Road Rallying Set To Resume

Road Rallies and classic trials will be allowed to resume in areas free of Foot and Mouth disease as from Saturday 14th July. This date has been chosen to allow time for rally organisers to fit in public relations visits and to allow the MSA to process the authorisation paperwork.

The relaxation means that every form of motorsport in the UK may now be permitted from 14th July, although any events taking place within infected areas will remain subject to severe restrictions.

The Council's main concern was of biological safety. Events that use the public highways typically pass near or through farms and use unsurfaced roads, while controls are often located in farms or gateways. Road rallies are also required to undertake PR work, which, in the case of personal visits to livestock farms, present a risk. These events cover wide areas and both competitiors and organisers could spread the disease in a similar manner to recent outbreaks in North Yorkshire and Lancashire.

Events have been given the go-ahead provised the following the irestrictions are adhered to:

• Unsurfaced roads passing through pasture which has been grazed by cattle, sheep or pigs since February must not be used.
• No Right of Way which remains closed to the public may be used.
• Controls must not be sited in farmyards or entrances to fields which have had livestock present since February.
• There is a significant risk of Foot and Mouth being transmitted through animal slurry, so roads which pass farms and where animal slurry is present on the highway must be avoided.

Pre-event PR, which normally involves personal visits, can be undertaken by letter or telephone to farms that have livestock.

Rally Licence Upgrades Eased

Special arrangements for the upgrading of rally licences for the remainder of 2001 have been approved by the Motor Sports Council, to take account of the dramatic reduction in available events because of the Foot and Mouth disease.

To upgrade from a Non-Race National B licence to a Rally National A or a Rally International Historic licence will require proof of finishing two special stage rallies. One of those events can be replaced with evidence of a satisfactory attendance at a BARS rally school. This is opposed to the normal upgrade process requiring four rallies.

To upgrade from a Rally National A to a Rally International licence will require proof of finishing one special stage rally. The event can be replaced with evidence of satisfactory attendance at a BARS rally school, providing this dispensation has not been used for earlier upgrading as above.

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