Motor Sports Association

Motor Sports Association
MSA
Sport Motorsport
Jurisdiction United Kingdom
Headquarters Colnbrook (Berkshire, England)
President Prince Michael of Kent
Chairman Alan J. Gow
Chief Exec Rob Jones
Official website
www.msauk.org

The Motor Sports Association (MSA, formerly known as RAC MSA), is the official governing body of motorsport in the United Kingdom.

Responsibilities

The Motor Sports Association (MSA) is recognised as the sole motor sport governing body for the United Kingdom by the world governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). However many popular short circuit motorsport disciplines in the UK are not covered, such as Banger Racing, Autograss and Hot Rod Racing.

As the governing body, the MSA is responsible for the governance and administration of all major forms of motor sports in the UK, controlling the technical and sporting rules across the various disciplines. It is not concerned with motorcycle or side-car competitions, which are governed by the Auto-Cycle Union.

The MSA implements these rules, known as the General Regulations, to govern the conduct of motor sports at national level. These rules are made and amended by the Motor Sports Council, which is the 'parliament' of motor sports, while the MSA acts as the 'civil service' in times of need and to ensure safety of the General Public.

It administers the licensing of 34,000 competitors, 10,000 volunteers and officials and the 5,000 events taking place in the UK each year.

International Motor Sports is a wholly owned subsidiary of the MSA which organizes the British Grand Prix, the Rally of Great Britain and from 2016 British Rally Championship, some of the flagship motor sports events in the United Kingdom.

Structure

The MSA is managed and organised by its board of directors and its working executives, these two groups comprise as follows:


Chairman: Alan J. Gow


Directors: John Maxwell, Dennis Carter, Nicky Moffitt, Ben Cussons, Rod Parkin, Danesh Gangahar, Mike Sones, Alan Gow, Graham Stoker, Nick Whale, Rob Jones.

The MSA Council

The Council is custodian of the sporting power for the United Kingdom and the "Sporting Commission" under the FIA statutes. The Council’s responsibilities include the governance of UK motors port, the improvement of safety, the regulation of motor sport by enforcing FIA regulations and drawing up National Rules of Competition, judicial matters and dispute resolution, and the development of motor sport together with the approval of British Championships.

How to raise issues with the Council

The Council welcomes contributions to its work. Issues should be raised with member clubs, who can pass ideas to the Regional Associations for consideration at Regional Committee and then to Council. Alternatively, the MSA can be contacted directly.

The Prince Michael Award of Merit

The Council is responsible for bestowing this prestigious personal award made in recognition of outstanding meritorious service to British Motor Sport.

Council Members:

President of the MSA Council:

HRH Prince Michael of Kent GCVO

Honorary Vice Presidents:

Michael Southcombe, Ronnie Trouton MBE

Chairman:

Tony Scott Andrews

The Council is made up of 24 members, bringing together the Chairpersons of the Specialist Committees that represent the interests of motorsport in the UK as well as delegates from the specialist advisory panels.

Executives:

Chief Executive : Rob Jones

Assistant to the Chairman & Chief Executive: Margaret Forrest


Customer Services:

Head of Customer Services: Miles Booker

Competitors & Officials Licensing Manager: Steve Redhead

Competition & Officials Assistant Manager: Michael Wentworth

Competitions & Clubs Manager: Simon Fowler

Competitions & Clubs Assistant Manager: James Betchley


Technical & Sporting:

Motor Sports Council, External Affairs, Technical & Risk Control Management General Secretary, Company Secretary & line responsibility for: Rob Jones

Technical Director: John Symes

Autotest, Cross-Country, Regional, Rally & Trials Executive: Ian Davis

Race, Speed & Kart Executive: Cheryl Lynch

Secretary to the Council: Andrea Richards

Head of External Affairs: Allan Dean-Lewis MBE

Technical Executive: John Ryan

Executive/Office Services Manager: Sheila Barter


Financial:

Financial Director: Danesh Gangahar

The MSA Group employs over 40 full-time staff.

Notes

MSA British Elite

In 2004 the Motor Sports Association (MSA) reaffirmed its commitment to the sustainability and development of British Motorsport with the launch of the MSA British Elite programmes. The programmes have been established to provide the best possible opportunities for competitors to make the step up to the highest levels of the sport. The original programme, MSA British Rally Elite focuses on the talents of British Rally drivers and Co-drivers while the MSA British Race Elite focuses on the talents of British Race drivers.

MSA Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence

The Motor Sports Association, governing body of UK motor sport, has announced an Apprenticeship in motor sport driving, having previously been successfully pioneered by The Race Drivers Academy, Silverstone.The MSA has opened registrations for the first intake of 50 drivers and co-drivers to start the course in August 2009.


The Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) is funded by the Learning and Skills Council and is already well established in many other sports including football, rugby, tennis, golf, athletics and swimming with notable success – for example, Rebecca Adlington was an AASE student when she took double Gold in the pool in Beijing.


The Advanced Apprenticeships have been designed to meet the needs of young people aged 16–18 (up to 24 in some cases) who have the realistic potential to achieve excellence in their sport and are seeking to perform at the highest level as their main career goal.


The programme teaches the broad range of competences required in elite sport and will focus on the development of the student as a motor sport competitor. But as well as improving their human performance, students will also develop a mix of transferable skills and qualifications that can be used in later life to progress to further/higher education and/or gain employment within the field of motor sport or outside it.


The MSA has appointed Croydon College as its lead education provider, but apprentices will not need to move to Croydon as the course will utilise modern delivery techniques to base much of the work around the location of the learners’ competitive commitments.


The course content will be in two parts: half vocational (NVQ) and half technical certificate (BTEC). For the vocational element, students will receive a Level 3 NVQ in Sporting Excellence. Alongside this, students will either study for a BTEC National Certificate or National Diploma in Sport, or continue with their regular ‘A’ levels. The National Certificate in Sport is equivalent to two ‘A’ levels while the National Diploma is equivalent to three ‘A’ levels. A recognised coaching qualification will also be included in the technical certificate.


The MSA is now looking for the first intake of 50 competitors to enrol on the AASE motor sport programme which begins in August 2009. All AASE students must be aged between 16 and 24 and be able to demonstrate their potential to go on to become Elite performers within the sport. The MSA has drawn up a minimum level of performance that will be expected of successful applicants which can be found at www.msauk.org/AASE.


The motor sport AASE will sit beneath the current MSA Elite programmes in both Race and Rally, working with potentially elite athletes. It is the first programme to be brought through under the guidance of MSA Performance Director and former WRC Champion, Robert Reid. It will form part of the MSA’s new competitor development pathway that will ultimately take competitors from eight years of age through to Elite and world levels.


Robert Reid, MSA Performance Director:

"AASE is a vital step in allowing motor sport driving to become a genuine career choice for young people. It allows them to commit to their performance, be trained in their sporting development and also receive a recognised qualification at the end of it. It is designed to make the best of the most promising athletes and is geared towards achieving excellence, but for those whose career does not take off, there is the safety net of transferable qualifications. For competitors, this is probably the best opportunity they have to develop their talents within a structured framework and it will form a key part of the MSA’s vision of talent development for the future."


Further information on the AASE in Motor Sport can be found at www.msauk.org/AASE.

See also

External links