In order, fastest first, which are the fastest racing formulas around road course's or street circuits.?

Question

Number of wheels is unimportant (MotoGP), and like for like comparisons from the same track would be nice. Thanks.

Answer 1

This is somewhat hard to answer, because there are not alot of chances for direct comparisions, and some circuits will favor some cars over others.

As a generalization, Formula 1 is the most technically advanced, but in the last couple years there have been alot of regulations aimed at slowing the cars down. All said, the designers have spent alot of money and time keeping the pace up, but the current cars are probably a little shy of where they were in 2004 (and if you could go and put the 2006 tires on an 2004 car, that would probably be your fastest overall).

But from observations at various circuits - and a typical time as you might see around Laguna Seca (with some correction since Laguna's resurfacing last year seem to have made things a bit quicker).

Formula 1 (1:07)
Champ Car (1:08)
ALMS P1 (1:11)
ALMS P2 (1:13)
ALMS GT1 (1:22)
MotoGP (1:23)
Formula Atlantic (1:23)
Formula Mazda Pro (1:24)
ALMS GT2 (1:25)
Formula Mazda (1:29)
Speed Challenge GT Cars (1:30)
Speed Challenge Touring Cars (1:36)

Series like GP2 or Formula 3 would most likely fit in somewhere between the ALMS P2 and GT1 cars, with other lower open wheeled series (like Formula BMW) fitting in around the Formula Mazda Pro series. Formats like Formula Ford and Formula Vee would be in the low 1:40s, running times similar to faster street cars on street tires.

Alot of the modern "tunnel cars" that are showing up in D Sports classes and similar perform quite closely to the Formula Atlantic class.

Figuring out where something like WRC cars or NASCAR would fit in is tough since there are not many chances to directly compare performance (NASCAR does run two road courses, but it runs them in different versions than anyone else). But, as an educated guess based off of older cars from these series that do run in historical races, and performance from then to now: Modern rally cars would figure in around 1:34, and NASCAR around 1:41.

Answer 2

This is a very hard question to answer as there are so many variables and things keep changing. For instance did you know that the lap record for the Italian GP in 1971 was held by a 16 cylinder BRM at an average speed of 150.755 mph untill 2003 when it was finally broken by Michael Schumacher, 153.849 mph.They keep trying to slow the cars down and the circuits.The above bit of evidence is a very good proof that speeds have not gone up, but safety has improved dramatically.

Like Paul S says get the data from one circuit and compare lap times.
But I would tend to agree with his rankings.

Answer 3

I believe (85% sure) it's Formula one. The only reason I'm not sure is because I don't see much sportscar racing (GT Prototypes). Sportcars have more horsepower, but not the aerodynamics of F1.

next to them, it's probably:
GP2
Champcars
IRL
Formula atlantics
Touring cars
lesser european open-wheel formats
World rally championship
NASCAR