The British Automobile Racing Club’s return to the track in recent weeks has been widely welcomed by competitors, marshals, officials and organisers who have completed a post-event survey.

With major sports having been suspended during recent months due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the appetite for national motorsport to resume has been great and bumper grids took centre stage at Cadwell Park (July 4/5) and Croft (July 11/12) for the BARC.

In line with Motorsport UK’s guidance for racing to return, changes to the Club’s protocols as well as guidelines to combat the spread of coronavirus were issued to ensure the safety and well-being of those in attendance at both meetings.

The research data, from more than 150 participants, confirms that this was well received and informative and that overwhelmingly people felt safe in the racing environment.

When asked to rate the information that was communicated to them prior to the event from 1-10, the club scored more than 9.2, with almost 60% scoring a perfect 10.

Similarly, the new method of handling paperwork electronically scored an impressive nine out of ten, whilst more than 94% felt that the BARC’s COVID Guidance covered all of the relevant information they needed.

Other encouraging results from the Club’s survey included 96.8% of people saying they felt safe whilst attending the meeting and only 1.4% of respondents suggested that they were less likely to attend another event after their experiences.

Concerns were registered about adherence to social distancing guidelines and the use of face masks, but more than 90% of people felt that the BARC’s guidance and procedures were generally adhered to during the weekends.

Whilst a high proportion of the results were positive, areas of development are always sought after and the BARC has taken all comments on-board to ensure improvements can be made for the remaining events taking place in 2020 and beyond.

Ben Taylor, BARC Group Chief Executive, said: “There has been a huge amount of work put into getting the sport up and running again, and it’s great to see that these efforts have been well received by the people on the ground.

“We have learned a lot from these first two events and of course we can make further improvements, but it is encouraging that of all our respondents, there was only one person who didn’t have an enjoyable event.

“If we can achieve that level of satisfaction while trying hard to ensure people’s safety and well-being, then that is what it’s all about. We would ask, however, that everyone keeps up their efforts to adhere to the guidelines so that we can enjoy the rest of the season with confidence.”

The Club’s next event will take place at Brands Hatch, with six championships set to compete around the Indy layout on August 1/2. That same weekend will see the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship and support categories in action at Donington Park.