Rally Safety

I write in the pages of the Windscreen to comment on some of the proposed Rally Safety changes, as published last month.

Since the outline proposals were published in Motoring News some weeks back I have been pondering a number of points. Without doubt there is enormous room for improvement in safety standards, just where these should be applied is apparently not open to debate and will be forced upon us by "faceless" individuals at the MSA.

I present the following facts:

The Motoring News mention of these proposed changes was accompanied by a photo of a Daihatsu on two wheels on the tabletop at Millbrook this year. I had purchased the Video and this shows that the same car then careered off to the right towards two un-tabarded persons sitting on a rug on the grass. They just jumped up in time and the Daihatsu drove over the rug where they had been sitting. At the same place later an Escort Cosworth was seen to drive around the road closed barrier treating it as if it were a chicane. Both these places were at the spot where last year two Peugeots hit each other head-on because one drove through the barrier. This paragraph should be read in conjunction with another proposal recently in the MSA News concerning pace notes on single venue rallies.

I have also just watched the TV coverage of the Jim Clark rally, one of the front runners approached a Tee junction at night too fast to turn right around the straw bale - he went left; he hit and knocked down two tabarded marshals fortunately without injury, who were standing immediately behind the road closing tape.

I fully support measures that demonstrably improve safety and the introduction of Safety Plans, Safety Officers, MSA Stewards and improved stage layouts. In the case of dedicated re-fuelling areas (single - venue) I am puzzled since they were introduced some years ago but have fallen into disuse by a high proportion of clubs.

Why limit novices to 2000cc cars why not 1600cc or even 1400cc?

Why limit WRCars to the higher BRC events, what will this do to owners of such cars who only compete on Tarmac? Gp A cars are nearly as powerful so why not limit these also? To provide more equal competition why not impose a 1 or 2 second a mile penalty on four wheel drive as a few years ago when they were first on the scene?

I now introduce my real pet concern, why should there be a ban on slick tyres for single venue events and why a ban on cut slicks for multi venue events like Epynt. To my knowledge there has never been an accident which can be attributed to their use and therefore such rules are seen not to be sensible thus detracting from MSA credibility. According to the Motor Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations, slicks which are grooved and used according to the MSA regulations are entirely road legal between stages whilst you are actually competing. There is no legal requirement for such tyres to be 'E' marked. FIA moulded pattern tyres at 17% pattern cannot be 'E' marked and are therefore in my book identical to cut slicks. 'E' marked tyres require at least 25% pattern to be road legal and I am informed that if they do get made, they will look like road tyres but with a competition compound . A Dunlop slick which will last us 3 to 4 events is much the same price as a quality road tyre which will wear out on one event. Grooving the slick for a single venue event can trash the tyre on one event. We could then get to the point where safety is actually jeopardised because competitors will attempt to run through on worn tyres. FIA style moulded tyres at 17% is the most likely way the MSA will go BUT who is going to make them to fit the large majority of club cars running on 13 inch wheels. For example Dunlop mould all their slicks from a mould which has a variable thickness insert. To produce an FIA pattern would likely mean a separate mould for each tyre width. I am reliably advised that such moulds including development can cost upwards of £25000 each. I must accept that cornering speeds will be reduced and that this may be argument for treaded tyres albeit at reduced stability, similarly the MSA must accept that car control and braking is significantly better with a slick tyre and this must improve safety.

If the MSA simply ban slicks then there will always be a chance that the unaware novice clubman will try to use cheap roadies which really is a recipe for disaster.