For a club racing season that began with such uncertainty, the end result was an unexpected surprise. With the coronavirus pandemic leading to the familiar scenario of events being cancelled at the start of the year, there was concern about what 2021 had in store.
Many feared the real economic impact of COVID-19 would bite this year, after the initial shock in 2020. And yet the season ended with some impressive grid sizes, as you can read about here.
The British Automobile Racing Club was among those organisers fearing another difficult year.
“We went into this year in lockdown and didn’t know really what the world was going to throw at us for the next 12 months,” recalls group chief executive Ben Taylor.
“Our objective at the start of the year was to be in no worse position at the end of 2021 as we were in 2020. We saw this year as really a protection year – we thought it was batten down the hatches. Actually, it’s been one of the best years ever.”
But for the BARC – or any organiser – to achieve large grids has meant a lot of hard work behind the scenes amid ever-changing rules and advice as the pandemic situation has altered.
“Everybody I’ve come across is exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally, in some cases, and I think that’s the two years of COVID that’s left uncertainty and constantly changing your plans and protocols,” continues Taylor.
“Everybody has adapted so bloody well to everything that’s been thrown at them and rolled up their sleeves and got on with it. From marshals, to officials, to clerks and medics and rescue teams, they all mucked in and got on with it and did a brilliant job.”
At this time of year, it’s important to reflect on the efforts of everyone involved in running race meetings, who coped with the difficult situation so admirably. And it’s appropriate to praise those organisers who did particularly well over the past 12 months.
In the process of gathering the data needed to work out those average grid sizes, several other trends also emerged. The first was a greater variance between the number of entries from one event to the next.
“The evidence seems to be that people do want to cherry-pick events – they look at their budget, the dates and where they might want to be,” notes Historic Sports Car Club CEO Andy Dee-Crowne. “If you’re a middle-of-the-pack individual, so you’ve got no chance of winning a championship with the HSCC, you might look elsewhere – and we’ve got to cater for that.”
The trio of current/former grand prix circuits appear on the majority of club racing schedules and these wide, open venues do also permit a higher number of starters than others. Even so, these figures still show there can be no disputing that the so-called “bucket-list tracks” are drawing in the crowds
This was first noticed last year when the pandemic meant the season was essentially condensed into four months. Some competitors therefore put aside long-standing ties to particular clubs and wanted to race anywhere and everywhere; others were more specific and perhaps only raced at their local venue to cut down on travelling.
That trend has continued into this year, even when the world has gradually begun to open back up. The best example of this is the Classic Sports Car Club.
Admittedly, the fact that its series do not have championship status means there is not quite the same incentive for drivers to appear at every single round, but the club found itself going from long lists of reserves at Donington Park to markedly lower grids at Cadwell Park.
That theme ties in with another key trend – the popularity of arguably the three most famous circuits in the UK: Silverstone, Brands Hatch and Donington Park. Discarding the regional categories, 49 English series had their highest grid size of the year at Silverstone, 41 at Brands and 36 at Donington. The next highest was Snetterton on 15, and no other circuit made it into double figures.
Now, it must be considered that the trio of current/former grand prix circuits appear on the majority of club racing schedules (only 13 UK-wide series did not visit Brands this year, for example) and these wide, open venues do also permit a higher number of starters than others. Even so, these figures still show there can be no disputing that the so-called “bucket-list tracks” are drawing in the crowds, although clubs need to be careful to avoid becoming over-reliant on them.
By contrast, Snetterton leads the way as the location where categories had their lowest grids – on 21 and just ahead of Cadwell Park – but these were far more evenly distributed, with nine tracks into double figures.
But, for all the positives to take from the past 12 months, this is absolutely no time to be complacent. The past few weeks have shown that the threat of coronavirus has not gone away.
And the ever-growing calls for the abandonment of fossil fuels mean an even greater threat to national motorsport could be on the horizon. That is why it’s vital that clubs continue to work hard, look to the future and be as best-placed as possible to ensure that 2022 can be another successful year.
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