The 2010s saw many changes in how the sport and individual events were run with more regulation, additional safety measures, increased costs and the need for more stage-hands on the day of each event. There were changes too in the Forestry Commission which was broken up and devolved to ‘regional’ governments and brought with it new challenges to be overcome by organisers, and there was change too within the sport’s governing body as Colin Hilton, the CEO of RAC MSA, and Chairman Alan Gow left the building to be replaced by Hugh Chambers as CEO and David Richards CBE in the Chair in 2018.
And if we thought we were in for a more sympathetic ear well that disappeared down the turbo and out the exhaust didn’t it? Come the year 2020 and Covid interrupted the majority of outdoor sports and no doubt this gave our governors a bit of a chance to sit back and ponder the future – hence my unkind and unfair thought ‘idle hands’! The result of course was the ‘Motorsports Safety Review’ and the implementation of its many new recommendations and requirements.
Admittedly the sport had to change. In fact much of it was down to the aftermath of two separate fatal accidents in 2013 and 2014 which led to a Fatal Accident Inquiry by the Scottish Government. It wasn’t simply a matter of keeping competitors safe there was a wider responsibility to ensure the general public was kept safe. Common sense and self-preservation were no longer regarded as sufficient guidelines for spectators.
Just as football, and other sports too, had to change their management of attending crowds, motor sport had to do so too, and whilst we may not agree with the new measures which have been introduced, we have to accept them and run with it.
There was of course another change in 2020, when the RAC Motorsports Association transformed itself into Motorsport UK. We got a new logo, a new address and of course new upper management and to be fair to them all, it is still work in progress. We may be critical, and very harsh at times, but change is never easy, and the right change will always be harder to please everyone.
And so as a new season beckons we all have a part to play, so it’s belts on, buckle up and carry on.
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