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Nicky Grist welcomes MSA’s safety equipment review

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Nicky Grist welcomes MSA’s safety equipment review

Nicky Grist has welcomed the in-depth review of competitor safety equipment that the MSA will conduct over the next two years.

The MSA will explore a raft of initiatives, including strategies to reduce the burden on competitors of the unnecessary replacement of seats and harnesses, while ensuring suitably high standards of safety are maintained in the sport. A cornerstone of this new initiative will be to provide greater education for competitors in respect of their own safety and to place more responsibility on the competitor to maintain a level of safety equipment, above a defined MSA minimum standard.

As a first step, the MSA will recognise an extended life for certain FIA-homologated seats and harnesses in the UK. There are two significant changes that apply with immediate effect – in stage rallying seats homologated to the FIA 8855-1999 standard are granted a two-year extension at the end of their initial five-year life, while six-point harnesses conforming to the latest FIA 8853-2016 standard, now have a ten-year life.

The MSA will be publishing new guidance on installing seats and harnesses, while giving scrutineers further training in this area. The governing body will also be reiterating scrutineers’ powers to retain or invalidate homologated equipment if they have serious concerns regarding its condition or know it has been involved in a major accident.

Looking ahead, the MSA is investigating new ways of tracking homologated components as well as evaluating more cost-effective accident data recorders (ADRs) for wider use.

“I welcome the news that the MSA is undertaking the most comprehensive review of safety equipment that there has ever been in the UK,” said Nicky. “From grassroots motorsport upwards, from a safety point of view it’s important that competitors use the very best safety equipment they can afford, and that this equipment is seen to be a financially wise and cost-effective investment. Competitors have always felt that the advances in design and technology mean that the latest homologated equipment could be used for many more years, when in a lot of cases they’re used so little each year. As long as the equipment is fitted and used correctly, and have not been subjected to major accident forces, then this is a great benefit to the clubman. I’m delighted that the MSA and David Richards have acted quickly and extended the lifespan of the latest homologated seats and six-point harnesses.

“All the seats with the two year extension in life, and all the seats we have in stock, relate to this standard. Regarding the harnesses that have a five-year extension, this relates to the latest standard that have passed a much tougher test making them a lot safer and were only released earlier this year. All of our six-point harnesses on sale have this latest standard, and will now last competitors ten years.”

“As the governing body, one of our principal roles is to grow motorsport at grassroots level while promoting safety within the sport at a realistic cost for competitors,” said MSA Chairman, David Richards CBE. “I firmly believe the time has come for a wholesale review of our approach to safety across the entire motorsport landscape and this review will be delivered by 2020. It’s therefore appropriate to allow our competitors to continue using their recently purchased seats at least until then, when the outcome of this review will be published.”