What is the proper word for a car race?

Question

I just cannot find the proper word for a car race (as well as other kinds of races). PIV and ReVo suggest vetkuro for a competition between sport contestants (ReVo: Kuro inter sportaj konkuranto) but the kuro part of the word makes me feel odd, as cars don't have legs to run. There are also konkuro and konkurso but they do not really capture the meaning, or at least that is how I understand them.

So, is any of those words applicable or are there others that capture the meaning better? Or should the concept be described with more words?

Answer 1

Boats don't have legs either and they can participate in vetkuro. Vetkuro is the word you're looking for.

From PIV (vortaro.net)

vetkuro. kurado inter sportaj konkurantoj: ĉevalvetkuro, boatvetkuro, velvetkuro ktp.

Consider that the second and third definition of kuri in PIV don't require legs. In English we talk about water running down the gutter without even thinking about legs.

Answer 2

Kuri can be used for most forms of rapid movement which resemble running.

For the concept of race, PIV gives vetkuro, but the choice is somewhat problematic. Vetkuro originally referred to horse-racing, and the word veti means "to bet". This is a problem because gambling is not just controversial, but illegal in some places.

The relevant Wikipedia article uses aŭtosporto for car racing, which is a reasonable choice, but kurkonkurenco is definitely wrong—the intention must have been kurkonkurso ("run competition"), and that is still a tongue-twister. Eichholz's visual dictionary gives motorsporto for motor sports in general, (konkursa) rapidaŭto or konkursaŭto for race car, and aŭto-konkurso for car race. However, some car competitions, such as those at car shows, concern appearance or workmanship, not racing.

My choice would be aŭtokuro or aŭtkuro, or possibly aŭta kunkuro to make it clear that there is more than one participant.