CLUB CORNER
One of the more unlikely alliances that has developed is with the Scottish circuit of Knockhill, a venue that is almost four hours’ drive from the Club’ s spiritual home of Croft. This connection came about due to the Club’ s Rallycross activities, and the fact that Croft’ s section of dirt circuit fell into disrepair.
“ Rory Butcher and Stuart Gray at Knockhill were prepared to reinstate their Rallycross circuit so that we could run there, as long one we guaranteed we would go for two or three years,” explains Starkey.“ We are now on the sixth year, and we have also built a very good relationship with them for Northern Saloons and for their Championships coming to support our events.”
The Club is not just about competition, it also has an extremely active section of around 20 marshals and Starkey adds:“ Whatever events we are at, we always support with marshals and our team is also at every event at Croft, so if they need anything, there is always somebody here to help.”
That off-track focus has, become one of the Club’ s biggest incomes, thanks to the innovative development of an inhouse rescue vehicle operation. At a cost of around £ 80,000 per vehicle, this was a mammoth investment, but it not only ensures cost-effective day-to-day running, it also brings in a healthy revenue throughout the year.
The unit is operated by a group of member volunteers and the Club has recently put four new trainees through the licence, with three more about to start.“ We have got people coming on all the time,” explains Starkey.“ We do almost all the Historic Sports Car Club meetings, the British Automobile Racing Club meetings, lots of rallying and anyone else who needs us.”
The ability to spot new opportunities like this, and to follow and deliver what people want, is one of the secrets of the Club’ s success, and Starkey concludes:“ The Club is innovative by being flexible and seeking different ways of doing things.
“ The display at Croft and the day in Darlington town centre are good examples of that. They are bringing awareness that motorsport does happen in the North East and that we are here if people want to get involved. We are always listening to people to see what they’ re looking for and work out how we can help.
“ Motorsport is not cheap to run, and collaboration is a big part of it now. In fact, only recently, I was asked by another Championship if they can join our Battle of Britain event in August and we made sure we could move things around to fit them in – because in motorsport, you need to be able to adapt to keep it all going.”
The club supports a wide variety of entries in its championships
To learn more about Darlington & District Motor Club see https:// darlingtondmc. com
Revolution- June 2025
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Tony Todd