We’ve previously covered the City of Cape Town’s aim to reduce the number of illegal street races, by cracking down on illegally modified cars. This is a step that we applaud and support wholeheartedly.
Many of the, generally, younger car enthusiasts feel that there is no place for them in the formalised world of drag racing but they have no excuse to fall back on to defend illegal activities.
MSA comes to the party
Motorsport South Africa (MSA) is not a well-loved organisation, but it, along with the Drag Racing Commission have formally introduced a new social drag racing class for 2016: Street Legal Drags (SLD). The scourge of street racing is obviously one that all levels of authority are keen to eradicate and the sport’s governing body has come up with a great alternative.
This new social class is for road-registered/road legal cars that the average person uses daily. MSA will create a national street legal drag log, which will be published via social media and will encompass the combined points of all SLD events held throughout the year at official MSA-sanctioned events.
Interesting rules
While some may already be concerned with the “admin” issues of obtaining a licence, etc, MSA has changed the rules for this class in that the car, rather than the drivers, will need to be licensed with MSA. And to do so will cost R200 for the year. This allows a licensed car to be used by any number of drivers, who will simply need to pay a small participation fee to the organisers of each event and complete an MSA indemnity form.
SLD Vehicle licences can be obtained at any of the MSA-registered clubs around the country and the drivers of any MSA-licensed vehicle that have completed the required MSA indemnity form will automatically be entered onto the national log to be administered by MSA. Clubs will be able to run their own club logs and will also be able to join forces with other clubs to run inter-club series.
No more BS
Finally, all the talking BS can stop. There are no more excuses. Street racers have a safe environment to practice the sport they claim to love, without endangering the lives of innocent road users. And best of all, your exploits at these events will be documented for all to see.
Special thanks to Reynard Gelderblom for use of these images.