A new survey of the UK motorsport sector has revealed a vibrant British business success story that offers innovative energy efficient technology but needs to connect with other industries if it is to have sustainable success in the future.

Recognised for its culture of innovation, the UK motorsport sector is currently the world leader, and provides an iconic success story which flies the flag for the whole UK £50bn high performance engineering sector. But its development of transferable technologies, especially those related to energy-efficient and low carbon innovations such as bio-fuel performance and ultra-light materials, needs to be more systematically marketed to non-motorsport markets.

The new survey, Motorsport 100, that will track the industry's fortunes every quarter, was commissioned by public-private partnership Motorsport Development UK, and carried out during May/June 2007 by independent researchers Experian. The survey revealed that sales are on the increase both in core markets and in non-motorsport applications. However, the success of the industry needs to be secured for future years in the light of strong foreign competition, especially from Europe. Bob Gilbert, Chairman, Motorsport Development UK, notes that “the industry is so used to competing with each other, it ought to learn to set aside just one day a week when it co-operates with its competitors for the good of the industry and the sport.”

Greatest growth seems to be coming from non-motorsport customers, where innovative technological advances developed for the racetrack are transferred into important wider-market applications in sectors as diverse as aerospace, domestic appliances and medicine.

Energy efficiency and the ‘carbon footprint' - once a challenge thrown at the motorsport industry - has been converted into a technology opportunity through the sector's thirst for innovation. Respondents to this issue of Motorsport 100 emphasized their conviction that energy efficient and low carbon developments would be at the heart of future transferable technologies coming out of the industry.

David Richards, Chairman of technology company Prodrive, notes, “The British motorsport industry employs some of the most talented engineers in the world. Give them a challenge and they will rise to it, turning concepts into practical solutions in a fraction of the time you'd find in other industries. I firmly believe that these same skills can be applied to developing innovative solutions that address many of the environmental challenges facing the automobile industry today.”

However, the UK motorsport sector also recognises that it needs to improve and extend its marketing skills and the ways in which it connects to other industries in order to systematically, comprehensively and rapidly grow in non-motorsport markets. The survey also revealed that two thirds of respondents are not taking advantage of available grants and government support. This situation is being actively addressed by Motorsport Development UK, working to improve skills, make other sectors aware of the industry's potential and create the climate for technology transfer, in order to create sustainable future success.

Mr Gilbert notes, “One of the greatest challenges facing British motorsport is the environmental one, both in terms of fuels used and noise. Motorsport is a good development testbed for experimenting with new ideas which can be transferred back for use in the automotive sector and other industries in efforts to make the motor car more acceptable and fuel efficient. The industry is facing many challenges, not only from overseas competition, but from threats to the sport which it serves. Environmental challenges, the fact that British motorsport relies heavily on unpaid volunteers to facilitate its operations, and the fact that new entrants into British motorsport, particularly the young wishing to engage in four-wheel motorsport, face considerable barriers to entry, are threats which it and the industry need to recognise. As a country, we have a fantastic success story on our hands - one that needs to be reliably sustained in the future both for its own sake, and as a symbol of British engineering and entrepreneurialism.”

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Aidan Holloway or Matt Howell
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