Safety Issues

[Carlo]

Hi, in regards safety issues i have a serious question and that is the drivers seat.Can some knowledgeable person tell me if the original front seat on my falcon XA Coupe is allowable/eligable. As a HMC car I want to keep this car accurate.I dont want to put a purpose built race seat in, or have to weld my frame together to make the back fixed.The seat does not have recliners, but has the tilt mechanism for access to the back.

Best place to ask for information is the Motorsport NZ website and then go and have a look at the motorsport manual as every thing you need to know is there and it is current information.
Below is an extract that may assist you but you should read the complete section from the schedule before finalising your decisions:

4.7 Seating:
(1) Requirements: Seats shall:
(a) Be securely attached to the vehicle and adequately support the occupant(s) in competition, and
(b) Be installed in accordance with Part One Article 4.7(4), and
(c) Allow for the correct fitment/use of the Safety Harnesses.


(2) Seat Types: All of the following seat types are accepted under this Schedule:

(a) Original Seat: being a seat originally installed by the vehicle manufacturer to that particular vehicle model and type. All original seats shall comply:
(i) With the requirements of Part One Article 4.7(1)(a) and Article 4.7(1)(c).

[John McKechnie]

Hi Carlo, thank you very much for the extract and the direction to find it ,Have now read complete section.

[Carlo]

No trouble John, from my experience it is best to be armed with the knowledge from the rule book for often I have encountered officials and other participants most of whom are very well meaning but, they are adding their personal thoughts to the requirements rather than just complying with and / or enforcing the requirements of the sport.
They do it with the best of intentions but it can be miss leading and cause conflict.
Sometimes this occurs simply because they are out of date with current requirements.

[John McKechnie]

Hi Carlo, that reminds me of a building inspector-you know the one above God-he looked at my work and declared 6 inch nails dont hold anything .Only coach screw in his mind would do the trick.Regs didnt state that.
If in doubt, never argue -only question.Position of neutrality.

[Chris Read]

No trouble John, from my experience it is best to be armed with the knowledge from the rule book for often I have encountered officials and other participants most of whom are very well meaning but, they are adding their personal thoughts to the requirements rather than just complying with and / or enforcing the requirements of the sport.
They do it with the best of intentions but it can be miss leading and cause conflict.
Sometimes this occurs simply because they are out of date with current requirements.

Like the time an official said my roll cage on my pre 60 single seater (K) did not comply. I said the regs were clear that it was not mandatory to have a roll bar at all but I chose to put one in for safety but it could not comply as the 60yr old chassis design did not allow it but it was professionally done with the right material but could not have the correct angles -hence the rule the way it is.
Answer: either have it complying or take it out!
Personal opinion getting in the way of common sense rule.
I raced anyway.
Chris Read - Arrowtown

[Howard Wood]

The BMW series organisers in their wisdom have upped the minimum weight for the new under 2 litre class by 40kgs for older cars such as my '02. Given that I already had 10kgs of lead bolted and strapped securely under the passenger seat to meet the previous minimum weight this means 50 kgs of ballast potentially flying around inside the car in the event of a major shunt. Wisely ( I think), I have withdrawn from the series.

My question is, is there any way a scrutineer could pass this and is there anything in the safety regs that allows or covers this? I had already, correctly, been closely examined by the Manfeild scrutes to ensure that the 10kgs was secure!

[Russ Cunningham]

The BMW series organisers in their wisdom have upped the minimum weight for the new under 2 litre class by 40kgs for older cars such as my '02. Given that I already had 10kgs of lead bolted and strapped securely under the passenger seat to meet the previous minimum weight this means 50 kgs of ballast potentially flying around inside the car in the event of a major shunt. Wisely ( I think), I have withdrawn from the series.

My question is, is there any way a scrutineer could pass this and is there anything in the safety regs that allows or covers this? I had already, correctly, been closely examined by the Manfeild scrutes to ensure that the 10kgs was secure!

Isn't this typical in NZ motor sport.......rules are set, then some bright bastard decides to play with them. Good on you for with drawing from the series Howard.

[Steve Holmes]

The BMW series organisers in their wisdom have upped the minimum weight for the new under 2 litre class by 40kgs for older cars such as my '02. Given that I already had 10kgs of lead bolted and strapped securely under the passenger seat to meet the previous minimum weight this means 50 kgs of ballast potentially flying around inside the car in the event of a major shunt. Wisely ( I think), I have withdrawn from the series.

My question is, is there any way a scrutineer could pass this and is there anything in the safety regs that allows or covers this? I had already, correctly, been closely examined by the Manfeild scrutes to ensure that the 10kgs was secure!

Wow, thats like carrying around a passenger. A light one, granted. But thats a lot of extra weight to add further strain to suspension, brakes, etc.

[Rod Grimwood]

With you Howard, where are you meant to put that much weight. have the organisers given a reason for the weight change.

[Howard Wood]

Under the old regs there used to be a base minimum weight of 1000kg including driver with an additional 20kg penalty for EFI and another 40 kgs for multi valve engines to try to give some parity to older cars, certainly not a performance advantage. They have decided with 4 weeks to round one that all cars must be minimum 1040kgs including driver, no reason given.

I think anyone who runs older race engines knows how hard ( and expensive) it is to get decent useable power, but as I built my car to be period correct and to sched K there are plenty of other places to play. My concern is only with the safety issue of the potential of 50 odd kgs of ballast flying around and wondered if indeed there was a precedent or accepted way of adding ballast short of getting real fat. Maybe run a swinger like a sidecar unit?

[Rod Grimwood]

Howard I could solve the problem for you, but may have to adjust the seat.
The 50kgs is definately a problem, where do you put it and not good timeing. See you running with other guys and enjoying yourself, that is what is about, enjoyment.

[Racer Rog]

This is a problem with many "home made series" the goal posts keep changeing, to my mind, if built to schedule K, this is a good legal car, and with the H & C commission working on schedule CR saloons for CoD's, there is hope, that these issues will be a thing of the past, and a good set of rules established for the series, like Dale has done for HMC, there is going to be a open H & C forum in the major regions soon, to ge.t to grips with what is wanted, within the bounds of schedule K and T & C, in simple terms as it was, so it shall be. There is a growing movement to this form of racing, where the cars are the stars, its more enjoyable, and in some cases cheaper, but not all, and lets face it, Bernie's not likely to come knocking on anybody involved, door.
Roger

[Howard Wood]

Unfortunately many series are run by and for the organisers seemingly with maintaining the status quo being the priority rather than encouraging new competitors.

In my case, running in Dale's HMC series is the priority and there is no way I can be pulling 50kgs of ballast in and out of the car between races at the same meeting and I'm certainly not giving those V8's any more advantage!