Entries in Track Insurance (1)
Mas Du Clos
Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 11:48AM
Very quiet Saturday, but a friend sent me some interesting news items on the French track Mas Du Clos which appears to have been closed by the French Authorities because it does not meet the FIM standard. Now the track was primarily a "track day" circuit, and as such does not need an FIM license, not sure it even needs a French Motorcycle sanction. This opens a whole bunch of questions about who should be approving tracks, one that will be addressed at the upcoming Los Angeles Professional Circuit Owners Forum. In NSW, Australia, the police approve tracks under The Speedway Act, but it is the local guy who does it without knowledge or guidelines, so what is the point? I guess he then becomes liable, but somehow I doubt it.
Someone needs to inspect and approve tracks, so who should it be and to what standard? Insurance companies have the most to lose, but their role and ability varies all over the world I suspect. If the National sanctioning body is not insuring the track or events as they have no role in track days or private tests for instance, then should they still have the role, and would they want it? If the National body is not involved then the FIA or FIM have no reason to become involved. So are the State Authorities the ones? Not unless they know what they are looking at. There are specialists like myself who can inspect and certify which happens here in the US for the SCCA, but there are 1300 tracks here and I bet 1200 have never been properly inspected.
This is a huge can of worms, because if a track gets inspected and does not do the work then they are in a worse situation than not being inspected, so most owners probably do not want to know. In the meantime people are getting hurt or worse due to lack of proper safety measures being in place. Perhaps France is making the correct moves?
I'd be really interested in hearing from readers who know the situation with Mas Du Clos, or want to comment on what happens where they live.
Someone needs to inspect and approve tracks, so who should it be and to what standard? Insurance companies have the most to lose, but their role and ability varies all over the world I suspect. If the National sanctioning body is not insuring the track or events as they have no role in track days or private tests for instance, then should they still have the role, and would they want it? If the National body is not involved then the FIA or FIM have no reason to become involved. So are the State Authorities the ones? Not unless they know what they are looking at. There are specialists like myself who can inspect and certify which happens here in the US for the SCCA, but there are 1300 tracks here and I bet 1200 have never been properly inspected.
This is a huge can of worms, because if a track gets inspected and does not do the work then they are in a worse situation than not being inspected, so most owners probably do not want to know. In the meantime people are getting hurt or worse due to lack of proper safety measures being in place. Perhaps France is making the correct moves?
I'd be really interested in hearing from readers who know the situation with Mas Du Clos, or want to comment on what happens where they live.