October 2009 adean-lewis@msauk.org

MSA fringe meetings

The MSA held fringe meetings at the recent Labour and Conservative party conferences to further raise the profile of motor sport among the Westminster decision makers.

The MSA convened a panel including Damon Hill OBE, ITV Sport’s Steve Rider, Adam Parsons from the British Olympic Association, MSA Chief Executive Colin Hilton and MSA Council Chairman Graham Stoker. They were joined in Brighton by Sports Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe MP, and in Manchester by Shadow Sports Minister, Hugh Robertson MP.

Colin Hilton outlined the substantial investments made by the MSA in the Whole Sport Plan which focuses on getting more people into motor sport, providing the opportunity for the most talented athletes to succeed at the highest level and supporting the infrastructure of the sport around the country.

In Brighton, the Sports Minister underlined the importance of sport to the country in terms of benefits for health, education and society in general and reaffirmed the government’s target to maximise the impact of London 2012 on the nation.

In Manchester, the Shadow Sports Minister stressed the Conservative party’s commitment to sport and physical recreation and explained that central government’s role is not to create successful athletes, but to assist the individual governing bodies in the efforts they are making to develop their sport.

RoGB

The Rally of Great Britain takes place this month (from 22 to 25 October) starting from Cardiff. The deadline for enrolling as a marshal is Friday 16 October ­– go to www.rallystageteam.co.uk.

For spectators, full details and ticket information is on www.rallygb.org

MSA Club Officials seminars 2010

As mentioned in the August issue of e-Wheels, from January to March 2010, the MSA (with the support of the British Motor Sports Training Trust) will be running a series of Club Officials seminars at locations across the UK. The dates and locations were not available before and are now shown below.

Letters asking MSA Registered Clubs to nominate a number of representatives to attend will be issued later this month.

The seminars will be targeted at unlicensed officials including, but not limited to, club stewards, those involved in club administration and event organisers.

Workshop groups will cover speed, rally, clubsport and permanent fixed venue events (race, kart, drag racing etc).

If you are interested in attending one or more of these seminars, approach your club committee or secretary so that you can be included on the list of nominees.

Day, date and broad location:

Sunday 24 January – Northern Ireland (Aldegrove area)
Saturday 30 January – South East (Sevenoaks area)
Sunday 31 January – Central Southern (Basingstoke area)
Saturday 20 February – North (York area)
Sunday 21 February – Eastern England (Peterborough area)
Saturday 27 February – Midlands (Solihull area)
Sunday 28 February – North West (Runcorn area)
Saturday 6 March – Wales (Llandrindod Wells area)
Sunday 7 March – South West (Exeter area)
Saturday 13 March – Scotland Central (Motherwell area)
Sunday 14 March – Scotland Highland (Inverness area)

Manx travel

In the June 2009 issue of e-Wheels we included an article regarding the ending (by the UK Government) of the bilateral agreement between the UK and the Channel Islands, which provided free access to immediate necessary primary medical care whilst visiting the Channel Islands. This change was effective from 1 April 2009.

It is now understood that the ending of a similar agreement between the UK and the Isle of Man (again at the instigation of the UK Government) is expected to become effective from the 1 April 2010.

As a result, anyone travelling to the Channel Islands or to the Isle of Man after those dates must ensure that they have adequate medical and travel insurance in place. The terms of any previously issued private medical insurance cover held should also be checked carefully to ensure full cover is operational.

Towing eye failures

Extract from MSA Scrutineers E-Bulletin #47

We have had a number of communications from various people about towing eyes failing, citing examples of a towing eye failing whilst the vehicle was being winched up a ramp etc. The towing eye is intended to facilitate the towing of a vehicle along a reasonable ground surface. That said we have seen examples of towing eyes which at best are questionable. There is a basic requirement for the eye to have a 60mm internal diameter, otherwise the acceptability is a matter of commonsense, something we hope all scrutineers have! Towing eyes of webbing strap are acceptable if secured to the vehicle structure in a satisfactory manner. If the webbing is 2” and typical of load restraint straps then it can be regarded as being acceptable. We have seen such a towing eye of 20mm wide webbing, quite simply such will not be up to the intended task. Similarly something like 8mm multi-strand wire cable is suitable but what amounts to 'accelerator cable' is not! Some of the rigid eyes are not adequate either. Please not only check there is a towing eye present but also that it can reasonably be anticipated to be fit for purpose.

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 Clubs then Publications. You can also download Motorsports Now! – the MSA magazine sent to competition licence holders and officials as well as MSA yearbooks.

 

Updated 22 October2009
Webmaster - Jim Paterson