Motorsport UK, formerly known as the Motor Sports Association (MSA), is a national membership organisation and governing body for four-wheel

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

in the United Kingdom. Legally, it is a not-for-profit private company limited by guarantee.

Responsibilities

Motorsport UK is recognised as the only motorsport governing body in the United Kingdom by the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...

(FIA). It is not concerned with motorcycle or

sidecar A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...

competitions, which are governed by the

Auto-Cycle Union The Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) is the governing body of motorcycle sport in Great Britain, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, but excluding Northern Ireland.

, nor does it cover

banger racing Banger racing is a tarmac, dirt, shale and chalk track type of motorsport event popular in countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Vehicles are raced against one another, with the winner being the first to the c ...

; but provides governance and representation for 12 other forms such as

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

circuit racing A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also ...

, drifting,

hill climbing numerical analysis, hill climbing is a mathematical optimization technique which belongs to the family of local search. It is an iterative algorithm that starts with an arbitrary solution to a problem, then attempts to find a better solution ...

and

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

. It has power under UK legislation to issue permits to event organisers wishing to close public highways for motorsport uses. The organisation claims its mission is to increase the number of participants in motorsport within the UK. It also claims to have within its community 720 affiliated motor clubs, 30,000 competition licence holders, 10,000 volunteer marshals and 4,000 officials, whilst authorising 5,000 event permits every year.

Structure

Motorsport UK is managed and organised by its board of directors, chaired by David Richards CBE. In March 2019 the constitution of Motorsport UK was changed by a unanimous vote of the council to bring it in line with

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

's code of governance and best practice. This is documented in the new memorandum and articles of association. Motorsport UK events organise the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...

, the

Rally of Great Britain Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calen ...

and from 2016 the

British Rally Championship The British Rally Championship is a rallying series based in the United Kingdom. The first championship was run in 1958 and it has been licensed by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) since 1999. MSA has opted not to run the series in 2015, in ...

, some of the flagship motor sports events in the United Kingdom. Motorsport UK and its subsidiaries employ over 55 full-time staff.

History

Motorsport UK began as the Royal Automobile Club's (RAC) Motor Sports Association in the late 1970s. Until this time motorsport events in the UK had been organised by motor clubs or independent parties who could implement their own rules with oversight by the RAC’s Competitions Committee. In 1975 the committee was replaced by the Motor Sports Council who standardised rules and their enforcement throughout the country. The RAC Motor Sports Association was legally formed in December 1977, and began organising and promoting events the following year. The MSA was rebranded as Motorsport UK in 2018, introducing its own new aim to increase participation as well as regulate the sport. In light of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, Motorsport UK barred Russian and Belarusian drivers from competing in British motorsport events, thus preventing Russian F1 driver

Nikita Mazepin Nikita Dmitryevich Mazepin ( rus, Ники́та Дми́триевич Мазе́пин, p=nʲɪˈkʲitə ˈdmʲɪtrʲɪjɪvʲɪtɕ mɐˈzʲepʲɪn; born 2 March 1999) is a Russian professional auto racing, racing driver who competes in rally ...

from participating in the upcoming 2022 edition of the

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

scheduled to be held in July (in any event, he was sacked by his team).

References

External links

Motorsport UK
{{Sports governing bodies of the United Kingdom Motorsport organisations in the United Kingdom Sports governing bodies in the United Kingdom National sporting authorities of the FIA

Responsibilities

Structure

History

See also

References

External links