Events for non-drivers

You don’t have to have a car, or even be a driver to enjoy motor sport. Plenty of wives, lovers, partners or friends get enormous pleasure from having a supporting role.

Next to marshalling, perhaps the most obvious example of a role for a non-driver is the person sitting in the passenger seat of a rally car, often called the co-driver. We’ve all seen the view from inside a rally car on TV, and for many this may seem even more daunting than driving! However, the road rallies organised by this club, Navigational Exercises or 'Scatters' are much less dynamically aggressive. They are tests of map-reading and observation skills, plus the ability to interpret complex and sometimes obscure navigational instructions. A bit like a Treasure Hunt, but a little more demanding. You take part in a normal road car on public roads, and high speed is out – normal speed limits must be observed.

As mentioned earlier, trials are essentially tests of the ability of cars to climb sections of ground having varying difficulty and gradient. Bristol MC organises three types of trial – Production Car Trials, Sporting Car Trials and Classic Trials – but the common factor is the presence of a passenger, partly for ballast but whose primary job is to bounce like mad in the seat to try to get the tyres to grip. In some events there is even a trophy awarded to ‘Best Bouncer’! In the case of Classic Trials, some basic map-reading ability is needed to navigate successfully from one off-road section to the next.

Essential qualities required for these non-driver roles are physical fitness (for Classic and Sporting Trials), the ability to concentrate and read a map in a moving car and, most importantly, resistance to car sickness!

Finally, if you have a driving licence but you don’t want to take part in a competitive event yourself, you can perform a valuable service for a young driver. Drivers as young as 14 can take part in Production Car Autotests, or in Production Car Trials if they are15 or 16, as long as they are accompanied by an experienced adult with an RTA licence.