Stubbornly high inflation, a squeeze on incomes and weak economic growth. The UK’s financial situation during 2023 does not exactly sound like the ideal conditions for motorsport to thrive. And yet, there have been encouraging signs of resilience in the club racing world, with some impressive entries over the past year.
Yes, it has not been easy for organisers and it is far from a successful picture across the board, but the fact that 65 of the 124 English/Welsh categories (52%) with comparable data to last year either grew their average number of starters or stayed the same versus their 2022 figure is pretty remarkable.
Like last season, 10 series again averaged over 35 cars per round, with the 750 Motor Club’s 116 Trophy leading the way for those not sometimes split over two separate grids with a super 44. Other top performers include the British Racing & Sports Car Club’s Clubsport Trophy and Swinging Sixties from the Classic Sports Car Club.
But, perhaps more encouraging are the overall averages for each of the major clubs. All of these either remained the same or increased and that is the clearest indication of how motorsport stood firm against the tricky economic winds. Three categories did have average grids of 10 cars or below, but these were very much the outliers.
Here we break down how each of the clubs performed – with the Irish, Northern Irish and Scottish series not included as these have a smaller pool of competitors to draw from – and it is far from all doom and gloom as per those financial headlines.