A busy first year for the MSA’s RallyFuture campaign to further enhance safety in UK stage rallying has culminated in the publication of the 2016 Stage Rally Safety Requirements.

The new document builds upon the 2015 version, which was published in June to ensure that all UK stage rallies follow a common set of requirements.

The 2016 Stage Rally Safety Requirements, which also apply to Single Venue Stage Rallies, are updated with reference to the new MSA Rally Media Accreditation scheme, and the online MSA Marshals’ Training and Accreditation system, due to launch in January. Supplemental to the main document are annexes providing additional tools and templates for organisers.

Rob Jones, MSA Chief Executive, said: “The original Stage Rally Safety Requirements, published earlier this year, represented the first basic template for running a stage rally in the UK. A lot of work has been put in behind the scenes to augment those requirements and produce what I believe is a very important document that will help to ensure the sport’s future.

“We appreciate that this adds to an already heavy workload for rally organisers, and while that may regrettably have contributed to the loss of some events, we are reassured that many others have been able to attract very strong entries this year. I wish to thank all those who have come with us on this journey so far – the sport has every reason to look ahead with optimism.”

Primarily, RallyFuture entails implementing 29 recommendations from the Motorsport Event Safety Review (MESR), which was set up by the Scottish Government following the 2014 Jim Clark Rally. The MSA committed to this implementation programme in a staged manner over approximately two years, until early 2017.

The full list of recommendations and more information can be found at msauk.org/rallyfuture.