Your Frequently Asked Questions Answered
How do I get started?
The first thing to do is to join a Motorsport Australia affiliated car club (preferably ours). See the membership form on the membership page of our website (“membership” tab at the top).
Most Car Club have a form that is required to be filled out with your contact details. It may be online or a paper form. A membership fee is paid, normally for 12 months membership, though ours and other clubs have discounted membership for whole families or longer terms (3 years).
After that, depending on your long term plans, you may wish to do any of the following:
Organise your competition license with Motorsport Australia, come along to a meeting, come along to an event or contact us with your plans and let us assist you.
Do I need a special license?
In short yes, but its nothing to stress about. It simply a process similar to club membership however its with Motorsport Australia (one of Australia’s motorsport governing bodies).
What to do: Visit the Motorsport Australia website and follow the procedure to apply for a speed license. This license will serve you up to S1 rally events, drifting, rally cross, multicar super sprints and so on (almost all club level motorsport). There isn’t any driving test and it can be obtained without any special skills from anyone the age of 12 years up. As you might have gathered you don’t even require a civil drivers license to get started. A lot of people join car clubs with the goal of obtaining their motorsport license in mind, so we are well equipped to assist you in this should you need it.
Higher level events like circuit racing and rallying require additional levels of license which may include medical details and/or driving experience depending on the age of the applicant and the license applied for. Normally by that stage you would have an idea of what’s required, but if you have questions or plans aimed at this level, contact your car club or Motorsport Australia for additional information.
How do I enter an event?
Each event is slightly different. However, all entry systems follow a similar process and most clubs will the same process for all their events. Here is a basic guide:
- Check the rules: to ensure you know what your entering. Each event will make available “supplementary regulations”. These are the finer details of how the event will be run and what vehicles/drivers are eligible. They may be online, downloadable or linked on a socials page.
- Fill out an entry (form): This will ask you details regarding any drivers and what car will be used. It can be in the form of an online enquiry or a digital or hard copy document. Send/confirm the entry by the method stated in the Supp. Regs. (supplementary regulations).
- Pay or commit to pay the entry fee.
Thats the bare minimum for entry into an event. No matter what form the entry takes, before you leave the start line, the organisers will ensure they have the following information:
- Your personal and emergency contact details
- Confirm your current club membership
- Confirm your current Motorsport Australia license
- Some sort of disclaimer that your understand the risks involved
- Some form of check that the vehicle is safe, either by the owner (self scrutiny) or a request to attend a check. This should be outlined in the Supp. Regs.
- Proof you attended the drivers safety briefing (normally a simple sign on sheet)
Some the details above will be simply a case of bringing along you club card and license to the start of the events, others may ask you to “upload them” as part of the entry process.
Higher level events may require additional information. For example, the Coffs Car Club Rally which is run each year often requires entrants to upload car owner details and details of co-driver & support crew.
How do I learn the rules?
The first place you will want to go for an event, is the Supplementary Regulations. That will be the specific details for that particular event, therefore different every time.
If your keen on competing seriously, and want a “quick guide” I suggest you look online at Motorsport Australia and familarise yourself with the underlying regulations in the field of event you are interested in. Just a hint, Khanacross is classified as an “auto test” similar to Motorkhana.
If you want to go further, everything you need is in the Motorsport Australia Manual. As a rule of thumb, if you are looking for guidelines around:
- Vehicles https://motorsport.org.au/regulations/manual/technical-appendix/
- Motorsport Rules in general (all events) https://motorsport.org.au/regulations/manual/ncr/
- Khanacross & Motorkhana https://motorsport.org.au/regulations/manual/auto-test/
- Lap Dash, Hill Climb, Super Sprint, Drifting, Rally Cross, Auto Cross https://motorsport.org.au/regulations/manual/speed/
The rules can be a bit daunting for first timers and rarely do people understand them fully when entering their first event. Entry level competition is designed around this and with some helpful instruction at the briefing and other members on the day, most are able to compete satisfactorily, if not, safely, in their first event.
What if I don’t have any driving experience?
No problem, many of the skills you will need, are learnt by doing! Controlling a car and driving well, takes practice. No one is a great driver straight from the beginning.
There are many people and processes that can assist you if improving or learning skills quickly is your aim.
The good news is, we all understand what its like to be a beginner driver and are focused on making sure you get a safe and supportive environment to learn.
No matter what level you are at, the great thing about car clubs is, there is undoubtly someone at your level, or who has been there, and can assist or simply be there with you along your competitive journey.
What if I don’t have access to a racing car?
Most of us don’t, sad but true. Entry level events are designed around enabling you to use a standard road car or at least a car without expensive modifications or improvements. Any vehicle in reasonable condition with a fire extinguisher fitted will be enough for you to get a start.
Lots of people share their competition car. Its a great way to compare driver performance too, however Murphies law states the owner will always have the disadvantage (joke). Also speaking from personal experience it can make awkward dinner conversation if defeated by your spouse.
Seriously though, ensure you discuss what expectation’s exist if mistakes or damages are incurred before agreeing on sharing.
Many Car Clubs have cars you can lease or hire for you to get started. We have two at the time of writing this, one with a manual transmission and one with an automatic. It is very cheap to use these in our events and an excellent way to come and try competing without investing much money.
Don’t you have to be rich to race cars?
It certainly helps, but for most of us, if we are realistic in our expectations, you can live the dream of competitive driving for less than you’d expect to pay. As an example, in 2025, an adult competitor may count on the following expenses to compete in a CHDSCC Khanacross:
- CHDSCC Membership (12 months) $30
- Motorsport Australia Speed License $155
- Event entry $30
- CHDSCC Club Car Hire $30
- Total to enter your first event $ 245.00
Each event in that year would only require an additional $60.00 to compete. This assumes you have a helmet you can use. We do have some spares (with hair nets) in case people forget or don’t have one.
For junior competitors its even cheaper. Licenses and Event Entries are often reduced for under 18’s and the minimum age for competition in 2025 is 12 years of age.
I want to get a car for competition, what should I get?
Possibly the most common and the most difficult question we hear. Everyone will have a different opinion of this and the good news is there is not right or wrong answer.
Try to understand what your in for. If your not confident to inspect the vehicle yourself, get someone independent to look at the car on your behalf. There always someone in the Car Club willing to assist in this regard.
The best advice we can give you is to have a plan. Where you want to end up in your competition career? What is your budget, not just to purchase but to maintain/running costs? Will this budget change? Are you able to work on the car yourself? Do you have room to store it? Have you a way to transport the car if its damaged or not registered? Do you need it for transport aswell as competition? …… All these questions will assist you with car choice.
Having said all this, if you hang around competitive car events you will start to see common vehicles popping up. Often these common vehicles are a good place to start your investigation.
You will find that many car club members and fellow competitors will offer advice on “what is the best car” ask them, weigh up the pro’s and cons and make a decision yourself. Enjoy the journey!
Registered or Unregistered, which is better?
Another question that is common, though difficult to answer. Similar to the question above, it greatly depends on your situation. Whichever way you go, keep these points in mind:
Registered Road Cars
PROS: Registered cars are normally in reasonable condition and have an incentive to be well maintained and generally looked after. They can be driven to a place of repair and used for transport. They are easily driven to events. Easy to keep track of condition and budget accordingly. Resale can be more reliable. Drivers tend to develop a good “feel” for a car that gets driven regularly.
CONS: May be inconvenient if damaged. Initial purchase cost may be higher. May be limited to competition which appropriate conditions ie May not be practical for Rallying or S2 Rally Sprints. Limited to what modifications are practical ie roll cages, race seats, larger brakes etc may not keep the car road legal.
Un-Registered Cars
PROS: Normally cheaper to purchase. Less limitations around use and modifications. Potentially cheaper running costs due to less usage. Simpler safety and performance improvements such as removing weight/interior etc Less risk if damaged.
CONS: Often have something that need fixing (ask yourself why isnt it registered). Be wary of statutory write offs, they can be absolute bargains or absolute lemons (for example flood damage). Must be transported everywhere which in most cases means having a car trailer. Car and trailer have to be stored somewhere. Only gets driven at events which may take longer to improve driving skills. Overall condition is less critical which tends for car to deteriorate more rapidly. Resale can be more difficult. More difficult to get the car to a repairer if necessary.
What event should I go into first?
Happily that is entirely up to you, however experience tells us there are certain pathways which seem to make more sense than others, for example:
Aim: Get into rallying. Path: Khanacross – Autocross – Rally Sprint – Rally – World Domination
Aim: Supercars. Path: Motorkhana – Hillclimb – Lap Dash – Super Sprint – Circuit Racing
Aim: F1. Path: Corporate Banking…..just kidding
But don’t think you have to be the next emerging Haydon Paddon, plenty of competitors are happy running Khanacross or Hill Climbs and nothing else.
I’m not good at paperwork or computer stuff, can’t I just drive?
Thats what we all want! There is a small amount of necessary paperwork to be completed to compete, however we are here to assist you. We love competitive driving and we will leave no passionate car nut behind. Just let us know your challenges and we will find a way through.
My question isn’t here, what do I do?
Don’t panic, just ask us! Contact us via the email contacts on the main page or reach out on Social Media. We can answer your query and then add it to the FAQ list.
Thanks to all the club members who contributed for these questions and solutions.