MSA ANNOUNCES COMPLETE REVIEW OF BLUE BOOK
The Motor Sports Association, the governing body of UK motor
sport, has announced a 'root and branch' review and re-write
of the Blue Book - the Competitors' Yearbook that details
the regulations that govern every discipline of four-wheeled
motorsport in the UK.
The independent review will examine all elements of the Blue
Book, including readability, cross-referencing and relevance.
It will be the most comprehensive review of the regulations
ever undertaken by the MSA. Once completed, the regulations
could then be re-formatted and split into separate booklets
to ensure that competitors only receive the regulations that
are relevant to their particular discipline.
The project has been initiated by new MSA Chairman Alan Gow.
"The Blue Book currently comprises 30 sections, 330
pages and over 150,000 words," says Gow. "It is,
at best, difficult - at worst, impossible to make sense of
the contents. It's not surprising that many competitors have
not fully read the rules - for the most part they are over-complicated
and confusing. We should simplify, condense them and then
issue people with just those rules that reflect their participation;
they will then be able to read and understand them better.
"The current regulations are the inevitable result of
many rewrites, clarifications and amendments through the years;
so it's going to take a long time to decipher the current
rules and strip them back to their fundamental meaning. We
will not be able to deliver this in time for next year as
it's a huge and expensive undertaking, but we are also looking
to make some interim changes to the layout of the current
blue-book that at least helps the user until we have fully
completed the project."
"This is a very important project," explains Colin
Hilton, Chief Executive of the Motor Sports Association. "We
are constantly trying to reduce the barriers to participation
across the board to make it as easy as possible for people
to compete. One of the critical elements in that process is
ensuring that people are able to understand the rules. Like
everything else there are downsides, notably the financial
implications of the revised print specification, but this
is another vital step in the modernisation of UK motor sport."
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