RevolutionApril 2020 The official magazine of CLUB TOGETHER HOW MOTORSPORT UK’S £1M CLUB CONTINUITY FUND PROVIDES MUCH-NEEDED SUPPORT FOR MOTOR CLUBS COVID-19 FEATURE WHAT’S ON LATEST McRAE’S GET YOUR CORONAVIRUS RALLY GB DIGITAL NEWS & ADVICE LEGACY ESPORTS FIX PLUS + NEWS + CLUB CORNER + INSIDE HQ + RESULTS Serious Products ® Regardless of whether you are ghting for championship glory, or just racing for fun, racing is a serious business. You want to maximise and improve your performance as a driver but are you neglecting to unlock the full potential of your race car? Sunoco Race Fuels and Driven Racing Oil are about getting maximum power from your engine, whilst minimising failures. Preserving power and, due to reduced wear, saving money on engine rebuilds. Serious racers use serious products. Put Driven Racing Oil and Sunoco Race Fuels on your list for the 2020 season ® Anglo American Oil Company +44 (0) 1929 551557 www.aaoil.co.uk CEO’s MESSAGE Hugh Chambers “Our mission is to influence our government and lobby hard for the case that motorsport should be able to resume as quickly as possible” I very much hope that everyone is At the centre of all of this is the club. country time and time again. managing to stay safe and in good Motorsport revolves around our 720 And that is the reason that we have health in these most difficult times. clubs, and it is that infrastructure created the Club Continuity Fund to But we understand there may have that allows our 45,000 drivers to support our clubs through this desperate been some personal tragedy and our compete and do so in a safe, fair and Coronavirus crisis. The provision of £1 thoughts are with anyone affected in fun way. Each year we issue around million, for a mixture of grants and such a way. I would also like to thank 4,500 event permits, which start to interest free loans, is there to ensure all in motorsport who are doing so crystalise in November and December that our clubs can manage to survive the much to help in this battle against of the year before. Gradually clubs economic impact from the suspension the Coronavirus – from the engineers begin to populate the calendar with of all motorsport, and the overall effects providing innovative solutions to old favourites and new creations. With that the crisis has on society. The the equipment shortages, to our own eleven disciplines, both on road and off, crucial thing is that we can come back community members now fighting on at fixed venues and temporary, on closed from this terrible period with renewed the medical front line and volunteering roads and open hillsides, our playing energy and with the structures that can in so many ways. We all owe you a great field is varied in the extreme – and it create events swiftly and effectively. Full debt of gratitude. is the expertise that sits in our clubs details of the Club Continuity Fund are that know how to organise and manage For it is community that lies at the on page 24. events effectively. heart of sport. Despite the inherently For our own part as the governing body, competitive nature of the activity, there I joined my first club in 1972, what was Motorsport UK responded swiftly to the is a collective mission and shared the Solihull and Shenington Kart Club, growing pandemic. We have furloughed passion that draws people together. and that transformed my teenage life. I a third of our staff and reduced all other Motorsport is especially demanding well remember the family atmosphere staff salaries. We have taken all of the on resources, human and otherwise, to and camaraderie especially on a freezing appropriate measures to freeze our even exist. And it is the convergence of morning in January for the monthly club expenditure until further notice and put so many elements, from the marshals, meeting when everyone went around on hold major projects including the officials, volunteers, competitors, the track with spades to chip the ice off planned move to Bicester. With only a mechanics and support teams that the tarmac! And when I get the chance fraction of our annual revenue achieved week in week out work together, help to visit the same club now, there still it is a time to batten down the hatches, each other out when things go wrong remain some familiar faces that have and preserve our resources carefully, so (and go right) and often make life-long been stalwarts of the club for decades. that we may emerge in good shape to friendships. That little story is repeated round the foster the renewal of motorsport. Revolution - April 2020 3 CEO’s MESSAGE But at the same time, we are committed to providing as full a range of services “The provision of £1 million, for a mixture of to our members as possible, with the grants and interest free loans, is there to remaining staff working from home and connected through Zoom and Microsoft ensure that our clubs can manage to survive Teams conferencing and remote the economic impact from the suspension of working environments. If nothing else, I think we have all learnt some better all motorsport” ways of working and proven that it is not always essential to meet physically to have the communal exchanges of • Launched Esports competitions with services. Although our support teams ideas and debate on a full agenda of the British Kart Championships and are volunteers, we cannot place any items. Most committees have been the British Rally Championships pressure on the national infrastructure meeting remotely and doing really • Engaged with our community via or be seen to do so. But please be valuable work. initiatives such as the new Weekly assured we are doing all that we can to get us running again. Some of the important initiatives in Quiz on Facebook the past month include the launch of • Launched the #StayOnTrackChallenge For a nation in lockdown, it is also a the Learning Hub for Officials, and then with the Motorsport UK Academy time for reminiscing as you occupy your a couple of weeks later for Clubs with members plus members of the time at home, and unbelievably it’s 25 modules on Event Stewarding, motorsport community years since Colin McRae won the World Safeguarding Awareness and Electric Rally Championship, which I am sure But what everyone wants to know is Vehicles. Additional materials will most of you will remember. I certainly when we can resume motorsport? The follow to cover guidance for Secretary do as it was my first year with the simple answer is that we have to follow of the Meeting, and an on-line version Subaru World Rally Team, and a dream government policy and guidelines, of the Club and Event Officials Seminars finale that saw Colin beating Carlos by as this will dictate what we can and which were held at the start of the 36 seconds (after losing a minute on cannot do. However, our mission is to year but cut short by the Coronavirus the first day with a puncture), and with influence our government and lobby issue. We will upload new “How to future WRC champion Richard Burns hard for the case that motorsport guides” for clubs at the same time, and completing the podium in blue and some Competitor modules and videos should be able to resume as quickly yellow it was extraordinary. We hope by the end of the month. as possible. To do that we are working you enjoy the feature on page 36. closely with the Department of Culture Finally, it was very sad to hear the news Motorsport UK hosted three “COVID-19 Media and Sport (DCMS) and with them of Sir Stirling Moss passing away at Club Survival” Webinars attended by developing a policy for the criteria by Easter, and the end of an era. We will all representatives of clubs from across the which a sport may start to be active. country, we are planning further one- miss his unique blend of gentlemanly Some of these are generic, and some hour webinars, as well as longer format conduct mixed with a supreme talent will be very specific to us. We are in-depth club planning workshops with and fierce competitive spirit. I think we drawing up guidelines by individual a range of panellists to support our will always place him in our roll call disciplines to see what measures clubs through this period of Motorsport of the greatest and regret that he was of safety can be taken according to suspension. Other initiatives include: not our eleventh Formula One world the nature of the competition. One champion, for surely, he deserved that • Creation of COVID-19 resource centre of the largest debates is on ‘closed accolade. with signposting to latest government doors’ competition, which for 95% advice, with Q&As and resource links of our events is not an issue as they Please stay safe and keep well in these difficult times. • Tailored Member Benefits: focus on are not reliant on spectators to fund member benefits that can be accessed the activity. But challenges lie ahead, Kind regards, at home or help while away the hours including the essential work of the Hugh Chambers from home medical community and the emergency CEO, Motorsport UK Revolution - April 2020 5 Fuel savings available with yourEurope 2 Valid 00/00 ESSO CARD 5 2 FREE FUEL1 136 CARD Apply for yours today at www.essocard.com/motorsportuk National 2 Valid 00/00 ESSO CARD 5 2 1 136 DO YOU REQUIRE FUEL CARDS DO YOU WANT FUEL CARDS FOR A BUSINESS? FOR PERSONAL USE? The Esso Card™ can offer you The UK Fuels Card can offer you • Save on average 5p on Esso Synergy fuels* • Save on average 5p on diesel fuel* and half a • The Esso Card™ gives you access to over 3,400 sites, penny off Tesco fuels including all BP and Shell