JACOB EBREY
T his is the month when all eyes are on some of the UK biggest motorsport events – the British Grand Prix and the Goodwood Festival of Speed – and with almost 40 per cent of the nation identifying as‘ motorsport fans’ there’ s a huge opportunity to turn that interest into action.
National Motorsport Week was launched by Motorsport UK three years ago as a national participation campaign, with the ongoing ambition of helping clubs across the country recruit new members, retain existing ones and reconnect with those who have drifted away from the sport.
Whether it’ s putting on new events, or re-branding existing ones, it’ s a ready-made opportunity to be part of something big – and James Shore, at Borough 19 Motor Club, has seen the success it can achieve first hand.
“ One of our events falls in the same timeframe as National Motorsport Week, so we use the campaign to amplify what we’ re doing,” says Shore.“ It adds extra credibility and it displays we’ re in sync, working in tandem at both a regional and a national level.
“ It works really well because it’ s an established event and it’ s open to anyone, so it’ s great for existing members but also for newcomers – and if you have people on the committee wo are happy to reach out and be accessible, it can be a really good opportunity.”
The Borough 19 event – a club-level sprint – is the perfect format to benefit from the campaign and the club maximises its reach by offering a wide variety of different categories, and welcoming in other clubs from further afield.
“ We try to make the event relevant to as many competitors as possible – so we open it up to newcomers, but it is also part of 17 different championships,” Shore explains.“ They all use it as a part of their overall season – and that really draws people in.”
The club’ s committee works hard to deliver a well organised event that sends competitors home with a smile on their face – because whether first-timers, regular members or people returning after a racing break, it’ s all about keeping them coming back.
“ We’ re constantly looking at what we can do to help people, certainly those joining for the first time,” he says.“ I’ ve done my Motorsport UK Accelerator, for example, which is a course that gives you tools to help get more people of all ages involved in the sport.
Revolution Magazine 33