Motorsport is never going to be an easy risk to place. Cars run at speed, spectators stand close to the action, and the whole thing depends on volunteers. So when Motorsport Australia's premiums rose 84% over five years, its new chief executive decided to make the case in person.
Josh Blanksby, who took over the governing body in January after a decade running the Melbourne Racing Club, told motorsport magazine Auto Action that he flew to London to meet underwriters directly. He took them through the organisation's safety systems, officials training, circuit upgrades and the technology it is rolling out to members and venues.
Brokers who have tried to move a market on a single account will know his reasoning. A good loss record helps, but it rarely makes the case on its own. Underwriters, Blanksby said, generally want a track record before they "start coming to the table". Meeting them in person let the organisation explain the systems behind its claims history, not just the numbers.
It seems to be working. Motorsport Australia cut its insurance costs last year, and Blanksby is hoping for another significant reduction this year.
The relief is overdue. In 2023 the organisation told members its insurance bill had risen almost 60% since 2019. It brought forward a 15% across-the-board increase in licence fees and charges to cover the gap, holding only the junior licence price steady.
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The program is a large one. Motorsport Australia sanctions around 3,000 events a year and counts more than 40,000 participants. Every licence holder carries public liability and personal accident cover, which applies only at permitted events in Australia. For affiliated clubs, the public liability limit runs to $100 million, but only if the club has followed the permit process. If an event goes ahead without a permit, the club has no cover.
The program now runs through MGA Insurance Group, which handles the local, customer-facing side, and London-based Miller Insurance, which represents the body in global markets. This year's renewal also added a $25,000 emergency transport benefit that extends to heat stroke and heart-related incidents previously excluded.
The obvious gap is the cars themselves. The governing body has acknowledged that cover for vehicles while on track remains very limited. The only option is non-competitive track-day cover, with premiums starting at around $1,000 a day. MGA says it is still looking for a solution. For specialist underwriters, that is an unfilled niche.
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Motorsport Australia has close to 13,000 officials, up 29% over the past four to five years. Too few of them work regularly outside headline events like the Australian Grand Prix. Blanksby admitted the organisation had not invested enough in recruiting and training the people who, in his words, "pretty much operate our sport".
A development program will be trialled at Queensland Raceway in November. Further sessions are planned at The Bend, Calder Park and Sydney Motorsport Park in 2027.
Underwriters care about this. Well-trained marshals and flag officials are central to the risk-control case Motorsport Australia is putting to the market. The same goes for any volunteer-run sport. Sport Australia's guidance for clubs lists personal accident, public liability and D&O cover among the basics. Brokers working the sports insurance segment will recognise the pattern.
Blanksby was clear that not every event belongs under the Motorsport Australia banner. Targa Tasmania is one it has chosen not to sanction because of its risk profile, he said.
That decision has a history. Four competitors died across the 2021 and 2022 Targa Tasmania events. An expert review panel commissioned by Motorsport Australia then found the risk to competitors unacceptably high. When the event ran in 2025 without a permit, the governing body warned licence holders that its insurance program did not apply.
For insurers, that is the point. A governing body that will refuse a high-risk event is easier to underwrite than one that sanctions everything.
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Motorsport Australia's pitch comes while its main competitor struggles. The Australian Auto-Sport Alliance is caught up in a disputed change of ownership that the Benalla Auto Club has taken to the Supreme Court of Victoria. Since the dispute became public, a string of categories have walked away.
How the AASA saga unfolded
March 2026: Shares in AASA are transferred to a four-person investor group, according to an ASIC form lodged in April.
June 2026: The sale is announced. The Benalla Auto Club says it never approved it.
Late July: AASA splits from Hi-Tec Oils, sponsor of its flagship series.
Mid-August: Formula RX8, TA2, IRC, Legend Cars and Formula Ford leave the AASA Race Series. The club files its Supreme Court claim on 17 August.
Late August: AASA axes its race series but says licensing, permitting and insurance continue.
28 September: The defendants file their defence.
AASA says it has renewed its insurance program through to 2028 with $50 million in cover. Motorsport Australia's affiliated-club public liability limit is twice that, at $100 million. Displaced categories and their brokers are likely to make that comparison.
Blanksby said Motorsport Australia had moved quickly to help those categories, pointing to fast-tracked regulations for Super Trucks. As categories move across, Motorsport Australia's exposure grows. Underwriters will want to see the risk-management story hold up as the book expands.
Blanksby is also dealing with a kinder market than his predecessors faced. The Insurance Council of Australia has described 2019 to 2024 as a hard public liability market. This year, general liability has generally favoured buyers. Brokers caution, though, that the softening is uneven from line to line.
Other sports have found that out the hard way. In 2024, AusCycling added an insurance levy of $35 per adult member after its public liability premium jumped by $1.6 million.
Beyond insurance, Blanksby has held talks with Sandown management about the investment needed to support higher-level racing, with the circuit's licence due for renewal. Motorsport Australia is also talking to government about reviving feasibility work on a permanent Victorian venue at Avalon, though he warns the cost would be substantial.
His board wants growth, he said. At grassroots level, that means cheaper, easier events with more track time. Below the elite tier, he said, "it becomes a community sport that people are paying to do."
