May 2009 adean-lewis@msauk.org

Robinson reviews karting

The MSA has appointed George Robinson to undertake a complete review of UK karting and to make recommendations for the future of the sport.

Robinson's brief will be to consider karting throughout the UK and formulate proposals to ensure that the sport continues to deliver and develop in the future. It is anticipated that his initial recommendations will be made to the Motor Sports Council by the end of 2009.

The three central considerations will be:

• The MSA's governance and regulation of karting – to create a more timely and efficient system of governance for the sport
• The structure and quantity of karting championships and defined classes, with a view to introducing a clear structure of progression from entry at club level through to CIK level
• The cost of karting at entry level and proposals to reduce the cost of competition in order to bring more people into the sport.

"For a number of reasons, it is clear that we have not got very far in trying to restructure karting from within," said Colin Hilton, MSA Chief Executive, "so we have gone outside the existing system to get an objective view of the way forward. George Robinson is hugely experienced and highly respected and he was the logical choice to undertake this review. It is vital to the future of the sport that we get this right, so we will take our time to address all the issues and will not be implementing anything before 2012 at the earliest."

Robinson brings a wealth of experience to the project, having been involved in karting for 40 years as a competitor, circuit operator, driver trainer and engine builder. He runs a successful engineering company.

"It is a fairly sweeping statement to talk about the restructure of karting but it's vital for the future health and well being of the sport," Robinson confirmed. "I am delighted that the MSA has asked me to lead this project but it will not be a solo task. I will draw on the valuable knowledge and intellect of many people in the sport and I very much hope that they will support me in this important role.

Apprenticeships – more

As mentioned in e-Wheels April 2009, the MSA Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) was launched recently to identify the first intake of 50 drivers and co-drivers aged between 16 and 24 years who have demonstrated the potential to progress to the Elite level of the sport. Applications are still invited.

The AASE in Motor Sport is funded by the Learning and Skills Council and similar programmes are well established in many other sports.

For further information, including minimum performance criteria, an e-leaflet is available at www.msauk.org/aase.

GoMotorsport – corrections

In the story about GoMotorsport.net in e-Wheels April 2009, we included some out of date information for which we apologise.

The person coordinating Go Motorsport is not Alex Birley but Tom Campbell. If you have any questions about Go Motorsport, Tom can be contacted at MPA Creative, telephone 01372 414120.

If your club is not listed on www.GoMotorsport.net (as all clubs should be) a club official should complete the questionnaire, which can be downloaded from http://files.e2ma.net/2971/assets/docs/go_motorsport_questionnaire_2009.xls
(not the link stated previously).

Return questionnaires by email to info@GoMotorsport.net or by post to Ben Taylor at Motor Sports House.

General driving behaviour

e-Wheels April 2009 included a reminder to all concerned about the Code of Conduct which the MSA has brought out. One or two clubs used the opportunity to remind their members through their own magazines that everyone involved in the sport acts as an ambassador for the sport in whatever they do – not just on-track or off-road activity.

This is particularly true of clubs who have a clubhouse or regularly use the same premises (often in residential areas) for meetings – for whom the importance of being accepted by their local community is of prime importance.

Of course, this also extends to club events, where proper driving manners and behaviour when using local roads helps to give a positive public image of responsible motor sport.

The real Allan Dean-Lewis

It appears there are some incorrect email addresses for me floating about. For clarification, my correct email address is (and always has been) adean-lewis@msauk.org

Extract from MSA SCRUTINEERS E-BULLETIN #42

Cross Country Fire Extinguishers

We have had a lot of queries in the last couple of weeks regarding fire extinguishers for Cross Country vehicles, and in particular 2009 MSA Competitors’ and Officials' Yearbook regulation F 301. To clarify, where the regulation states, “not plumbed in”, this indicates that a 1.75-litre hand-held fire extinguisher is acceptable. This interpretation is helped by looking back to the 2007 yearbook, which is a little bit clearer, and to our awareness there has not been a regulation change in the meantime that would require anything more than this.

Downloading e-Wheels

If a paper copy is required and to access back issues, Word and pdf versions of e-Wheels can be downloaded from the MSA website www.msauk.org by clicking on MSA publications>Wheels>e-Wheels.



 

Updated 13 May 2009
Webmaster - Jim Paterson