The following is an overview of the events of1956 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.
The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had own significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see relatedseason articles.
| Date | Event | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| 29–30 April | 23rd Mille Miglia | [1] |
| 13 May | 14th Monaco Grand Prix | [2] |
| 30 May | 40th Indianapolis 500 | [3] |
| 4–14 June | 38th Isle of Man TT | [4] |
| 10 June | 40th Targa Florio | [5] |
| 28–29 July | 24th 24 Hours of Le Mans | [6] |
| 4 November | 3rd Macau Grand Prix | [7] |
| Date | Month | Name | Nationality | Occupation | Note | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | February | John Nielsen | Danish | Racing driver | 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (1990). | [8] |
| 2 | June | Jan Lammers | Dutch | Racing driver | 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (1988).FIA Sportscar champion (2002-2003). | [9] |
| 8 | Péter Besenyei | Hungarian | Air racer | Red Bull Air World Race champion (2003). | [10] | |
| 17 | August | Nigel Lamb | British | Air racer | Red Bull Air World Race champion (2014). | [11] |
| 8 | September | Stefan Johansson | Swedish | Racing driver | 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (1997). | [12] |
| 23 | December | Michele Alboreto | Italian | Racing driver | 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (1997). | [13] |
| Date | Month | Name | Age | Nationality | Occupation | Note | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | February | Johnny Claes | 39 | Belgian | Racing driver | The first BelgianFormula One driver. | [14] |
| 31 | March | Ralph DePalma | 73 | Italian-American | Racing driver | Indianapolis 500 winner (1915). | [15] |
| 17 | June | Bob Sweikert | 30 | American | Racing driver | Winner of theIndianapolis 500 (1955) | [16] |
| 29 | October | Louis Rosier | 50 | French | Racing driver | Winner of the24 Hours of Le Mans (1950) | [17] |
