Motorsport at the Olympics

Dear Ms Coventry,

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and consider its contents, whose purpose is to recommend that a number of motor racing disciplines be re-introduced to the Olympic Games. For the sake of simplicity I have divided the submission into bullet points.

1. Timing and venue

We believe that motorsport should be included in the Summer games, commencing at the XXXV Olympiad, to be held in Brisbane in 2032. All events should take place within a dedicated Olympic Motorsport Park, ideally the venue for each games being an established motorsport facility with various purpose-built tracks sited within the grounds of the circuit. As we have seen at previous games where events like sailing take place nowhere near the host city, locating this some distance away from the city should not prove problematic. Most grandstands could be temporary, meaning only a small level of permanent new construction will be required. Alternatively a circuit could be created within the city centre itself, a practice which has now been executed with considerable success by Formula E for a dozen seasons.

The tracks should consist of one main Grand Prix-style circuit, one ‘special stage’ of the kind used in the World Rally Championship, one go-kart circuit and one large freestyle ‘drift’ space with concentric circles of 500m and 510m in diameter.

In the centre of the OMP there should be a main service area in which all vehicles are maintained throughout the games. Also on site there should be a ‘Sim Hangar’ where competitors will have access to driving simulators to enable them to familiarise themselves with the nuances of the tracks, vehicles and conditions. All footage from each sim should be live-streamed via the IOC Motorsport social media channels, which will in itself attract vast audiences across the globe.

2. The vehicles

Competing vehicles for the 2032 Olympics (and beyond) should be hybrids running on a combination of sustainable e-fuels and electric power. The only exceptions are the motorcycles and go-karts for which hybrid technology is impractical and whose emissions are already extremely low.

All competing vehicles should be bespoke in design and carry no commercial branding. They should be created through a tendering process where manufacturers will be invited to submit design proposals for each discipline resulting in a single OEM being chosen for each individual event. All vehicles will then be supplied to and maintained by an independent IOC and FIA-accredited organisation to ensure absolute parity between each machine, which would then be allocated at random to each competing country to ensure there is no chance of any individual country gaining an unfair advantage. All tyres should be strictly controlled and provided by a single tyre manufacturer. All other vehicles on site must be fully electric (buses, trucks, media, medical etc).

3. The competitors

A maximum of three competitors from each nation should be permitted to compete in each event, and can be amateurs or professionals, as per existing Olympic competition. Each competitor must achieve a qualification standard before they can compete. This should be a universal standard set for each individual event by the IOC in consultation with the FIA, motorsport’s global governing body.

4. The events

There should be seven events, one for each of the six main motorsport disciplines, plus a final all-comers race for all medal winners. All events should be open to mixed sex competition.

Event 1: The single-seater time-trial. Vehicles will be identical single-seaters with a minimum weight of 700kg including the driver. For all time-trials, each competitor will be allowed to practice in the Sim Hangar, but in real time they will be permitted just one out-lap (in this case of the full GP-style circuit) and one flying qualifying lap. There should be four heats with 20 competitors in each. The five fastest drivers from each heat progress to a final held as a proper race over 20 laps, grid positions allocated in reverse order to qualifying time, so the fastest driver starts last.

Event 2: Rally car time-trial. Vehicles should be purpose-built hybrid rally cars, the format the same as Event 1, on a six-mile loose-surface special stage. Heat winners will then compete in the final on the same course, but run in the opposite direction and driven blind, i.e with no opportunity to learn it on the simulator in advance.

Event 3: Le Mans car time-trial. Vehicles should be of sports prototype design to current LMP2 regulations and use the GP track. This however is a team event, with three drivers allocated to each car, each driver completing five laps before coming in and changing drivers. The total elapsed time (including time taken to change drivers) will be counted, as will all three driver’s energy consumption. This will introduce endurance, consistency and economy to the event as well as speed.

Event 4: Superbike time-trial. Minimum age 16. Motorcycles should be competition-prepared machines, similar to those which compete in Superbike categories. As per Event 1, the fastest 20 riders in the time-trial will then take part in a race to determine the final medal standings.

Event 5: Drift trial. This format would involve holding a powerful, hybrid-assisted rear-wheel drive road car in a perfect sideways slide over exactly one lap of the freestyle circle, the specific aim being to keep the car consistently aligned within the 500m and 510m concentric circle lines but with as great an angle of drift as can be maintained. As per ‘Big Air’ events at the Winter Olympics, marks will be awarded for style and accuracy while technical infringements (for spins, crossing over the line or failing to maintain the drift) will incur penalties.

Event 6: Go-kart race. Drivers will initially compete in qualifying time-trials to establish grids. The fastest will then take part in a 20-lap race which will decide the final standings.

Event 7: All-comers final, open to medallists in each of the previous six rounds, plus six fastest losers to create a grid of 24 cars. Cars will be GT4-specification sports racing cars, the event held as a conventional race with a single one-hour qualifying session followed by a 30-lap race of the main track. This will be treated as an event in its own right but will rightly also be seen as determining the ‘champion of champions’.

This idea is very much work in progress and should you conclude it merits further discussion, we would be delighted to work with you and your colleagues at the IOC to adapt the programme to the requirements of the 2032 and all subsequent games.

Motorsport has never been more popular around the world than it is right now, with just the three top disciplines (Formula 1, MotoGP and Formula E) now attracting a fan base approaching 1.9 billion. Crucially the 2025 F1 season review revealed that 43 per cent of its audience is under the age of 35 and that 42 per cent are female. And the sport is growing at an incredible rate, Formula 1 increasing its global fan base by an astonishing 63 per cent since 2018 with no sign of it letting up. Over 40 countries from Argentina to Australia now hold major motorsport events each year and that number is growing too.

This is why we believe there has never been a better time to re-introduce motorsport to the Olympic calendar. Ethically sound, carbon-neutral and guaranteed to thrill viewers of all demographics, gender and ages right around the world, motor racing will bring new audiences to the Olympics, while the Olympics does the same for motor racing. We hope very much you find our initial thoughts of interest and we look forward to hearing from you.

With best wishes,

Steve Sutcliffe, The Intercooler