Bournemouth & District Motor Club is one of the many Motorsport UK affiliated clubs to benefit from the governing body’s Development Fund, just one of the many resources and initiatives put in place by Motorsport UK to help aid the growth and success of its 700+ clubs.

With support from Motorsport UK, the club was able to purchase a new set of tablet devices, providing a reliable and efficient timing system for their events and, in turn, enabling the club to continue offering affordable grassroots motorsport to their members.

Bournemouth & District Motor Club was one of the first to resume competition in the UK following the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to its quick adaptation to paperless administration. The effectiveness of using tablets and mobile devices was a revelation, and it was immediately apparent that this was the way forward.

“Having previously received grants from Motorsport UK towards the purchase of major equipment which the club still uses, I submitted an application using the straightforward process in the spring of 2023,” said Rob Dance, Treasurer of Bournemouth & District Motor Club. “An offer of financial support was promptly received to assist purchase of four new tablets.

“Using the Sapphire (technology provider) system was a major change but has proven to be a huge improvement over the previous manual entries, timing and results procedures. It provides far easier accessibility for competitors and real time results for less cost and administrative time. This in turn has encouraged new organisers to run events.”

With competitor numbers increasing, the club’s Committee decided a new set of tablets were needed – and more of them – instead of having to rely upon borrowed devices. This would provide much quicker processing for timing at their Autotest events. At a recent event at Shillingtone, in rural Dorset, the day flowed well over the 18 tests, enjoyed by 33 competitors, and event results were available by 16:30.

“The new tablets are a real success, providing a reliable and efficient timing system,” Dance finishes. “The Motorsport UK grant which assisted with their purchase has enabled the club to continue offering affordable grassroots motorsport to our members.”

How to apply

The overall aim of the Development Fund is to enable and assist the growth of a club and, therefore, the sport as a whole – improving the quality of delivery and experiences for new and existing participants.

Therefore, the programme has multiple funding streams with different levels of grants available for each.

They can help with club promotion and marketing, volunteer recruitment and development, development and delivery of motorsport events and activities, creating education events and opportunities, and much more.

For the full guidelines and how to apply, click here.