Motorsport UK is delighted to announce that the Maidstone & Mid Kent Motor Club has been bestowed with 2023 Club of the Year honours with the Truro & District Motor Club picking up the Runner Up laurels. The former wins a £1000 prize and Motorsport UK Trophy to be collected at next month’s Night of Champions celebration while the latter also wins a Motorsport UK Trophy plus a £500 prize.

The busy Maidstone & Mid Kent Motor Club aims to offer friendly, fun and affordable local motorsport and is a proactive supporter of Motorsport UK’s StreetCar initiative. It is also one of a growing number of clubs to have a strong female representation among the organising team and to have adopted a well communicated sustainability policy.

The club is particularly well known for its expertise in autotesting and offers a pathway for new competitors from the Taster Day in May, through the Evening Autotests during the summer to the one day grass and Tarmac events later in the year. To encourage junior drivers in all it has given them free entries to the Taster Day and a discounted entry to other events – a philosophy that is set to accelerate.

“Winning the Club of the Year Award for 2023 enables us to celebrate our members, both past and present, and the contribution they have made to the success and development of MMKMC events as organisers, marshals and competitors throughout our 90 year history,” enthused the club’s Chair, Liz Jordan who has already allocated the welcome prize money to a very good cause. “We are committed to supporting junior competitors and have decided to use our prize money to fund free entries for junior drivers on our events for the foreseeable future.”

The Truro & District Motor Club also prides itself on being one of the most inclusive clubs, promoting women to senior positions and having disabled members. The club did not set out to promote women but it slowly dawned on all involved that women were an integral part of the club and the numbers among marshals, officials and competitors were escalating. They are now proud that young women have role models to follow in Cornish motorsport.

The club is also particularly pleased to have juniors competing at its events and to have embraced sustainable technologies as showcased by its introduction of an EV class at its popular Watergate Bay sprint event.

“The Truro & District Motor Club has been in existence now for more than 100 years but we are working hard for the future of motorsport in Cornwall,” explained Jane Day, Vice Chair. “We are very pleased to be one of the first clubs to have juniors competing in hillclimbs and sprints and to have embraced electric cars in our recent event at Watergate Bay. It is easy to feel overlooked when we are at an extremity of the country, so we feel very honoured and supported by Motorsport UK by receiving this award.”