Desert racing is the act of

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

through the

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

in a two- or four-wheeled off-road vehicle. Races, which generally consist of two or more loops around a course covering up to , can take the form of Hare and Hound or

Hare scramble Hare scramble is a form of off-road Motorcycle sport, motorcycle racing that varies in distance and time, with the riders completing multiple laps around a marked course through wooded or other rugged natural terrain. Course Hare scrambles are co ...

style events, and are often laid out over a long and harsh track through relatively barren terrain. Point-to-point–style races, including the famous Mint 400 and Baja 1000, attract nationally ranked and celebrity drivers. This type of racing tests the

endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, forbearance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, persistence, tenacity, steadfastness, perseverance, stamina, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a ...

and capabilities of racer and machine, and while organized clubs or teams sometimes field multiple sponsored riders for particular events, desert racing in its purest form is largely an individual endeavor. Winning racers accrue points to advance their rank and placement in future contests. Desert racing vehicles, which include rugged enduro-style motorcycle, four wheeled

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike or quad (if it has four wheels), as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, has a seat ...

s, trucks (like

Group T4 In relation to motorsport, Group T4 is a set of technical specifications for modified production cross-country Side-by-side (vehicle), side-by-side vehicles used in Off-roading, off-road Rally raid, Cross-Country Rallying (also called Rally Raid) ...

), pickup trucks (like Trophy Trucks), and dune buggies, have specialized suspensions with increased wheel travel. The now-defunct Barstow to Vegas, which was held in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

from 1967 to 1975 and 1983 to 1989, was a well-known example of desert racing in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Desert racing, in its most organized form, began in Southern California in the 1920s. The sport has also seen rapid developments in other countries. In

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, the Cholistan Desert Rally began in 2005, with more than 100 drivers in the 2018 event won by Mir Nadir Ali Khan Magsi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desert racing Rally raids Auto racing by type Motorcycle racing by type

See also

References