“Reverse?!? Sh*t! First? First!” In complete darkness and somewhere along a B-road on the outskirts of Basingstoke, it’s been a shaky start to this writer’s first exploits on a 12 Car Rally.
Only minutes into the event a three-point turn is being attempted after missing the required junction. Not helping is the maddening gearbox layout of the borrowed 2011 Mini Cooper I’m at the wheel of, which has reverse and first gear next to each other and means selecting the wrong gear becomes an unwelcome and frequent theme throughout the evening.
More important, and certainly on a more positive note, is that I’m competing in the event in a standard road-going vehicle, which is at the heart of governing body Motorsport UK’s StreetCar initiative. The concept was launched in the middle of 2022 and has grown steadily over the past 18 months, with more than 50 affiliated clubs joining the scheme at the start of this year and more signing up.
Events range from a 12 Car Rally – held for up to 12 crews on public roads – to autotests and autosolos, enjoyed in an enclosed environment around a small, designated course, as well as speed events, treasure hunts, gymkhanas and more.
“When we launched it, we didn’t really know how big the uptake would be and whether it was going to be a marginal success or a storm of people coming into the sport,” says Motorsport UK CEO Hugh Chambers.
“One thing that I think was crucial was that we created a StreetCar charter for clubs, and in order for a club to become a StreetCar club it had to sign up to the charter and make sure it had certain things in place. Principally around welcoming newcomers, so if somebody does get in touch and says, ‘I’d love to do a 12 Car Rally’, there’s somebody who’s going to assist them and walk them through the process and welcome them in.”
All of which brings me to the Basingstoke Motor Club and its Pumpkin 12 Car Rally held in October. Having applied for a free RS Clubman licence through the Motorsport UK website, paid £20 for additional insurance specifically for the event and with no entry fee for any of the competitors, I’m good to go.
Source: Autosport