate. There are also a variety of special tests, on variety of terrain to further aid classification, these are speed stages where the fastest time

1750-431: Is meant to test the durability of equipment and endurance of the riders. Teams of multiple riders attempt to cover a large distance in a single event. Teams are given the ability to change riders during the race. Endurance races can be run either to cover a set distance in laps as quickly as possible, or to cover as much distance as possible over a preset amount of time. Reliability of the motorcycles used for endurance racing

1820-420: Is more technical and rhythmic for riders. Typically situated in a variety of stadiums and open or closed arenas, it is notable for its numerous jumps. In North America, this has been turned into an extremely popular spectator sport, filling large baseball, soccer, and football stadiums, leading to Motocross being now termed the "outdoors". However, in Europe it is a less popular sport, as the predominant focus there

1890-496: Is no power stroke occurring at certain times. Compared with a V4 engine or a flat-four engine , a straight-four engine only has one cylinder head , which reduces complexity and production cost. Petrol straight-four engines used in modern production cars typically have a displacement of 1.3–2.5 L (79–153 cu in), but larger engines have been used in the past, for example the 1927–1931 Bentley 4½ Litre . Diesel engines have been produced in larger displacements, such as

1960-456: Is on Motocross. Supermoto is a racing category that is a crossover between road-racing and motocross. The motorcycles are mainly motocross types with road-racing tyres. The racetrack is a mixture of road and dirt courses (in different proportions) and can take place either on closed circuits or in temporary venues (such as urban locations). The riding style on the tarmac section is noticeably different from other forms of tarmac-based racing, with

2030-410: Is paramount. Sidecar racing is a category of sidecar motorcycle racing. Older sidecar road racers generally resembled solo motorcycles with a platform attached; modern racing sidecars are purpose built low and long vehicles. Sidecarcross resembles MX motorcycles with a high platform attached. In sidecar racing a rider and a passenger work together to make the machine perform optimally; the way in which

2100-517: Is particularly beneficial in the higher rpm range, and " big-bang firing order " theory says the irregular delivery of torque to the rear tire makes sliding in the corners at racing speeds easier to control. Inline-four engines are also used in MotoGP by the Suzuki (since 2015 ) and Yamaha (since 2002 ) teams. In 2010 , when the four-stroke Moto2 class was introduced, the engines for the class were

2170-709: Is the Dakar Rally , previously travelling from Western Europe (often Paris) to Dakar in Senegal, via the Sahara desert, taking almost two weeks. From 2009 to 2019 the Dakar Rally had been held in South America traveling through Argentina, Peru and Chile. Starting in 2020 the event now runs in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. The FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship also exists encompassing many events across

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2240-788: Is the United States Classic Racing Association (USCRA) one of the oldest vintage racing clubs in the US. In the UK the Main organisations are The British Historic Racing Club (BHRC), an arm of the Vintage motorcycle club, and the Classic Motorcycle Racing Club (CRMRC). The CRMC was formed about thirty years ago when the BHRC was slow to include new machines in the 25 years rule and to deal with

2310-562: The A.M.A. Grand National Championship , mile, half-mile, short-track and TT races are part of a specific discipline labelled "Dirt track" or sometimes "Flat track" (also called Flat Track). However the AMA Sanction rule books refer to this discipline as Dirt track racing. Whether mile, half-mile, short-track or TT, traction is what defines a dirt track race. The bikes cannot use "knobbies", they must use "Class C" tires which are similar to street tires. On mile, half-mile, short-track course,

2380-597: The Lydden Hill circuit from 1993 to 2007. The 2022 season uses the following circuits: This article about an organisation in the United Kingdom is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Motorcycle racing-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Motorcycle racing The FIM classifies motorcycle racing in the following four main categories. Each category has several subcategories. Road racing

2450-470: The Maserati 4CL and various English Racing Automobiles (ERA) models. These were resurrected after the war, and formed the foundation of what was later to become Formula One , although the straight-eight supercharged Alfettas would dominate the early years of F1. Another engine that played an important role in racing history is the straight-four Ferrari engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi . This engine

2520-533: The 1920s and early 1930s. The Miller engine evolved into the Offenhauser engine which had a highly successful spanning from the 1933 until 1981, including five straight victories at the Indianapolis 500 from 1971 to 1976. Many cars produced for the pre-WWII voiturette Grand Prix motor racing category used inline-four engine designs. 1.5 L supercharged engines found their way into cars such as

2590-441: The 1970s. Since then, the inline-four has become one of the most common engine configurations in street bikes. Outside of the cruiser category, the inline-four is the most common configuration because of its relatively high performance-to-cost ratio. All major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers offer motorcycles with inline-four engines, as do MV Agusta and BMW . BMW's earlier inline-four motorcycles were mounted horizontally along

2660-469: The 2.4 litre Citroën DS engine, the 2.6 litre Austin-Healey 100 engine, the 3.3 L Ford Model A (1927) engine and the 2.5 L GM Iron Duke engine . Soviet/Russian GAZ Volga and UAZ engines with displacements of up to 2.9 litres were produced without balance shafts from the 1950s to the 1990s, however these were relatively low-revving engines which reduces the need for a balance shaft system. Most modern straight-four engines used in cars have

2730-832: The Netherlands, Finland, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain ( Oliver's Mount ), the Czech Republic, Ukraine, New Zealand, Thailand and Macau. Grand Prix motorcycle racing refers to the premier category of motorcycle road racing. It is divided into three distinct classes: Grand Prix motorcycles are prototype machines not based on any production motorcycle. Superbike racing is the category of motorcycle road racing that employs modified production motorcycles, as with touring cars. Superbike racing motorcycles must have four stroke engines of between 800 cc and 1200 cc for twins , and between 750 cc and 1000 cc for four cylinder machines. The motorcycles must maintain

2800-515: The Peugeot engine which won the 1913 Indianapolis 500 was a highly influential engine. Designed by Ernest Henry , this engine had double overhead camshafts (DOHC) with four valves per cylinder, a layout that would become the standard until today for racing inline-four engines. Amongst the engines inspired by the Peugeot design was the Miller engine , which was a successful racing engine through

2870-634: The Superprestigio of the Americas in Las Vegas in 2016, to the flat track races held in conjunction with MotoGP at Circuit of the Americas. In 2017 Super Hooligan became an official racing series with 10 races on the calendar for that year from February through October. Sanctioning bodies Straight-4 A straight-four engine (also referred to as an inline-four engine ) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in

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2940-434: The U.S., flat-track events are held on outdoor dirt ovals, ranging in length from one mile to half-mile, short-tracks and TTs. All are usually held outdoors, though a few short-track events have been held in indoor stadiums. A Short Track event is one involving a track of less than 1 ⁄ 2 mile in length, while a TT event can be of any length, but it must have at least one right turn and at least one jump to qualify. In

3010-594: The United States, Nimbus in Denmark, Windhoff in Germany, and Wilkinson in the United Kingdom. The first across-the-frame 4-cylinder motorcycle was the 1939 racer Gilera 500 Rondine , it also had double-over-head camshafts, forced-inducting supercharger and was liquid-cooled . Modern inline-four motorcycle engines first became popular with Honda 's SOHC CB750 introduced in 1969, and others followed in

3080-483: The bends using the rear wheel to scrub-off speed while still providing the drive to power the bike forward and around the bend. Grasstrack is outdoor speedway. The track are longer (400 m+, hence it is often also referred to as Long Track at world level), often on grass (although other surfaces exist) and even feature elevation changes. Machinery is very similar to a speedway bike (still no brakes, but normally two gears, rear suspension, etc.). Ice racing includes

3150-732: The bikes that fans rode to the event also known as "run what you brung" races. What's now known as "Super Hooligan" came out of the Harley nights at Costa Mesa Speedway in Southern California. Southern California motorcycle culture developed around this idea of racing large V Twin motorcycles. Super Hooligan races have been side entertainment at a number of events from bike shows like the Handbuilt in Austin, The One Show in Portland to

3220-412: The cylinders oriented vertically), it is sometimes called a slant-four . Between 2005 and 2008, the proportion of new vehicles sold in the United States with four-cylinder engines rose from 30% to 47%. By the 2020 model year, the share for light-duty vehicles had risen to 59%. A four-stroke straight-four engine always has a cylinder on its power stroke, unlike engines with fewer cylinders where there

3290-462: The first Japanese machines reaching that age. Nowadays the BHRC caters for machines from Europe and America made up to the mid eighties while the CRMC allows the same era and some but not all Japanese machines. Hooligan racing has been around since the 1970s when fans attending flat track races began racing their own personal motorcycles during intermissions of events. Often these motorcycles were simply

3360-471: The frame, but all current four-cylinder BMW motorcycles have transverse engines . The modern Triumph company has offered inline-four-powered motorcycles, though they were discontinued in favour of triples . The 2009 Yamaha R1 has an inline-four engine that does not fire at even intervals of 180°. Instead, it uses a crossplane crankshaft that prevents the pistons from simultaneously reaching top dead centre. This results in better secondary balance , which

3430-567: The large 2,495 cc FPF that won the Formula One championship in Cooper 's chassis in 1959 and 1960. In Formula One, the 1980s were dominated by the 1,500 cc turbocharged cars. The BMW M12/13 engine was notable for the era for its high boost pressures and performance. The cast iron block was based on a standard road car block and powered the F1 cars of Brabham, Arrows and Benetton and won

3500-500: The latest production motorcycles. Classes are organized by production period and engine displacement. There are vintage events for almost every type of racing listed above, vintage motocross and road racing are especially popular. Equipment is limited to that available for the production period, although modern safety equipment and tires are permitted. Most vintage production periods are from the 1970s and before, but now 1980s and 1990s motorcycles are being allowed into some events. Generally

3570-418: The motorcycle tires lay down a thin layer of tire rubber on the racing line. A "cushion" track consists of similar materials to the groove track, but mixed in a way that allows the surface to maintain a more sandy, loose composition. While power-sliding is common on both groove and cushion tracks, a cushion track allows more power-sliding, into, through and out of the turns. Though the "Class C" tires allowed by

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3640-595: The offices were at Kingston , Surrey and are now located in Romford , Essex . It is the oldest motorcycle racing club in the world. Many champions have emerged from starting out in the homemade Aprilia Superteens championship for example: In 2019, the BMCRC had classes available, based on machine type and rider age. Some classes also had sub-classes determined by various factors such as rider licence level (such as Clubman and National) or machine configuration: BMCRC leased

3710-420: The other direction, which leads to a secondary dynamic imbalance that causes an up-and-down vibration at twice crankshaft speed. This imbalance is common among all piston engines, but the effect is particularly strong on four-stroke inline-four because of the two pistons always moving together. The strength of this imbalance is determined by the reciprocating mass, the ratio of connecting rod length to stroke, and

3780-405: The peak piston velocity. Therefore, small displacement engines with light pistons show little effect, and racing engines use long connecting rods. However, the effect grows quadratically with engine speed (rpm). Four-stroke engines with five or more cylinders are able to have at least one cylinder performing its power stroke at any given point in time. However, four-cylinder engines have gaps in

3850-399: The power delivery, since each cylinder completes its power stroke before the next piston starts a new power stroke. This pulsating delivery of power results in more vibrations than engines with more than four cylinders. A balance shaft system is sometimes used to reduce the vibrations created by a straight-four engine, most often in engines with larger displacements. The balance shaft system

3920-414: The predominance of circuits with added "jumps" on which bikes can get airborne. Motocross has another noticeable difference from road racing, in that starts are done en masse, with the riders alongside each other. Up to 40 riders race into the first corner, and sometimes there is a separate award for the first rider through (see holeshot ). The winner is the first rider across the finish line, generally after

3990-681: 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 Ulster Grand Prix on long circuits. Ireland has many road racing circuits still in use. Other countries with road races are

4060-768: The racer is trying to beat the fastest speed ever achieved by that style of motorcycle and type of engine for a timed mile. The pre-eminent event for motorcycle LSR is the International Motorcycle Speed Trials by BUB, held on the Bonneville Salt Flats annually (near Labor Day). Motorcycles are classified based on body style, i.e. how much streamlining is incorporated. They are further classified based on engine size in cubic centimeters (cc's) and based on fuel type (gasoline versus any modified fuels). In vintage racing riders race classic motorcycles that are no longer competitive with

4130-461: The rider slide more easily and safely on their left foot when needed as they lean the bike to the left while sliding through the corners, though riders can often perform what is known as a "feet-up slide", using throttle control, body lean and steering alone to power-slide through the turns, without sliding on their steel shoe. Hard-packed tracks are generally referred to as "groove" tracks, loosely packed tracks are called "cushions". The composition of

4200-469: The rules are the same for both cushion and groove tracks, riders are allowed to modify the tires by cutting some rubber off the tire grooves for improved traction, but are not allowed to add materials to the tires. Speedway racing takes place on a flat oval track usually consisting of dirt or loosely packed shale , using bikes with a single gear and no brakes. Competitors use this surface to slide their machines sideways ( powersliding or broadsiding ) into

4270-405: The same profile as their roadgoing counterparts. The overall appearance, seen from the front, rear and sides, must correspond to that of the bike homologated for use on public roads even though the mechanical elements of the machine have been modified. Supersport racing is another category of motorcycle road racing that employs modified production motorcycles. To be eligible for Supersport racing,

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4340-473: The starting signal, the riders accelerate down a straight, quarter-mile long paved track where their elapsed time and terminal speed are recorded. The rider to reach the finish line first is the winner. This can occur upon purpose built venues (e.g., Santa Pod), temporary venues (e.g., runways or drives of country houses). In addition to "regular" motorcycles, top fuel motorcycles using Nitromethane also compete in this category. The UK National Sprint Association

4410-476: The track is an oval, all turns to the left only, and only a rear brake is allowed. On the TT courses, there must be at least one right hand turn with a jump being optional, front and rear brakes are allowed, but the same "Class C" tires are required. Although not mandated, most flat track racers wear a steel "shoe" on the left boot which is actually a fitted steel sole that straps onto the left boot. This steel shoe lets

4480-406: The track surface is usually decided by the race promoter and track preparation team, the latter using various methods and materials including combinations of clay, decomposed granite, sand, calcium (to allow the surface to retain water moisture) and other materials. An optimum "groove" track will have enough moisture to be "tacky", without being slick, and will develop what is called a "blue groove" as

4550-484: The world championship in 1983. The 1986 version of the engine was said to produce about 1,300 hp (969 kW) in qualifying trim. Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal , which had been making motorcycles since 1901, began producing the first motorcycles with inline-fours in 1905. The FN Four had its engine mounted upright with the crankshaft longitudinal . Other manufacturers that used this layout included Pierce , Henderson , Ace , Cleveland , and Indian in

4620-539: The world, typically in desert nations. Such events include the Silk Way Rally , Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge , and Rallye du Maroc . These events often run alongside "car" rallies (under the FIA ). Track racing is a form of motorcycle racing where teams or individuals race opponents around an oval track. There are differing variants, with each variant racing on a different surface type. Indoor races consist of either:

4690-409: Was conducted on oval race courses with surfaces composed of wooden planks. By the early 1930s, board track racing had fallen out of favor, and into eventual obsolescence. Auto Race is a Japanese version of track racing held on an asphalt oval course and seen as a gambling sport. Drag racing or sprints is a racing venue where two participants line up at a dragstrip with a signaled starting line. Upon

4760-570: Was formed in 1958. The president was Donald Campbell until his death in 1967, succeeded by former Vincent employee and sprint-record holder George Brown , who retired from sport in 1966 on reaching the 55 age-limit for the ACU competition licence. Brown's machines included the V twin Vincent-engined, normally-aspirated Nero , and the supercharged version Super Nero . Sprinting occurred on disused and re-purposed airstrips, and on

4830-437: Was invented in 1911 and consists of two shafts carrying identical eccentric weights that rotate in opposite directions at twice the crankshaft's speed. This system was patented by Mitsubishi Motors in the 1970s and has since been used under licence by several other companies. Not all large displacement straight-four engines have used balance shafts, however. Examples of relatively large engines without balance shafts include

4900-570: Was originally designed as a 2 L Formula 2 engine for the Ferrari 500, but evolved to 2.5 L to compete in Formula One in the Ferrari 625. For sports car racing, capacity was increased up to 3.4 L for the Ferrari 860 Monza. The Coventry Climax straight-four engine was also a very successful racing engine, which began life as a 1.5 litre Formula 2 engine. Enlarged to 2.0 litres for Formula One in 1958, it evolved into

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