The new club categories aiming to make an impact in 2025

It’s at all times essential for membership racing organisers to have one eye on the long run. Innovation is crucial, together with considering a few steps forward, and annually a spread of latest classes are unveiled to attempt to tempt in a brand new viewers or hold present drivers engaged.

Some seasons there are only a few new launches, whereas in others the checklist is endless. And 2025 is a type of the place a complete multitude of recent ideas are set to take to the tracks.

Right here Autosport examines the brand new nationwide tin-top, single-seater and prototype classes set to interrupt cowl in 2025.

Swift Sport Problem

Any time the phrases ‘record-breaking’ are used to explain a brand new collection, it’s fairly clear that organisers are onto a winner. And the 750 Motor Membership actually appears to have struck a chord with opponents – each new and outdated – with its Swift Sport Problem.

Security Units has been concerned in motorsport for many years, but it surely has by no means bought extra roll cages for a single-make automotive within the first two months of them changing into out there than it has for the 2006-10 Mk1 VVT Swifts of this new contest. That quantity has now reached 30 and the overwhelming curiosity has pressured the 750MC into operating standalone grids from day one, whereas it had initially meant for the Swifts to be a part of Sizzling Hatch races to start out off with.

INSIGHT: Why the 750MC’s Swift Sport Challenge will be a welcome addition to national racing in 2025

A give attention to affordability and accessibility has been key to its success. A Tegiwa construct equipment – together with the aforementioned cage – prices lower than £5,000, whereas the membership has dreamed up a spread of novel incentives to assist the financially-challenged membership racer, together with £250 in credit score if the Swift is pushed to and from the circuit and the quickest two qualifying occasions being deleted for drivers who partake in costly Friday testing. It appears the collection resides as much as its identify and making a swift impression on the membership racing scene.

TOCA Junior

Bespoke rear-wheel-drive automotive has been created for TOCA Junior however bulletins haven’t been flowing

Photograph by: JEP

Undoubtedly probably the most excessive profile of the brand new 2025 classes is TOCA Junior, the brand new junior collection that can assist the British Touring Automobile Championship. TOCA boss Alan Gow needed a brand new championship to fill the void left by Ginetta Junior’s departure to the British GT bundle and opted for Dave Beecroft’s concept to create a bespoke rear-wheel-drive racer for youngsters to be taught their craft in.

With the automotive being developed from scratch, it was by no means going to be low-cost – the ‘Chevron B1417’ prices £78,500+VAT to purchase – and there have inevitably been just a few bumps within the highway. The automotive took to the observe for the primary time final September with Beecroft on the wheel and impressed with its efficiency and reliability out of the field whereas BTCC champion Tom Ingram has additionally given it the thumbs up.

INSIGHT: The bespoke car created for the UK’s newest junior category

However, regardless of a raft of established squads attending its launch occasion final 12 months, TOCA Junior at the moment solely has two groups publicly signed as much as it. Given it’s now early February, that could be a worrying place for a brand new championship – particularly one that’s not precisely low-cost – to be in.

Final Racing Championship

Few new classes have created such a rumpus within the market because the Final Racing Championship. The brand new providing from Membership Time Assault – recognized for its sprint-style and drifting competitions, however which has now moved into extra conventional circuit racing with its Racing Hondas collection – is designed for two-litre touring automobiles constructed since 2011. Given outdated British Touring Automobile machines have hardly ever discovered their method onto membership grids, this basically means TCR automobiles. And TCR creator WSC didn’t like that.

OPINION: The fundamental question behind the current row over use of TCR cars in the UK

It reacted furiously, warning collection organisers about breaching IP legal guidelines and mentioned automobiles working exterior of TCR UK on British shores would completely lose their homologation. Cue additional concern throughout nationwide motorsport, at a time when some golf equipment had been already considerably stunned URC had been granted a Motorsport UK championship allow.

However, placing the entire arguments and counterarguments to at least one facet, this new providing is designed to make racing fashionable turbocharged tin-tops extra inexpensive. Like Racing Hondas final 12 months, entry charges will likely be fully free due to a partnership with Tegiwa, whereas opponents will profit from racing in entrance of the massive crowds that CTA’s occasions draw. Preliminary enquiries had been sturdy, and free entries will go down nicely, however it’s too early to inform whether or not WSC’s threats will in any method hinder this new championship from attaining its final ambitions.

Professional Sports activities Dash

Older Ginetta G55s may discover a new residence in BRSCC’s Professional Sports activities Dash class

Photograph by: JEP

This new British Racing & Sports activities Automobile Membership providing has been created based mostly upon demand from its members for a class the place factory-built equipment can compete in multi-make dash races.

It’s cut up into six completely different courses based mostly upon power-to-weight ratio and a spread of sportscars and tin-tops are anticipated to participate. It’s not focused on the very newest GT3 and GT4 equipment however as an alternative homeowners of a Mosler and a mixture of barely older Ferraris and Porsches are amongst these to have expressed an curiosity in becoming a member of the grid. Professional Sports activities Dash can also be set to be a house for the multitude of Ginetta G55s that now not have a devoted collection from the Yorkshire producer and organisers anticipate a robust inaugural season.

Manufacturing Cup

The Manufacturing Cup is one other new BRSCC multi-make initiative however for much less unique equipment than the Professional Sports activities Dash idea. This one relies upon the Clubsport Trophy – a collection that has repeatedly attracted huge 40-strong entries for its combined grid mini-enduros – and has additionally been launched off the again of a lot of enquiries from opponents for dash races for these automobiles.

With an infinite pool of automobiles with a power-to-weight ratio of lower than 235bhp/tonne to attract upon, the Manufacturing Cup is one other class with the potential to be common from the beginning.

DS3 Cup

The DS3s will initially characteristic inside the Manufacturing Cup earlier than getting a standalone grid

Photograph by: JEP

Alongside the BRSCC’s catch-all new ideas, it has additionally developed a bespoke race automotive because it plans to launch the DS3 Cup. Initially this can type a category inside the Manufacturing Cup however it’s meant to develop into a standalone collection subsequent 12 months.

The class is designed to be the subsequent step for drivers seeking to progress from the Citroen C1s, Peugeot 107s and Toyota Aygos of the CityCar Cup. The DS3 Cup encapsulates the identical ethos of being a comparatively low-cost, accessible collection, simply with a step up in efficiency to bridge the hole to among the BRSCC’s different divisions that characteristic a higher technical problem.

Organisers predict the DS3s to quantity into double figures initially of the 12 months, whereas – based mostly on the variety of kits which have now been bought – nearer 20 may very well be taking to the tracks by the top of the season, suggesting that is one other collection with loads of potential.

Pre-2013 Touring Vehicles

The Basic Touring Automobile Racing Membership is a highly regarded tin-top organiser, however has barely surprisingly opted to increase its portfolio into extra fashionable machines by creating a brand new contest for automobiles constructed between 2003 and 2012. It might appear logical to increase its breadth because the march of time now means even the most recent of automobiles on this bracket are a minimum of a dozen years outdated however, given the congested market for such autos and the very fact the CTCRC’s newer divisions are already its least bountiful, there aren’t any ensures it is going to be a hit.

The brand new collection is primarily geared toward Tremendous 2000 and early NGTC-specification automobiles from the BTCC and was created following queries from drivers. A number of of those automobiles have featured on the membership’s Tremendous Touring Energy occasion however what number of will likely be tempted out stays to be seen.

Equipe Sports activities Prototypes

Two separate prototype classes are being united by Equipe this 12 months

Frequent sense will not be one thing we at all times see in nationwide motorsport however the transfer to mix the Zeo Proto Collection and the Sports activities Prototype Cup for this 12 months is a really logical one. The classes have teamed up a few occasions previously, however have now each been acquired by Equipe Basic Racing with the concept of making one larger grid of prototype equipment.

Automobile builders Revolution and Praga have thrown their assist behind the concept whereas new creations from Wolf are set to even be a part of the combo alongside one-off specials. This represents a recent path for Equipe, however it’s an space of the game it has beforehand investigated working a collection in and organisers are assured of it being profitable.

Equipe Sports activities Racing Vehicles

Equipe additionally has a brand new providing in its extra conventional historics sphere for 2025 within the form of its Sports activities Racing Vehicles division. It will characteristic two distinct teams of beneath two-litre sports-racers: each drum-braked and disc-braked pre-1960 machines in addition to automobiles from 1960-65.

Rolling begins – to guard delicate gearboxes – will lead into 40-minute contests and already drivers of a variety of automobiles have pledged to participate. There may be set to be sturdy Lotus illustration with 11s, 15s and 23Bs all registered, together with three Lola Mk1s and a trio of Cooper Monacos.

Organisers admit that it might take time for curiosity to actually construct however really feel the chance to be on a grid solely of historic sports-racers will show common.

Ranking the brand new collection from 2024

At the moment of 12 months, Autosport historically takes a have a look at the brand new classes launched the earlier season and offers them a ranking out of 5 stars.

However there was a dearth of latest collection final season and, as you will note under, none of them precisely proved an immediate hit.

Right here we check out how the trio of newbies carried out.

Clio Cup GB – 1.5 stars

Small grids however shut racing had been a characteristic of Clio Cup GB’s inaugural season

Photograph by: Gary Hawkins

A ranking of 1.5 stars could seem considerably beneficiant for a class that by no means featured greater than eight automobiles, however the Clio Cup GB’s efficiency was given a bit of enhance by the standard of racing these small grids nonetheless produced.

Launching a brand new championship sitting on the high finish of the membership racing spectrum was by no means going to be straightforward in these turbulent monetary occasions. However MotorSport Imaginative and prescient Trackdays’ try to return a Clio Cup competitors to the UK for the primary time in 5 years confronted further challenges. Uncertainty over when the brand new fifth-generation Clios can be delivered from France allied to a comparatively late announcement of the 2024 launch of the collection meant drivers had been reluctant to commit. And when these supply delays multiplied, organisers had been confronted with little selection however to postpone the beginning of the season till June.

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It did then lastly get beneath method, however the problem now’s rising the grids. The automobiles clearly present nice racing and are dependable bits of equipment, however they don’t seem to be low-cost – particularly when showing at common MSVR membership occasions. The outdated Clio Cup continues to be remembered fondly however the jury is out over whether or not this new incarnation can finally stay as much as its predecessor’s reputation.

Heroes of Method Ford 1600 Dash Cup – 2.5 stars

There isn’t any scarcity of locations to race a Method Ford 1600 and one other new residence was created final 12 months within the type of the British Car Racing Membership-aligned Heroes of FF1600 Dash Cup. This was the concept of Historic FF1600 ace Richard Tarling and was designed to be a mini three-round collection geared toward pre-1993 equipment with numerous prizes on supply to drivers.

An encouraging 19 automobiles took half in its inaugural occasion on the Thruxton Historic assembly, however this fell to simply 12 on the subsequent Oulton Park and Croft fixtures, which means it’s nonetheless removed from clear whether or not this has a justifiable place within the crowded market.

An extra three rounds are deliberate for this 12 months, with the rebranded Thruxton Retro once more being the showpiece, however with Silverstone and Donington Park now becoming a member of the schedule. With two-time Walter Hayes Trophy winner Michael Moyers amongst these set to participate, it is a crucial 12 months in figuring out whether or not the Heroes of FF1600 Dash Cup can acquire a real foothold within the nationwide racing scene.

Equipe F2 Atlantic – 1.5 stars

FF2000 and F3 equipment will now be a part of the F2 and FAtlantic automobiles in renamed Equipe Method Libre contest

Photograph by: Gary Hawkins

Equipe Basic Racing has developed a popularity for attracting large grids of historic GTs over the previous decade however stepped exterior of its consolation zone final 12 months with a transfer into the world of historic single-seaters by launching Equipe F2 Atlantic.

The brand new class didn’t get off to the very best of begins with organisers admitting the March Manufacturers Hatch season-opener was too early within the 12 months and simply seven automobiles had been on the grid. Numbers remained small, rising to a most of 11 at Donington Park, as momentum by no means actually constructed.

Equipe has taken on board what it discovered throughout 2024 and is now renaming the class Equipe Method Libre and opening it as much as Method Ford 2000 and basic F3 equipment to attempt to enhance the pool of opponents. And the early indicators are encouraging with practically 30 drivers already registered.