A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the paddock, pit boxes, fences and grandstands are usually installed temporarily and removed soon after the race is over but in modern times the pits, garages, race control and main grandstands are sometimes permanently constructed in the area. Since the track surface is originally planned for normal speeds, race drivers often find street circuits bumpy and lacking grip. Run-off areas may be non-existent, which makes driving mistakes more expensive than in purpose-built circuits with wider run-off areas. Racing on a street circuit is also called "legal street racing".
Local governments sometimes support races held in street circuits to promote tourism. In some cases, short segments or connector roads of the circuit are purpose-built for the racecourse, and remain in place year-round, but are not otherwise utilized by public traffic.