Newly licenced drivers will come into contact with Motorsport UK when they apply for their first competition licence. Thereafter they will have more immediate contact with the local club officials, and licenced volunteer officials. Some of those they meet in the course of their kart racing career may well be on one or more of the Motorsport UK or Karting UK specialist committees who propose and amend the regulations. (Regulation changes are put out for consultation via the Motorsport UK website, inviting comment before ratification.) Any disputes or appeals which are not held at the actual race meeting will be referred to the National Court for adjudication. Occasionally a driver may meet with the salaried members of Motorsport UK which can be thought of as the Civil Service, the Council as the parliament, and the Executive as the government, but would be more accurately described as the Sporting Commission.
Motorsport UK is the appointed body (the ASN) for the governance of 4-wheeled motor sport in the UK, whilst internationally the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) with its subsidiary the CIK (Commission Internationale de Karting) which is responsible for kart racing.
MOTORSPORT UK
The RAC (Royal Automobile Club) embraced the new sport of kart racing in 1959 and set some initial regulations. In the early years there were up to 100 different manufacturers and the sport attracted famous racing drivers and many spectators. The RAC rules set minimum age limits, which over the years have been gradually reduced until now when youngsters can compete in Bambino karts from the age of 6, and race in Cadets at 8. The RAC formed a Kart Committee to look after the sport. In 1975 the RAC formed the Motor Sports Council and in 1979 the RAC Motor Sports Association was created. When the RAC was sold, the Motor Sports Association became an independent body, a not for profit organisation. It is headquartered at Bicester Heritage from February 2021. From 12th November 2018 the MSA was rebranded as Motorsport UK with our discipline as Karting UK.
Committee Structure
Specialist committees for each motor sport discipline review their relevant regulations and advise the MSC when changes are needed. There are also specialist sub-committees and advisory panels on such as Safety, Judicial, Medical, Technical, Timekeeping and Volunteer Officials. The committees and panels are largely made up of volunteers drawn from competitors, officials, clubs, organisers and administrators. Most often the secretariat for each committee will be from the permanent (approximately 35) members of staff of Motorsport UK. Many clubs belong to a Regional Association, and are represented through them onto Motorsport UK Regional Committee. The ABkC has positions on the Kart Technical sub-group, which considers any changes to the technical regulations and if agreed forwards these to Kart Committee for discussion. If Kart Committee agree they add them to any sporting regulations they wish to change and the drafts are put on the Motorsport UK website for consultation with the general motorsport community. That time is the opportunity for drivers or clubs to make their comments which will be reviewed at the next Kart Committee meeting. Then the final proposals will be sent to the Rules Committee and then the Executive for final ratification (or rejection). Some of the regulations are also sent round the other committees or panels, like Safety, Medical or Judicial. Likewise Kart Committee can make comments on proposed new regulations that affect karting, e.g. from Race Committee. We have people on Safety and Regional Committee, the latter where a representative of each Regional Association come together to discuss the sport on a quarterly basis. So unless there is an urgent safety need, new or amended regulations for the Blue Book can take well over a year to be ratified. Generally any major change to the class regulations are promulgated 4 – 6 months before the start of the following year. The ABkC is one of the prime contributors in suggesting changes to regulations in kart racing.
Other Motorsport UK activities
Motorsport UK also has a commercial subsidiary named as the International Motor Sports Ltd which organises such as the British Grand Prix and the International Rally of Great Britain amongst other things. They put out tenders and awards contracts for British Championships in all the disciplines. It is funded primarily from the licence and event permit fees and promotes motor sport in many ways including young driver support. Go Motorsport and Lets Go Karting were examples of initiatives designed to involve the public and make them aware of the possibilities of participating in motor sport activities. There are funds available to help clubs and relevant organisations. Motorsport UK is also empowered to authorise the use of public highways in England and Wales for motor sport and has an arrangement with the Forestry Commission for the use by rallies. Of course Motorsport UK publishes the competitors Yearbook (the ‘Blue Book’) and the Karting Yearbook (the ‘Gold Book’) containing all the regulations. It has also formulated many guideline and policis including a Child Safeguarding Policy, which extends to all clubs involved with minors, and organises DBS checks for motor sport volunteers where required. There are training schemes for officials, with regular seminars to keep them updated.
Facts and figures
Most of Motorsport UK’s income is derived from the sale of 30,000 plus competition licences, of which almost 4,000 are for kart racing. An important part is the arrangement for insurance of motor sport events. Drivers pay for this through a ‘per capita’ part of their entry fees. Some 750 clubs are recognised, of which about 30 are active kart clubs.
The National Court
If a dispute from a race meeting is referred to the National Court, they may sit to adjudicate. Appeals against the decision of the Stewards of the Meeting can be made on the grounds of a gross miscarriage of justice or that the penalty is wholly inappropriate. If accepted then a hearing will be set up. Usually one or more of the members of the National Court will be an experienced lawyer. The appellant is also allowed to have an advocate and call witnesses. If the dispute is over an alleged technical eligibility issue, then the Stewards at the race meeting will not be deemed competent to make a decision, and will refer the matter to an Eligibility Appeal Panel. Generally this is adjudicated on the written submissions of both parties and there will be no right to an oral hearing.
