Part 2 - Personal Equipment

Right, so what else do you need to go sprinting? 

When you get your race licence you will also get a copy of the MSA Blue Book which lists all of the requirements for everything to do with motorsport. Section C in the Blue Book concerns safety, but to save you from having to wade through it, here's a summary.

From a personal point of view, the following items are compulsory:

1. Appropriate crash helmet
2. Flame-proof overalls.

That's all you need right now. For 2010 flame-proof gloves will also be required. It does seem a bit strange that you could drive in a pair of wellies filled with petrol if you wanted to, but that's the way it is...

Here's another complicated bit - what helmet's are allowed? It's a fairly restricted list I'm afraid. In order to compete, you will need a helmet with one of the following labels:

These are the only ones that are permitted. You may well have a £500 Arai motorbike lid, but I'm afraid that it won't wash with the scrutineers if it doesn't have one of these labels. Another point to note is that the blue label is only valid until the end of 2009. From 2010, all helmets have to be flame-proof.

The first time you compete, the scrutineer will examine your helmet and, if he is happy, he'll add a little blue sticker to the right hand side, like this:

He will also charge you £1.50 for the service. You may think it's odd that you have to pay for a sticker that indicates that your other sticker is acceptable. I wish I could explain...

Onto overalls. Again there is a fairly restricted list:

• BS6249 part 1 Index A or B (but not part C)
  
• BSEN533
  
• pr EN533:1995 Index 3
  
• FIA 8856-2000
  
• FIA 1986 Standard 
  

So, no karting overalls I'm afraid - they have to be pukka motorsports ones.

And that's really about it. Next section - preparing the car.