What motorsport is on during lockdown? When and where to watch your favourite race series

When the world went into lockdown early in 2020 because of the Coronavirus pandemic, it was entirely unclear what the sport of motor racing would do – almost every racing series was cancelled or delayed. Yet now we’re into the second half of the year, there’s plenty of racing action going on.

Most events are still taking place behind closed doors – so you can’t watch any races trackside. But, you can shout support at your TV screen instead. We’ve put together a rundown of the top motorsports that you can watch right now.

Open-wheel racing

Formula 1

Formula One, the biggest motorsport on the planet, began its 2020 season on the 3rd of July at the Austrian Grand Prix, and will go on until the championship concludes in Abu Dhabi on the 27th of November 2020.

You can watch it as you would on a normal year, via Sky Sports F1 or Channel 4 in the UK.

Formula E

Formula E is actually over for this year, so the next chance to watch will be on the 16th of January 2021, with the Chilean season opener in Santiago.

Indy 500

The historic and exciting Indy 500 race is happening right now, in between the 12th of August and the 23rd of August 2020. The main race starts at 17:45 BST on the 23rd, and can be watched in the UK on the Sky Sports F1 channel.

Motorbikes

Moto GP

Moto GP began in July with the Spanish GP at Jerez, and will continue on until the 20th of November at Portugal’s Algarve International Circuit. In Britain you can watch on BT Sport, or wait for highlights on the freeview channel Quest.

World Superbikes

The short World Superbike season began in New Zealand this year on the 27th of February, then took a long break until July. The last race of the series is on the sixth of November at Misano in Italy. You can watch it on Eurosport in the UK.

Endurance and touring cars

WEC

Le Mans is the biggest race of the year, and has been rescheduled to September 2020: it’ll run from the 12th to the 20th, with the race over the final two days. It’ll be on Eurosport in the UK.

BT Sport hosts the World Endurance Championship, which is massively slimmed down this year: it began in February and will end on 19 November in Bahrain after just three races.

BTCC

The British Touring Car Championship began at Donnington Park in August, and will run on until the 14th of November with the final race at Brands Hatch. You can find it on ITV in the UK, so it’s free to watch for those with a TV Licence.

DTM

DTM is Germany’s equivalent of the BTCC, although it does sometimes hold races in the Netherlands and Belgium. As is the case with the first DTM race of 2020, which will be held at Spa-Francorchamps in August. The final race takes place at the Hockenheimring on the sixth of November. It’s available to watch on BT Sport.

NASCAR

NASCAR, the American stock car racing series, has been on all year and will continue until the sixth of November. You can watch in the UK via a channel called Premier Sports, which is available on Sky and Virgin.

Supercars

The Australian Supercars series doesn’t feature any Lamborghinis or Ferraris. Instead, it’s all about good ol’ fashioned Holden and Ford saloons. It’s a very exciting series with loads of close racing. It has been running since the 20th of February and will go on until the 11th of December. Give it a watch using the official SuperView app – it’s not on TV in the UK.

Rally

WRC

The World Rally Championship ground to a halt after three events at the start of the year, but it’s set to restart in September and go on until the final session in Japan on the 19th of November. The best place to watch is on the official WRC website, where you need to sign up. Highlights will be on ITV, though.

World Rallycross

The World Rallycross season begins in late August in Sweden, and will run until to the 11th of December with the finale at the Nurburgring race circuit in Germany. This exciting series, which mixes tarmac and off-road sections, is broadcast on BT Sport in Britain.

All of the above is subject to change, as world events may force cancellations or rescheduling.