• Cars must be front-engined
• Cars must have a nominal passenger space beside the driver( although this can be filled with fuel tanks or fire extinguishers)
• Cars must meet set dimensions for width, rear wing height and overhang.
COVER STORY
Clubmans drivers at the start of the 2023 season, many of whom are back this season too
The cars are pinned down by very few regulations – with only three main rule stipulations:
• Cars must be front-engined
• Cars must have a nominal passenger space beside the driver( although this can be filled with fuel tanks or fire extinguishers)
• Cars must meet set dimensions for width, rear wing height and overhang.
The classes are defined by age and engine size. The top modern level, CSP1, is limited to 200hp from any 2-litre four-cylinder engine or a motorcycle engine up to 1600cc, while CSP2 runs the near-bullet-proof 130bhp MG1600. The historic classes are for pre-1981 chassis, with CSPA using 190bhp Ford Kent engines and CSPB using 105bhp Formula Ford 1600 engines.
“ The limited regulations mean that all the Clubmans cars are slightly different,” explains Richings.“ So many of the other categories in motorsport now are spec formulae, so there is nothing an engineer can do to make the car different. In Clubmans, even if you have two identical originals, they will have been developed differently over the years.
“ The cars and engines are so reliable, they go on for years, and it is kind of self-regulating too – the second-tier cars, for example, simply will not run such big brakes, because they do
10 not need them. The biggest differential is the skill of the driver, and this is amateur racing in the broadest sense: the best drivers are very good; others are just there for the fun of it.”
Over the years, the Clubmans Register has spread beyond the UK to run at many different international venues including Championship rounds at Mondello, Zandvoort, Nogaro and Croix-en-Ternois, while some UK competitors have also participated in Swedish Clubmans rounds at Anderstorp and Knutstorp.
Clubmans Sports Prototypes are also popular and successful on Hill Climbs and Sprint events too. To celebrate this, in this 60th anniversary year the Clubmans Register is organising a special Clubmans Class at the Prescott Historique Hill Climb meeting on 24th-25th May.
Many successful Clubmans drivers have gone on to greater things on track, including Will Hoy, Frank Sytner, Nick Adams, Creighton Brown, Mike Wilds, Tim Goss, Ray Mallock, Mark Charteris, while several Royal Automobile Club outright Hill Climb Champions also cut their teeth in these cars – including Andy Priaulx, Martin Bolsover, David Grace, Martin Groves and Chris Cramer.
Clubmans history has seen many different manufacturers come and go, including Phantom, Vision, Nemesis, Gryfon,
Revolution- April 2025