The GCR and You

[John Nesbitt]

(Part 6 of 'You and the GCR'. With thanks to John Haydon for suggesting the topic.)

Part 6 - Your Car and Equipment

The GCR contains over 400 pages of rules and specs for cars and equipment, and there is no point in regurgitating them here. Instead, this is a highly-selective list of items from 9.2/9.3 which have tripped people up at annual tech or at the track.


Documentation

Your car's logbook requires photographs of the car, and should record changes of ownership (i.e. you should be listed as the current owner) [9.2.1.C].

If your car is subject to homologation (formula and sports racers registered after 1983), remember that it is homologated by class. If you choose to convert it to another class (e.g. FC to F, it must be homologated into the new class, following the rules in the current GCR, not the year of original manufacture [9.2.2].


Flying Objects
Are the following items fastened securely: ballast [9.3.8], batteries [9.3.9], body panels [9.3.10], cameras [9.3.12]?


Fire Safety
Review 9.3.22. You can't test-fire the fire system, but are the lines and nozzles clean, clear, not rusted? Do you have holes in the firewall or floor? "Firewall and floor shall prevent the passage of flame and debris into the driver’s compartment." [9.3.23]


Roll Cage
We still encounter cars which do not have the current standard side tubes installed. "Two side tubes connecting the front and main hoops across both door openings are mandatory." [9.4.D] Remember that we no longer give waivers on safety items.


Driver Safety Gear

"Arm restraints shall not be worn in a manner which limits the ability of the driver to provide visible signals to other competitors while on track" [9.3.18]

Belts must meet SFI (16.1 or 16.5) or FIA (8853/98 8854/98) specifications [9.3.18.G]. SFI belts expire at the end of the second year following manufacture (e.g. a belt manufactured anytime in 2009 expires at the end of 2011). FIA belts carry their expiration date on the belt.

Driver safety equipment is required to be "... in good condition and free of defects, holes, cracks, frays etc." [9.3.19.C]

For helmets, SCCA permits the two most recent Snell certifications, and drops the older one when a new certification is released. The oldest Snell certification permitted by the 2009 GCR is SA2000. When the next standard is released (probably SA2010), the oldest permitted standard will be SA2005, if past practice is a guide.

The driver's uniform "... shall display the official SCCA uniform patch logo ...", SCCA item #3619 or #3637 [9.3.28.C].


Bodywork

It's worth quoting GCR 9.3.6 in full:

"Appearance neat and clean, and suitable for competition. Specifically,
cars that are dirty either externally or in the engine or passenger compartments,
or that show bodywork damage, structural or surface rust, or that
are partially or totally in primer, or that do not bear the prescribed identification
marks shall not be approved for competition."

Simply put, your car must be structurally sound, clean, with bodywork and paint in undamaged (not necessarily showroom) condition, and carrying specified decals in specified locations.

Many (most?) Tech folks will let smaller bodywork issues slide during the year, but make logbook notations at the last race of the season, directing bodywork repairs before the first race of the next season.


Graphics, Decals and Numbers

Graphics are permitted "... provided they are in good taste and do not interfere with identification marks and SCCA logos." [9.3.3] In addition, "Logos and decals of sanctioning bodies other than SCCA shall be removed or covered (car and driver’s suit)." [9.3.28.C]

The following items are required:

Fire System. A circle 'E' decal, SCCA item #2607. See 9.3.22.A.3.a/b for specific location required for types of cars.

Master Switch. A spark in a blue triangle, SCCA item #2606. See 9.3.33.A/B/C for specific location required for types of cars.

SCCA Logo. SCCA field logo, SCCA item #2608. They shall be displayed "... unobstructed and prominently on both sides of the car and adjacent to the side numbers. A third logo shall be displayed on the front of the car unobstructed and prominently near the front number. The logo shall be on the spoiler of cars so equipped." [9.3.28.C]

Numbers and Class Identification. These "... shall meet the approval of the Chief of Timing and Scoring." [9.3.28.A] If the folks in T&S cannot read your numbers you will be asked (told) to make them more visible. "Numbers shall be at least eight (8) inches high, with a 1.5 inch stroke on a contrasting backgound. ... The distance between two (2) numbers shall be at least as wide as the stroke of the numbers." [9.3.28.B]

[Speed Raycer]

On the roll cages section, I'd also add that all welds must be 360 degrees around the tube and no grinding of any welds allowed. Both of those are often overlooked.

A few weeks ago, I teched an SCCA logbooked ITB car for NASA and the welds that were there were ground down and bondo'd over.

[GTIspirit]

On the roll cages section, I'd also add that all welds must be 360 degrees around the tube and no grinding of any welds allowed. Both of those are often overlooked.

I've heard that the tech inspectors pay specific attention to this. I looked for this requirement in the 2009 GCR, but could not find it in the rollcage section that I thought pertains to IT cars.

IT cars follow section 9.4 Roll Cages for GT and Production Based Cars, and not section 9.4.5 Roll Cages for Formula Cars and Sports Racers, right? Under section 9.4 I can't find this requirement. But under section 9.4.5 I find the following:
9.4.5.E.6.

...Welds shall be continuous around the entire tubular structure.

The reason I was looking is because as everyone is well aware, it is extremely difficult to weld all the way around certain joints, and I wanted to know if there was an allowance where gussets might preclude full circumferential welding. So where exactly is this requirement that sometimes catches some people?

[GKR_17]

On the roll cages section, I'd also add that all welds must be 360 degrees around the tube and no grinding of any welds allowed. Both of those are often overlooked.

That would be good practice, but where is it required in the rules?

See 9.4.G.4:

It is recommended that all joints of the roll cage be welded. All welding must include full penetration, no cold lap, no surface porosity, no crater porosity, no cracks, no whiskers, and so forth. Alloy steel must be normalized after welding. It is recom-mended that a certified AWS D1.1 welder do all welding.

[Speed Raycer]

9.4.5.E.6. (I think... I suck at following that BS) I'll have to dig for the AWS code, but can guarantee that it's against the code to grind a weld, but for now, this'll have to do:

6. Welding shall conform to American Welding Society D1.1:2002, Structural Welding Code, Steel Chapter 10, Tubular Structures. Whenever D1.1 refers to "the Engineer" this shall be inter-preted to be the owner of the vehicle. Welds shall be contin-uous around the entire tubular structure. All welds shall be visually inspected and shall be acceptable if the following conditions are satisfied: a. The weld shall have no cracks. b. Thorough fusion shall exist between weld metal and base metal. c. All craters shall be filled to the cross section of the weld. d. Undercut shall be no more than 0.01 inch deep.

[erlrich]

Scott, the other guys were pointing out that the section you quoted is under the rules for formula & sport racers cars. The rules for production and GT cars don't include that same stipulation. It looks like maybe it got lost when the new roll cage rules were written, as the stipulation IS included under "Basic Design Considerations" in the "Appendix G - 2007 Roll Cage Rules" section.

[Speed Raycer]

Thanks Earl. I knew I hadn't dreamt it up My version of Acrobat is corrupt so I was happy to be able to find what I did.

Seriously, they need to fix what they tried to fix. They left out some important stuff.