Motorsport must become more relevant
The head of British motorsport’s governing body has said that the sport must seek to regain its relevance when it emerges from the coronavirus pandemic crisis.
Speaking exclusively in the latest in Autosport’s series of #thinkingforward podcasts, Motorsport UK chairman David Richards said: “Motorsport historically over the last 100 years has led the way in so many different areas. It’s led the way in developing new technologies for car manufacturers, it’s acted as a wonderful marketing platform for car manufacturers, it’s had a lot of relevance and interest from young people from a whole raft of different aspects, and we’ve drifted away from that.
“In perhaps the last 20 years, at the senior level of the sport, the focus has become around entertainment and less so about driving forward with technology advances. There are exceptions to this, and Formula E is a great example of that, but we’ve got to find ways of making ourselves more relevant.
“If we are viewed just as a group of people who like to go round in circles, burning rubber and fossil fuels, we will be ostracised. We have to make ourselves far more appropriate to the times and that’s one of the challenges we face as a governing body.”
Richards added that the UK’S pre-eminent position in motorsport means it has a responsibility to lead the way forward globally, and said that CEO Hugh Chambers is part of a task force including other national ASNS for policy making.
“We have been for many years the leading light in motorsport worldwide,” said Richards. “We’ve got a thriving industry and participation. So our duty is to take a lead and I think some of the things we’ve been doing recently have shown that we’re prepared to do that as well.”