Sprints

Sprinting is a high-speed discipline in which drivers take turns to set a time around a lap of a race circuit or airfield course, with the results determined by the fastest times. Competitors are given practice runs before the competition proper starts. Then you will be allowed two runs against the clock, with your best time counting in the final results, so that if you get your first run wrong you get a second chance. Entry is open to a wide range of cars from Production Road Cars and Kit Cars through to Radicals and Single Seat Racing cars.

To take part you will need a crash helmet, fireproof overalls, gloves and boots. You must also have an RS Interclub Competition Licence, but there is no qualifying test required – just a fee to pay! Full details of all these requirements are in the Motorsport UK Competitors’ Yearbook (the ‘Blue Book’).

Bristol Motor Club organises two events at Castle Combe Circuit each year and one jointly with Bristol Pegasus at Llandow Circuit near Cardiff (see the links below). All our sprints are qualifying rounds of the ASWMC Sprint Championship; the first of the year, The Great Western Sprint, a full 1¾ laps of Castle Combe, is also a round of the British Sprint Championship and attracts some of the fastest cars outside of Formula 1. But you can enter any of our sprints as a one-off without having to commit to any championship.

To get a taste of what’s involved, you can see some of our members in action at the Dick Mayo Sprint at Castle Combe in this video.

More about our sprints: The Great Western | Llandow | The Dick Mayo

Every event also requires organising and marshalling, so even if you don’t compete, there are outlets for a wide range of other skills and interests, all of which help you to learn more about exactly what goes on.