The tricky economic conditions of 2023 meant it was not necessarily the ideal time to launch a new club racing series in the UK. Nevertheless, a raft of different organisers introduced fresh categories last season - some of which were more familiar than others.
Rating how each of those new series performed is far from straightforward as there are so many factors to consider. Pure entry numbers are one metric to assess them by but things are far more nuanced than that - as a new contest for Ferraris naturally has a far smaller pool of competitors to draw upon than one for Mazda MX-5s.
But here Autosport has attempted to rate each of 2023's 10 new divisions out of five, taking into account these factors and also the pre-season expectations of how each was likely to perform, as well as looking at any changes organisers are making for their sophomore campaigns.
Legends Elite Cup - 4 stars
The Legends proved a popular addition to the British Touring Car bill at three events last year with packed grids and plenty of dramatic racing. And the idea of running a mini-championship across the trio of appearances worked well.
Tweaks are being made for this year, when the Legends are back thrice more, as the points from these events will now count for the overall championship. This is intended to ensure drivers contest the full season and not just the headline-grabbing BTCC outings.
Ginetta GT Championship - 2.5 stars
Ginetta has a pretty good track record when it comes to introducing new championships, but the Ginetta GT category was not exactly a huge hit. Featuring classes for a middle-of-the-range spec G56 and the old GT5 G40s, just 16 cars were averaged across the season and, at times, it barely mustered double figures.
Boosting its fortunes is unlikely to be the work of a moment and it may take several years of development for the numbers to pick up. Ginetta has put plenty of prospective drivers behind the wheel of the GT Pro G56, but how many actually sign up to the series remains to be seen.
Audi TT Cup Racing - 3 stars
There was a time, prior to the start of last season, where the potential grids for the British Racing & Sports Car Club’s new Audi TT Cup Racing category looked like they could be massive. Parts kits to build cars for the series were sold at a rapid rate and scores of machines were being prepared.
It was therefore somewhat disappointing that ‘just’ 16 made it onto the grid for the opening round and it peaked at 22 later in the year. Now, let’s be clear, these are very respectable numbers for a newly launched class, just not quite as stunning as anticipated.
But there are plenty of encouraging signs for this season, especially with over 40 drivers registering and 34 signing up for the first round within a few days of entries opening. Established squads like Rob Boston Racing are set to join the fray, while its place as a permanent support category to TCR UK will help boost its profile as it also achieves championship status.
The affordability and pace of these sportscars are key selling points and the BRSCC believes the Audis could one day become as popular as the Mazda MX-5s for which it currently runs three separate championships. Based on the early 2024 interest, that goal may not be as ambitious as it first sounds.
Bell Sport Challenge Series - 2.5 stars
Any series that is dedicated to modern Ferraris is always going to have a very limited pool of competitors to draw upon. And it was perhaps therefore no surprise that MotorSport Vision Racing’s new category attracted an average grid that only just crept into double figures.
But Bell Sport & Classic is a Ferrari specialist and, if anyone can tempt owners of the machines from Maranello onto the track, it would be its experts. New to the realm of series promotion, undoubtedly experience gathered from 2023’s inaugural season will help refine the offering moving forward. MSVR believes it was a very solid start and has been working to ensure the numbers will be stronger this time around.
Evolution Trophy - 2.5 stars
The British Racing & Sports Car Club’s decision to launch a series to house a collection of new concepts that are not yet ready to stand on their own two feet with bespoke races made a lot of sense. As can be seen across this feature, enjoying instant success with a fresh offering is rare and therefore having somewhere where they can race, prove their worth and build interest without the expense of running standalone grids is logical.
In 2023, the Evolution Trophy was supposed to feature machinery from the Classic VW Cup, Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy, BMW 1 Series Supercup and Cooksport Renault Cup, however only one BMW appeared at one event all year. While the series averaged a decent 19 cars overall, none of these individual categories really looked close to breaking out and going solo.
That is now the key issue moving forward. If, by the end of this year, there is still no standout consistently attracting low-to-mid-teens, then the purpose of the series is somewhat diminished. To prove its worth, there must be progression for at least some of the classes, otherwise the Evolution Trophy may well need to evolve itself.
Miata Trophy - 3.5 stars
On the surface, MotorSport Vision Trackdays’ decision to launch a new Mazda MX-5 category seemed like a cunning ploy to steal competitors from rival clubs. But MSVT insists the series originated from its Trackday Championship and Trackday Trophy series, which were regularly oversubscribed and contained 22 MX-5s among the registered drivers. It therefore decided to create its own series for the sportscars to free up space on its other grids.
Although the overall average was an encouraging 22 – one of the highest among this feature – the fact 57 different racers competed across the course of the season demonstrates that plenty wanted to give it a go. Now the key question is how many of those that sampled the Miata Trophy in 2023 will be back this year – and, more importantly, will they commit to entering more rounds?
116 Sprint Trophy & 120 Coupe Cup - 3 stars
Out of all of the additions to the club racing marketplace in 2023, it was the 750 Motor Club’s combined 116 Sprint Trophy & 120 Coupe Cup grid that achieved the highest average with 31 cars. And that was possible to predict beforehand, given the growing popularity of the BMW 116s. The sister enduro series topped the 750MC’s average grids tables and plenty wanted to race the machines over shorter sprint contests, too. Unsurprisingly, this has been granted championship status for 2024.
But things were not quite such plain sailing for the other BMWs among the 120 Coupe Cup ranks. No more than five appeared at any one event as a number of teething troubles made for a tricky inaugural campaign, and that reduces the star rating. Meanwhile, a growing number of the new MK Cup 200 cars featured as part of the Sports 1000 field, helping to bolster grid sizes.
Mini Challenge Clubsport - 3.5 stars
While Mini Challenge Clubsport is a new championship, there is a very familiar feel to it because a category along similar lines used to exist a few years back. And it was certainly among the most popular (re)introductions of 2023.
The combination of more club-level Cooper drivers – now the Cooper-based Mini Challenge Trophy features three British Touring Car events and has stepped up a notch – along with Cooper S cars and pilots of Minis that do not fit in other categories, proved a hit, averaging 22 cars. And there is no reason why that should not continue to be the case, especially with minor tweaks to improve intercoolers and a bespoke new rear wing for the Cooper Ss.
Britcar Prototype Cup - 0.5 stars
Britcar had tried – unsuccessfully – to operate a prototype series nearly a decade ago and decided to have another crack for 2023. It was aimed at the Pragas that had previously raced on their own grid, alongside other invited prototypes such as LMP3s. But, sadly, the new series lasted an even shorter time than the previous attempt.
Six cars turned up for the Silverstone opener (five Pragas and a Radical), with former Marussia Formula 1 tester Rodolfo Gonzalez among the slim entry. Yet that proved to be as far as the series got. The subsequent Brands Hatch event was called off with the intention to build interest later in the year, but this never materialised and left a sizeable hole in the British Automobile Racing Club’s schedules.
Prototype racing has been a tricky form of motorsport to crack in the UK – the LMP3 Cup did not last long, while the Open Sportscar Series is among the other categories to disappear in recent times. And this Britcar offering is further evidence of how Europe seemingly remains king for these machines.
Racing Hondas - 2 stars
Club Time Attack’s new initiative, partly filling a void left by TCR UK and Civic Cup returning to the British Racing & Sports Car Club, allowed any Honda to compete through a class structure based on power-to-weight ratios. In practice, that meant Civics, mostly EP3 models, with a couple of FN2s and EKs also in action. Beginning with fields of a dozen cars was a reasonable if underwhelming start, while the races tended to be dominated by one or two cars.
However, attracting former British Touring Car racers James Kaye and Mark Lemmer to a couple of rounds was a fillip, and a massive sponsorship injection from Tegiwa Imports is set to provide a major boost for 2024.
A sold-out 34-car field, tempted by fully funded entry fees, has been announced, while a tweak to the class structure will allow even more powerful cars – up to 240bhp/tonne – into Class A. Public grid walks, autograph sessions and the introduction of a Paddock Club this year are further innovations set to enhance this season’s calendar of eight double-headers mainly at Tunerfest and Modified Live events.
What's new for 2024?
After last year’s influx of new categories, just a small number of additional series are due to be launched this season. And of the tiny number of completely new categories being launched in 2024, the most intriguing has to be Clio Cup GB.
Clio Cup GB
It has been five years now since a championship for the current version of the popular hatchback has been part of the UK’s racing scene and, in that time, there have been a couple of unsuccessful attempts to create a Clio Cup for the fifth-generation machines. This latest one comes from MotorSport Vision Trackdays, which intend to use it as a category its entry-level racers can aspire to. Interest has been modest so far, but the reputation of the Clio for producing quality racing and being a well-regarded proving ground could help to draw more drivers in.
Touring Car Legends
There is not exactly a shortage of places where owners of historic touring cars can go to race. But the Historic Sports Car Club does feel there is still space for a new category dedicated to machines of the 1970s-1990s. This covers the popular Group A era, alongside older Group 2 cars – and attracting BMW CSLs, Nissan Skylines and Ford Sierra Cosworths is what the organisers have in mind.
This series was created off the back of interest from competitors and is set to feature a mix of race formats. Across each double-header weekend, there is due to be a 20-minute sprint and a longer 40-minute mini-enduro. More details about the new category are expected to be revealed imminently.
Equipe F2 Atlantic
Equipe Classic Racing has grown into a major race series promoter in its own right in recent years and is now expanding in a new direction with its first foray into historic single-seaters. It believes there is a gap in the market for a category dedicated to 1970s Formula 2 and Formula Atlantic machinery with more of a UK-focused calendar and has already attracted an encouraging number of registrations.
Having someone of the experience of Martin Stretton on board with his March is a great vote of confidence in the new series, and Equipe could potentially be onto a winner here, while it is also diversifying in other ways by welcoming the more modern MGs of the MG Cup to its ranks.
Heroes of FF1600 Sprint Cup
While one Formula Ford 1600 series was culled with the British Racing & Sports Car Club deciding to axe its National contest, another is born in the form of the Heroes of FF1600 Sprint Cup. The three-round series is aimed at pre-1993 machinery, but pre-1999 original Kent engined-cars will also be allowed on an invitational basis.
Administered by the British Automobile Racing Club, the series kicks off at the Thruxton Historic in June – a potential clash with the BRSCC Super Classic round at Donington Park, which draws on much the same pool of cars. Further rounds take place at Oulton Park and Croft, with all events featuring two 15-minute races on a single day. Organisers believe a package of sponsorship, prizes and other initiatives will serve the new series well.
