Motorsport UK is pleased to announce the appointment of Christopher Tate as Chair of the Motorsport UK Council and to the Board of Directors.  

Christopher Tate is an experienced business leader and management consultant with over 40 years of experience within automotive, motorsport and the sports manufacturing industry.  

His involvement within the Motorsport UK community dates back many years. He has been a longstanding member of the Safety Committee and became Chair six years ago. Furthermore, he has also worked on the Rules, Historic, and Sustainability Committees, as well on Council itself. 

On his appointment, Christopher commented, “It is a real privilege to be taking on the role of Chair of Council in January. I have admired the way Tom Purves has handled the role and am conscious of his valuable legacy. Given my own career across so many different corners of the sport, I feel that I am well placed to appreciate the issues and needs of a very wide spread of our community. From the viewpoint of the average club level competitor  – and I was a very average club racer – to the concerns of our senior volunteer officials, or of the professional teams, or the venue owners, the future stars, or our manufacturing industry, and part of my job will be to ensure that the greatest possible range of opinion is heard and considered both in Council, and by the high quality professional team working for us all at HQ in Bicester. There are important years ahead for motorsport everywhere, and there is much to be done – I look forward to it”.  

Christopher’s experience within the automotive and motorsport sector started in the late 1970s. He was Managing Director at Donington Park race circuit from its re-start in 2011 to December 2017, when it was sold to MSV.  

Previously he helped found and was Series Director of Masters Historic Racing from 2004 to 2010. Prior to this, he served as CEO Europe for the Élan Motorsports Technologies & Panoz Groups; and as Group Marketing Director, Lola Cars International.  

Christopher was a co-founding partner and Deputy CEO of Rockingham Motor Speedway from 1997, having run his own successful management and marketing consultancy for 15 years, following 5 years with a large UK agro-industrial group working in USA, Latin America, and Spain. 

Alongside his Motorsport UK appointment, Christopher is a Non-Executive Director of the 750 Motor Club and is Chair of Mission Motorsport, a charity dedicated to supporting those affected by military operations, through motorsport. Furthermore, he is Vice Chair of the Stowe Group of private schools and sits on advisory boards at institutions including Cranfield University’s Engineering School. 

Christopher replaces Tom Purves who had held the role since 2018. Motorsport UK spoke to Tom, who spent 45 years within the automotive industry, in September’s edition of Revolution. Read more here.  

About Motorsport UK’s Council 

Motorsport UK’s Council brings together the Chair and CEO of Motorsport UK, Chairs of Specialist Committees, Rules Committee as well as the Regional Committee Chair, alongside Home Country representatives and those with specialist and substantial experience within the sport who can make a meaningful impact.  

The Council acts as a forum for broader views and topics for discussion and subsequent resolutions that can be presented to the Board of Directors for guidance on new strategies for the sport.  

The Chair of the Council leads the work of the group and is appointed to the Motorsport UK Board.