Brexit. It seems a long time since this was the forefront concern in many peoples’ minds – the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have ensured that. As other matters of life and death have dominated the headlines, the challenges posed by the UK’s exit from the European Union can easily be forgotten. Given the topsy-turvy nature of the past few years, some of those problems are still being discovered. And that is the case when it comes to the impact of Brexit on club racing.
At the start of last year, when laws actually changed – as the transition period following the UK’s departure from the EU at the end of January 2020 concluded – governing body Motorsport UK issued advice about competing in Europe. It stated that those wishing to transport their car across the continent would need to apply for an ATA Carnet – an international customs document that acts as a passport for goods being temporarily transported. The cost of this is made up of a processing fee (negotiated to a reduced £240+VAT) and a premium, either a refundable 40% deposit of the car’s value or a non-refundable insurance payment to cover the deposit’s amount. In other words, competing in Europe was going to cost quite a bit more than it once did.
