Information from Motorsport UK – “Motorsport UK enters next phase of Restart”

Information from Motorsport UK – the video is probably worth looking at for rally competitors and marshals.

David

——– Forwarded Message ——–

Subject: Motorsport UK enters next phase of Restart
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2020 17:31:18 +0000
From: Motorsport UK <media@motorsportuk.org>

 

 

Motorsport UK enters next phase of Restart

We hope everyone has enjoyed the opening month of motorsport’s resumption. During these past four weeks, we have successfully run over 150 events across eight different disciplines in five different regions of the British Isles. Without your dedication, enthusiasm, time and support, none of this would have been possible. We would like to thank everyone in our community – our member clubs, officials, marshals, teams and competitors – for a constructive and truly collaborative approach to the safe and successful return of motorsport.

This weekend marks a new month and the next phase of our restart plans. Not only are there two Grands Prix at Silverstone, where over 420 volunteers will come together to help make the races possible, August will also see the start of our British Championships. The British Touring Car Championship, British F4 series and British GT Championship all get underway this weekend with the British Kart, British Rallycross and British Autotest Championships following suit later this month.

As well as the British titles, an increased number of permits are being allocated across the UK, with a further 312 being issued for next month so far.

Important Information

Motorsport can only operate if we continue to follow the relevant guidance. This can be found at motorsportuk.org/restart

Social Distancing
We encourage everyone to follow the Motorsport UK and applicable government guidelines. Whether you are a volunteer, competitor or team member, please be advised that you must maintain a distance of 2 metres. If 2 metres cannot be achieved, a face mask must be worn, even if operating outside.

Please respect the officials enforcing the guidance – they are simply maintaining a safe environment for all.

‘Thumbs-Up’ Signal
A reminder to all competitors that if you are ‘ok’ following an incident, please give the ‘thumbs-up’ signal when approached by a marshal.

Two posters are now available from Motorsport UK to convey the above messages. These can be downloaded from the Document Library.

Non-essential Personnel
Please do not invite any non-essential personnel to events.

Hygiene
If you are running a team, we recommend you bring a supply of PPE and sanitising products for your personnel. Please wash your hands regularly or use hand sanitiser and clean common touchpoints regularly.

Signing-on Declarations for Pre-event Scrutineering
It is important to ensure that the Chief Scrutineer has sight of the pre-event declarations in good time before the event to enable them to review a percentage of the forms and plan any spot checks that may be required throughout the day.

Remember that competitors should not be required to assemble in a single location with their vehicles for scrutineering, but spot checks can be undertaken at any time during the event, including in the assembly area. Any issues found in these spot checks will need to be rectified before the vehicle continues in the event.

Marshals’ Upgrade Assessments
We have received a number of questions regarding assessments and wish to clarify the situation.  The person carrying out the assessment would be classed as an additional person, supplementary to requirements for the safe functioning of that post. For this reason, whilst social distancing measures remain in place, marshal upgrade assessments must not be undertaken. Should assessments for upgrade purposes need to be postponed until 2021, all previously achieved event attendance and training signatures will remain valid.

Rallying Restart Guidance
Rallying as a discipline was given the green light earlier this month, and now Motorsport UK has created a guidance video to help everyone understand the changes we have to undertake. Following our announcement, FIA World Rally Championship powerhouse M-Sport launched a brand new event to be held at Greystoke in Cumbria. This will be held on 22 August and will be the first rally to implement our new guidelines.

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9g14e0Jtsg

We fully appreciate the feedback we receive after events and the information gathered from the COVID-19 Officer reports. With each weekend, we are continually evolving and finding new ways to safely run our sport. In our guidance updates, we share those learnings and remind our community of the key information to help the future organisation of events.

We would also like to take this opportunity to once again thank all of the community for your support. We look forward to an exciting summer of motorsport ahead.

Have a safe and successful weekend.

Motorsport UK

 

 

Sutton Upon Derwent Classic Car Show and Road Run August 16th Cancelled

From John Newlove:

Sadly the Village Hall committee have decided that they do not have the resources to be able to run the show and comply with all the Covid 19 regulations around social distancing, Licencing and Food provision. Leaving them with no option to cancel this year’s event.

Consequently the usual road run will not also go ahead.

Thank you for everyone’s past support and hopefully we will be back next year

Thanks

Motorsport UK Extends Suspension of Motorsport Permits to 30th June

24/03/20
In light of recent developments in the COVID-19 crisis, and following the address to the nation by the Prime Minister on the evening of 23rd March, Motorsport UK has today extended its suspension of all organising permits and Certificates of Exemption for motorsport events until at least 30th June.

This move provides clear guidance to event organisers, venues, competitors, officials and volunteer marshals of the role that Motorsport UK must play in supporting the broader UK public health agenda.

In recent days the feedback from our members and the community was a need for increased clarity to allow them to plan appropriately and, should the need arise, put in place necessary contingency measures.

Motorsport UK Chairman, David Richards explained, “Motorsport UK has a vital role to play with its community in re-inforcing that, at this time of national emergency, we must all stay at home to play our part in protecting the NHS and ultimately saving lives.  Today, the government have required that we effectively lock-down for a period of three weeks, however given that the most vulnerable in our society are required to isolate for three months, it is evident that the most responsible course of action was to propose a longer suspension of our sport.  When we reflect back on this time, it will be a brief, but vital, hiatus from our everyday motorsport life and we must put this in perspective.  This is a time of national unity and we need to come together with the broader public community to do all we can to support this battle and ultimately save lives.”

Motorsport UK will continue to monitor the prevailing advice from the UK Government in respect of the COVID-19 international pandemic and will update the motorsport community accordingly.

NHMC Warcop Stages (12 April) CANCELLED

In light of the Motorsport UK decision to suspend all organising permits and certificates of exemption until at least 30th April, the NHMC Warcop Stages Rally which was due to take place on Easter Sunday (12th April) is now cancelled.

I don’t think there is any possibility of re-scheduling it to a later date this year, so, we aim for Easter Sunday 2021.

Lookout Stages – Postponed

From Rober Newlove, for Info:

From: Richard Hart [mailto:lookoutmarshal@virginmedia.com]
Sent: 17 March 2020 12:26
Subject: Lookout Stages – Postponed

Unfortunately the Lookout Stages has been postponed. I would like to thank you for your ongoing assistance and support in running our events and look forward to seeing you when we are able to run again.

The official announcement is:-

With the escalation of the coronavirus pandemic within the UK we have taken the decision to postpone the Lookout Stages Rally due to run on April 5th at Melbourne Airfield.

With the limited facilities available on site and with the latest government guidelines we did not consider that we could run an event that was safe for competitors, organisers and marshals so have regretfully had to postpone.
We will try to run later in the year but this will obviously depend on the progression of the virus and availability of suitable dates. All competitor’s entry fees will be refunded in full

Andy Turnbull
Clerk of the Course
Lookout Stages Rally

Motorsport UK COVID-19 Update

From Motorsport UK:
 
Motorsport UK COVID-19 Update
 
It is with regret that Motorsport UK is suspending all organising permits and Certificates of Exemption until at least 30th April 2020. This suspension follows the latest guidance issued by HM UK Government in response to the outbreak of COVID-19. This position will be constantly reviewed given prevailing information.
 
As the National Governing Body, we would ask all Motorsport UK members to act responsibly and follow the Government’s guidance during this difficult time.
 
We thank all of our members, organisers, officials, volunteers, staff and their families for their support during these unprecedented times. We will continue to monitor the situation and will resume sporting activity as soon as we are able. We also have a responsibility and duty of care to our staff who will be working from home, so please be patient with any queries you may have.
 
David Richards, chairman of Motorsport UK, explained, “Clearly we live in challenging times and exceptional measures are required. The decision to suspend Motorsport UK permits on a temporary basis is not one that was taken lightly as the industry employs many thousands of people. However we have an over-riding responsibility to our members and the friends and families of our community. Furthermore, our social responsibilities extend to the broader population and the potential drain on valuable public health resources on which we are all reliant.
 
“The situation is very fluid and we will continue to monitor developments over the coming weeks and hope that we can resume the annual motorsport calendar at the opportune moment. In the immediate short term our efforts need to be focused on ensuring that the industry that backs up the sport has the financial support that it requires from the Government in order that it can be sustained beyond this extraordinary scenario.”
[Ends]

Coronavirus update: Changes to Motorsport Safety Equipment and Vehicle Inspections

Email from the Technical Team at Motorsport UK (at 23:38 on 14th March)

Dear Colleague,

Please be advised of the following latest guidance provided to all Scrutineers tonight:

It is judged that the current methods of close inspection of Competitors’ vehicles and Personal Protective Equipment may encourage the spread of virus contamination between Officials, Competitors, and other staff.

In order to reduce the potential risk, the following temporary changes are to be made to at all Motorsport UK events: Continue reading “Coronavirus update: Changes to Motorsport Safety Equipment and Vehicle Inspections”