Motor racing is usually done on a circuit.
As the motor-car turns the corners, so the driver (whose seat is fixed onto the motor-car) also turns.
However, racing without turning is widely known to exist, in the form of remote-control car racing, where the driver stays in the same place as the car turns.
Vehicles whose seats and controls can rotate to arbitrary angles with respect to the wheels are also widely known to exist, in the form of tracked diggers and cranes.
Vehicles which contain a component which stays pointing in the same direction relative to the world even as the vehicle turns are also widely known to exist in the form of Chinese South-Pointing Chariots, and gyrocompasses and indeed magnetic compasses.
Proposed is a motor-racing class which combines all of these features. The driver sits in a seat; the seat and the controls (and rear-view mirrors) are mounted in a sub-frame which can rotate 360° around a verticle axis relative to the vehicle. The sub-frame is mechanised or controlled so that it always points in the same direction no matter what direction the vehicle is pointing in.-- pocmloc, May 25 2021 NASCAR speeds?-- RayfordSteele, May 25 2021 I like it, but why?-- sninctown, May 25 2021 Couldn't similar benefits be achieved at lower cost just by making them drive the entire circuit in reverse?-- pertinax, May 25 2021 //I like it, but why?//
I don't know? Maybe it pleases your inner sense of wonder at looking at the world from a different perspective?
It's the sideways bit staring at the race wall that I think I'll pass on. Or get passed on. Or something...-- RayfordSteele, May 26 2021 If all drivers face the same direction, it might be interesting. If each driver (at the start) was given a randomly-assigned direction, THAT could be more interesting.-- neutrinos_shadow, May 27 2021 This is excellent.-- calum, Jun 01 2021 //racing without turning is widely known to exist, in the form of remote-control car racing,//
This is not the only form. There's also drag racing. So, how would you tell the difference between conventional drag racing and your version of drag racing? Does this mean drag races are already baked versions of this? Where does this leave RC drag racing, which is very much a thing?-- bs0u0155, Jun 01 2021 For "racing" read "circuit racing"-- pocmloc, Jun 02 2021 If the drivers always face the same compass point, then after a few laps the race will become if not easy then at least broadly cope-with-able. Would it work if the track itself were raised on a gigantic lazy susan (or scaled down Kiritimaticentrifugomobile), so that each lap offers a different perspective?
Actually, non-rotating drag racing on the Kiritimaticentrifugomobile would be thrilling in its own way, too.-- calum, Jun 02 2021 Could mount the seat like a waltzer-- pocmloc, Jun 02 2021 Co-driver hanging off the side of the car, fag tucked between ear and skip hat, bellowing "the left sides the best side scream if you wanna go faster", his voice left behind down the Kottenborn straight, lips and cheeks a-wobble in the turbulence-- calum, Jun 03 2021 Yes-- pocmloc, Jun 03 2021 random, halfbakery