Originally Posted by ERC
Sorry to hear about your back. Assuming you haven't moved in the last couple of years, I am just around the corner. If you've had to leave anything in a state you're not happy for it to remain for the next six weeks I am happy to pop 'round and tidy it away under your supervision.
Very kind of you Paul. Much appreciated, but I am now at the strengthening/fibreglassing boot and bonnet stage and I'd like to think I can get back to that next week, though the lack of any gripping strength in the left hand might slow me. Thanks to others offering support and remedies.
rf84 Exactly. There is a major difference between an out and out racer and a road car, no matter how fast the road car. This is the frustration. Putting in a basic cage whilst building a road car from scratch is no big deal. Trying to modify a cage later is. I totally agree that any cage is better than none and as the only people likely to be affected by it in the event of a crash are the occupants, it is therefore a personal issue. I don't believe that MSNZ are in any way affected or liable when it comes to vehicle construction whether it is involved in a road or a track accident. On the public road, with a current WoF, MSNZ have zero liability. At the track, they are so far removed from liability that their risk is negligible. In fact, should my wife be widowed by anything that happens on track, she is in no doubt at all that no blame is attached to any driver or official and that I willingly accept any and every risk.
With or without a cage, I have pulled of races before now, when the speed differential between my slow car and faster cars such as the Lighting Direct Porsches, has been such that in poor weather, I deemed it dangerous to continue.
NZ Transport or whatever they are called these days, are happy enough to accept many thousands of cars on our roads without airbags, ABS brakes etc., even though you cannot now import many models that were already here before they changed the rules. But you can still import a classic car without those safety devices. In this respect, MSNZ are totally overlooking the requirements of many of their customers, namely the classic fraternity.
Regardless of the Historic Commission's beliefs and challenges to any such rules and attitudes, they are totally powerless, and it is this ongoing lack of respect for the commission from those deemed "above" them, which has led to a lot of criticism of MSNZ itself.
Maybe the technical department needs one person within who not only actually understands classics, but has the power to make common sense decisions, instead of just fobbing us off with "your cage doesn't comply with current regs, so go away". The calls for a stand alone organisation are driven by these sorts of issues.
Several TRS posters have written to me privately and I thank them for their suppport. If I am well enough next week, I may well trailer the unfinished project down to HD for weekend 2, but it is not looking too good at the moment as I am not yet allowed to drive.
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