Roll bars for sprints

[Chris71]

If you have a Seven-type car fitted with a roll bar for basic club sprints, does it have to conform to any requirements? I was under the impression it was free in the road going classes, but I've seen a lot of cars toting FIA-approved jobbies.

[Zumbruk]

It's not required in the road-going classes (on List 1A tyres). But if you're going to fit one, you might as well fit a real one...

[Chris71]

Zumbruk said:

It's not required in the road-going classes (on List 1A tyres). But if you're going to fit one, you might as well fit a real one...

Thanks.

Not looking at fitting one. Alas the TVR is now gone and I'm looking at buying a car 'off the shelf' with all the goodies already there.

So just to clarify - if it's road legal and it's running on 1A tyres you can get away with a 'track day' roll bar (or none at all)?

(Obviously it's my head that's at risk of being scalped, so I'd prefer something decent, but as a matter of interest...)

[lord summerisle]

again it depends sometimes on the championship regs.


for instance if you bought a Caterham 7, and entered into the Lotus 7 Club sprint championship (which runs as an invited club at various hillclimbs and sprints) then even the road going cars need to be fitted either with the FIA rollbar (inc petty strut) or the full cage. no bar or the standard rollbar (no diagonals in the hoop) are allowed. the same goes for Lotus 7 club trackdays.

to quote from the championship regs:

All cars must comply with Sprints, Hillclimbs and Drag Racing (I) and Competitors: Safety [C(c)] sections of the 2009 MSA Technical Regulations. All cars must be fitted with a Safety Rollover Structure which meets Competitors: Safety [C(c)] 2009 MSA Technical Regulations. The Safety Rollover Structure MUST have any removable members fitted – eg the ‘petty strut’ on the Caterham FIA rollover bar.

Competitors are advised that the traditional standard roll-over bar as supplied by Caterham does not meet these requirements. Any car fitted with the traditional standard roll-over bar that arrives at an event will NOT be allowed to compete.

as per your questions about sprinting a mx5 - alot comes down to the individual event or championship - all refer back to the MSA regulations on what they require - but where they class certain cars will sometimes depend on the individual orgoniser.

[onomatopoeia]

Chris71 said:

If you have a Seven-type car fitted with a roll bar for basic club sprints, does it have to conform to any requirements? I was under the impression it was free in the road going classes, but I've seen a lot of cars toting FIA-approved jobbies.

If a ROPS is not mandatory by the blue book or the event regulations for your category of vehicle then if one is fitted it does not have to comply with the specifications laid down in the book. The same applies to any non-mandatory piece of safety equipment, provided that the fittment of the item does not cause a hazard in itself.

Scrutineers were told this in the March 2008 scrutineers bulletin (which you should be able to download as a licence holder if you log in to the MSA site) so should not be refusing scrutineering tickets on that basis.