What are the best motorsport series to bet on?
When you talk about sports betting most people will default to one of the more dominant sports such as football, basketball, or horses. Motorsports is one that goes under the radar a little bit but, actually, it’s quite the gem to get involved with.
Here we look at the best motorsports for wagering as we review the different sports, events, and markets available on online sports betting websites.
The key variables
Before we delve into the specific sports, there are a few factors you should keep a close watch on regardless of which sport you eventually opt for as your preferred motorsport. The race tracks all come in different shapes and sizes and track temperature and weather vary from race to race too. All of this will impact how drivers set up and how they drive, which is obviously a critical piece of information for predicting the outcome of any given race. Tracking these elements is your window to finding betting value.
So, what are the best motorsports for betting?
Formula One
Of all the motorsports for betting, Formula One is probably the most publicized with most of the elite drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen very much household names around the globe. Why though is F1 a sport that deserves your attention from a betting perspective? Well, you can tap into outright betting markets like which driver or team will win the Championship, you can wager on qualifying, race meets and more specific markets like fastest laps.
The very structure of the race weekends lends itself nicely to back and lay betting too with the possibility of ‘banking’ profit before races have even begun depending on how qualifying unfolds. Aside from the above, another key thing to consider is how the respective teams are performing; for example, there are scenarios where they’ll ask their number two driver to allow the first one to pass.
MotoGP
MotoGP is the motorbike equivalent of Formula One and, as such, comes with many of the same perks around betting. As we discussed earlier, factors like weather and the climate of the track play a big role in all motorsports but, arguably, they make the biggest difference in MotoGP so they should be a key driver of how you look to bet; studying driver and constructor form on different tracks should form a big part of any research.
The other thing that is worth noting with MotoGP is that it’s more fiercely competed than F1; this means there are more surprise finishes and, as a direct result, means there is more value to be had with the bookies.
Speedway Motorcycles
As we move on to talk about our next motorsport week thought we’d stay with motorbikes; speedway though is a far cry from the world of MotoGP. It is, however, still a world of opportunity for bettors. The main thing to note where speedway is concerned is the rapid turnaround of races – or heats as they’re technically known; the sheer number of these in a meet gives punters a fast moving set of betting markets to work in. This can be both a blessing and a curse as you try to capitalize on strong prices. With each ‘heat’ of a race usually seeing just four drivers boot it as fast as possible around dirt tracks your chances of finding a winner are perhaps heightened whilst you can also wager across the entire race event in terms of a straight winner of in respect of point accumulation.
Endurance Racing
Up until this point, we’ve poured our focus into motorsports that involve having the foot on the floor (so to speak). Endurance racing is cut from a slightly different cloth albeit speed is still important. The best-known example of a motorsport endurance race is unquestionably the 24 hour long Le Mans event, which is held annually. How does betting differ here then?
Take Le Mans as an example, we know very little about the race until close to event date; this creates opportunities to bet early to find value and, if using an exchange, potentially create a profitable exit when drivers are announced neater race time. As for the race itself, you’ll have in-race betting options galore.
IndyCar
IndyCar is a hugely popular sport, particularly in America, and it attracts a fair whack of money in betting markets. The betting options you have on IndyCar are very similar to that of Formula One with practice, qualifying and actual race meets taking place along with constructor championships, driver championships and a points scoring system.
As for key dates, like the Indy500, expect special bets to feature too. When it comes to the actual racing though, the two sports are very different. We’ve touched on the fact Indycar have teams and drivers like F1 but we haven’t detailed the fact Indy boasts a much bigger driver field, less variation in vehicle and straighter tracks leading to higher speeds.