Talk:Gymkhana (motorsport)

American gymkhana

"American gymkhana", as far as I can determine, was the name of a single event which was held for the first time ever in 2007. It was put on by gymkhanausa.com, who have announced plans for a second event in 2008. One event does not constitute a sub-genre. I don't believe that merits its own sub-definition on this page. --John Stimson (talk) 00:35, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Accuracy and Referencing

"Essentially, a gymkhana is any event featuring a starting point, a finish line and some sort of "obstacle" to get through, around, or by, all within a time limit."

I would LOVE to see a reference for this. now, obviously the concept of gymkhana is familiar to pretty much everyone in the automotive industry. all of the normal low speed tests (reducing radius cones for example) are essentially gymkhana style racing... However, Gymkhana is a term that describes a very specific type of motorsport that has been most significantly developed upon in Japan and with respect to drifting. You must realize that, even though the specific style of driving may have existed before, it is SPECIFICALLY an evolution of a very japanese sport. Even though modifications and changes have been made by its rocket to popularity (it has most recently been kind of "melded" with rally sport), its description and classification MUST be taken in context with its "origins" as an organized and structured form of motorsport. Gymkhana events were originated in Japan. They were never called "Gymkhana" outside of Japan. The format that impressed/influenced rally drivers and international drivers was that same Japanese format. It was popularized through diffusion of Japan's very democratic motorsport scene... much of it comes from american, australian, and european drifters and even touring car racers who saw the motorsports scene in japan, and brought much of it back to their home countries. Without question, Gymhkana is most deeply rooted in drifting. It began as essentially "super-low" speed drifting competitions, that were organized around completion of a circuit (as opposed to judging with drifting).

it was something that you could do with an entry level, very low powered, possibly unmodified RWD car in the PARKING LOT. that is the whole point (BTW).... that gymkhana was created as a parking lot sport. That is why "parking" is part of most Gymkhana events, and why donuts and 180 degree turns feature prominently. It all evolves out of minimal drive space. Furthermore, the entire planned circuit was originally performed with cones on flat land. all of these elements define the "origin" of gymkhana.

the nonsense that Ken Block does is NOT gymkhana. He simply found a name that he could attach to his own preferred format for "cool looking" driving. not quite rally, not quite drifting... but this is innacurate. Gymkhana is exceptionally difficult with AWD cars because they are typically too heavy and have too much grip. Gymkhana is basically pure RWD, though it is possible to do it with FWD.

Whoever wrote this article must have gotten their primer from an X-games or ESPN blurb or from a Ken Block website, lol. if you really want to learn about Gymkhana, go and rent/buy a Japanese motorsport DVD from 1996. 68.6.76.31 (talk) 08:26, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

You are so ignorant man, lol. Did you even bother looking for the origin of the word before writing your personal experience? 2800:150:107:330:69DB:486:C8FB:3224 (talk) 17:28, 20 January 2023 (UTC)

Just googling around English websites one might be forgiven for thinking that this sport was the creation of Mr. Ken Block. If there is anyone who feels even vaguely capable of giving a more balanced view of the origin and growth of this sport I would strongly urge you to do so, it seems this article couldn't possibly be any worse than it is at the moment. HeathrowArchives (talk) 20:14, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

The article and the piece above seems to imply that this is some sort of modern concept. Car clubs have been holding gymkhanas since the 1940s at least. Here's a link to news story about one in 1960 [1]. Mighty Antar (talk) 23:28, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

I drove in a few Gymkhana way back in the 70s in Bucks county colledge lot and also Fort Dix new Jersey I drove a Sunbeam Tiger and did great. I wish they were still around. I bet all these young Nissan and fast and Furious fans would love to get off the street and show off what they can do.Im sure there is a lot of emty space around like Fort Dix nj to make a course for road racing fans like me.These newage drivers spend alot of money on there cars for shows and I bet they want to show what they can do in a safe off road racing course. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.125.203.254 (talk) 17:01, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

Etymology

Where does this strange sounding word comes from? --212.23.103.26 (talk) 00:22, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

The OED says that it's Anglo-Indian - "Said to be a refashioning, by assimilation of the first syllable to that of gymnastics, of Hindustani gend-khāna ‘ball-house’, the name given to a racquet-court." It developed from meaning ‘A place of public resort at a station, where the needful facilities for athletics and games of sorts are provided’. Through (esp. in European use), an athletic sports display. Now specifically a meeting at which horses and their riders take part in games and contests; also a competition designed to test driving skill. Their first recorded use of the word was in 1861. Mighty Antar (talk) 01:40, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

First things first: Check Wikipedia. Obviously it stems from Gymkhana (equestrian). I added a link to that effect. Further etymology should be clarified there. --BjKa (talk) 08:34, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Clarification

In the sections talking about the Japanese structure & format, the organisation "FIA" and "JAF" are mentioned several times, but given no definition. Can someone "in the know" please define/link/expand? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.210.145.34 (talk) 07:15, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

FIA is here: FIA. JAF has a link (to an uncreated page) here: JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.199.2.124 (talk) 01:09, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

Merge with Motorkhana

Seems to me to be about the same thing. Discuss either here or there according to WP:PM --BjKa (talk) 08:34, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

X Games

I found out this exists half an hour ago through the X Games Facebook feed. The Gymkhana GRID event is apparently merging (or something temporary to the same effect) with the X Games, etc. etc. Here's a video about this: http://xgam.es/BlockGRID

I don't know enough about the extant panorama of Gymkhana competitions to accurately place the new X Games Gymkhana event, but it definitely should be mentioned in an activity as obscure as this. Dnavarro (talk) 00:32, 1 August 2013 (UTC)