What is the most challenging type of auto racing for the driver?
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Answer by Josh Hurley, Grand-Am Professional Driver
Quite frankly, there is no "most difficult." They all require similar but slightly different skill sets.
Open wheel racing (Formula 1, Indy, GP2)
Open wheel requires the best physical conditioning, full stop, and incredible precision. That said, the engineering might of the team make the cars easier to setup and develop, and while the car limits are high, they are well designed and harken back to karting skill sets. They are usually somewhat natural to drive for a racer. Here your physical conditioning, commitment, precision, and cockpit management (adjusting settings by your crew's orders) are most important.
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Nascar
While on the surface it looks very easy, it is actually very complicated. While the teams use full data systems during testing, they are banned on weekends. This is important as, due to the high speed and long duration corners, car setup is very crucial. Here is where we can see the feedback and communication skills of the driver. You must also be very precise as to where you lift off the gas has ramifications for your splitter height entering the corner (and thus chassis balance). In addition, you spend the majority of the race in very heavy and semi-equal traffic, creating a stressful condition for the driver. The skill sets to be successful here are feedback, communication, racecraft (how to pass and be passed), and precision.
Touring Cars
A unique form of racing. Here you are racing cars that start as street cars and are racing generally short (though some series run endurance races). While these cars are not very fast, or physically demanding, they are often very difficult to drive on the limit. Their street car heritage requires compromises in the setup so a driver must ring the neck of the car more often. Also the racing is usually very close like NASCAR, and the heavy cars (sometimes with large amounts of power) can require tire management to be key. In this form of racing, driver feedback is key, as far as setup of the car, race craft, and car control (ability to slide and catch the car).
Rally
Rally is all about flying down roads you don't necessarily fully know at top speed over a variety of surfaces. This presents incredible demands on the driver's car control abilities, as well as the drivers memorization and pace note ability if they have a recce (recon in the days before the rally). In addition, the ability to read terrain and determine what grip it will produce is crucial here, as is discipline. Many rally drivers push entierly too hard leading to crashes amongst the trees. The very best know when, and more importantly when not to, push. Summary for rally key skills are car control, terrain reading, memorization, and discipline
Sports Car Racing
It is very similar to touring cars, or open wheel cars, depending if you are driving prototypes or GT cars. Add in much longer races, co-drivers, and mixed class traffic, and you have a few skill sets to add. Racecraft, discipline, mental conditioning (mainly concentration length), and car control are keys for endurance. The reason car control comes into more play is you will share the cars with different drivers (some of you will likely want different things from the car), so your setup is compromised and you must find a way to coax speed out of it, without putting undue stress on the car, tires or yourself to make it through a long endurance race quickly.