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The unintended consequences of banning pros from historics

OPINION: Clubs and organisers understandably need to control driving standards in their events, but Masters Historic Racing's recent crackdown on its 'pro' racers could be counterproductive

Driving standards and how to police them often come up in motorsport. Incidents will always happen, and every now and again an organising club or championship will decide a clampdown is needed.

Safety is an ever-present issue, and if a series gets a reputation for being too lax on rough driving some competitors can be put off, so an organiser's attempt to improve things is usually welcome. But the recent Masters Historic Racing stance is slightly baffling.

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Author Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.