MOTORSPORT UK: £1M SUPPORT TAKE-UP “NOT OVERWHELMING”
Governing body says that the strength of organising clubs is demonstrated by limited hand-outs
Motorsport UK says “moderate” take-up of its £1 million coronavirus support shows clubs’financial strength, though the British Automobile Racing Club says the scheme was not tailored to large clubs.
The UK’S national governing body has admitted that the take-up of its grant and loan package, unveiled in April to help racing clubs through Covid-19’s financial consequences, has been “not overwhelming”, but it believes this demonstrates clubs’ health.
Motorsport UK CEO Hugh Chambers told Motorsport News of the take-up: “It’s been moderate I would say, it’s not been overwhelming which of course is very good news because it’s a barometer of the health of the infrastructures of clubs. The feedback [from clubs] to the initiative was massively positive.”
BARC’S group CEO Ben Taylor told MN however: “I think it [the support] wasn’t aimed at clubs of the size of BARC. It needed to make a material difference to the survival or otherwise of a club [to qualify].
“BARC, for example, is a £13m turnover operation [so] it’s difficult to see how a £10,000 grant would make the difference to the survival of a large club or not.”
Ken Davies, chairman of Castle Combe Racing Club which also did not take up the support, told MN: “I don’t think we could justify the claiming of an emergency grant at this moment in time.
“We’re in good shape, so there’d be a little bit of a conscience if we were to put a claim in when there are probably a lot more people out there who are in far more precarious circumstances.”