Historic motor sport has always been built on the foundation of authenticity, fairness, and respect for the rich history of the remarkable vehicles competing all over the world. The increasing presence of modern technologies in historic racing have, however, posed a significant challenge, leading to inflated costs and a distortion of the competition in some cases.

Particularly in view of the recent update made to Appendix K – the regulations governing historic competitions – there are now a huge number of newly-eligible cars from the 1990s that will be taking to the circuits and rally stages of the world in the coming months and years.

It is vital to the integrity of the competitions that these cars are properly prepared and compliant with the applicable regulations, and the FIA welcomes the announcement of Motorsport UK as it commits to prioritising period correctness over performance development, ensuring that all cars strictly comply with their HTPs and/or period homologation.

FIA Historic Motor Sport Committee President Roger Wills said:

“The FIA Historic Technical Passport is the backbone of historic motor sport and ensures cars meet period-specific technical standards for international historic motor sport, confirming their eligibility to compete based on authentic specifications of their era.

Motorsport UK has shown commendable leadership in addressing the challenge of preserving the spirit of historic motor sport by working with key historic promoters and committing to ensure strict compliance with Historic Technical Passports (HTPs) and preserving the period correctness of racing cars.

The FIA continues to lead the advocacy for the alignment of technical regulations across the global historic motor sport community. We hope to see similar initiatives implemented internationally to maintain consistency in eligibility scrutineering and ensure that all vehicles comply with their HTPs. By working together, we can ensure that historic motor sport remains true to its heritage, protecting its future for decades to come."