Preparing for hybrid/electric

While the pursuit of further safety in motorsport is never ending, so too is the search for greater performance.

New technologies are constantly being adopted by championships and teams, not only for performance purposes but also in a bid to stay relevant in the 21st century.

The UK’S leading series, the British

Touring Car Championship, has done just that by announcing last week that it would use hybrid technology from the 2022 season which will be supplied by

Cosworth Electronics.

It’s a decision which Ryan believes is the correct one, as the championship attempts to attract manufacturers which use the technology on their own vehicles.

“It was very interesting and very bold but I think a very good move for the BTCC, [they] see what is happening in the future with production cars going down the hybrid route," he says.

“Now they’re introducing it for 2022

I think that’s a very big reflection with what’s happening on the road.”

With hybrid and electrical technology starting to become more widely used in UK motorsport, it’s imperative that officials and marshals are up to speed on safety procedures.

Motorsport UK is taking a lead on this, and according to Ryan, wants to become world leaders in training.

“What we have done this year, we’ve actually taken a very active approach with our officials,” he says.

“We started off at the beginning of the year at our annual seminar for scrutineers [and] we had a complete session on electrified motorsport. So dealing with hybrids, electric vehicles, etc, and it’s building their awareness.

“We’re now building that into an electronic training module we want to filter out across the board to marshals and all sorts of other officials and I believe we’ll be far ahead of the game for most national sporting authorities across the world.

“It’s very much a vision from David Richards [chairman of Motorsport UK] as well, he’s really asked us to concentrate on electrified motorsport.”