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Thanks for all the comments on this. It's interesting to see that the quote comes from one of the Chambers of Commerce (London) that offer Carnets on a commercial basis. I think it is about the only indication that I have seen in print (including all the Government pages that I have perused) that a Carnet is not an appropriate solution if you are towing your own racer, whether it is road-registered or not.
One of the key points that I have taken from various Government advice pages is that if you are "temporarily exporting " your car (eg to race it in Europe), and will subsequently be re-importing it to the UK, in order to qualify for "Returned Goods Relief" on Tax and Duty one of the issues is that you ideally need to be able to show documentary evidence that the car previously has been in the UK. If the car is or has been road-registered in the UK I guess that the V5C effectively achieves this. If it is a non road-registered race car, suitable documentary evidence is a bit more tricky. I think there is no generally acknowledged "owner" or "keeper" or "origin/history" document for race cars in the UK; and I have bought and sold quite a few over the years, as have many others.
If you don't have suitable documentation for your "own" racer, and assuming a Carnet isn't the way to go because it is for commercial and/or professional "goods", then a Duplicate List could be a solution. I think a Duplicate List could provide verification that the car had in fact been temporarily exported from the UK, and that it is the same car that is being re-imported. A Duplicate List is in any case also cost-free, unlike a Carnet, so even if a Carnet is a workable solution I for one would much prefer to pass on it.
I think an issue about Duplicate lists is that they can work OK for leaving/returning through a UK port, but do not address any issues that you might encounter at the European port, or other Customs borders around Europe if you venture that far. These are dependant on the rules that apply to the country that you are entering/leaving. I think Carnets do address these potential problems (provided the country in question accepts Carnets).
There is certainly a lot of confusion for private individuals such as myself who want to take their own race car abroad to compete (at one or more events), and then return it to the UK.
The same probably applies to any sports/leisure equipment that can be moved by road/ferry/tunnel: motorbikes, pedal bikes, gliders, canoes, snowmobiles, boats, surfboards...and anyone moving this sort of equipment between the UK and Europe commercially now faces large extra bureaucracy, hassles, and costs relating to many of the points that have been raised in this thread...ie Carnets, Operator Licences, Trailer Registration etc etc.
Sigh.
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