Getting Started- Grass Roots

There are plenty of types of motorsport that you can take part in with a standard modern or classic car.

Autotests involve driving round a set of cones laid out in a field or car park following a defined route given to you on a card. You are timed to the second and there are penalties for not taking the correct route or for hitting the cones. Several tests are run during the day and the winner is the driver with the lowest total score at the end of the event. You can start doing autotests when you are 14.

Production Car Trials (PCTs) are based on a series of “hills” laid out on a grassy slope. From a standing start you have to get your car as far up the course as possible. The further up the fewer points you get. If you get past the last “gate” you get a “clean” sheet or zero points. The courses are changed during the day and you get perhaps a total of 30 hills on an event. The results are usually worked out by an index of performance so all the classes have an equal chance.