...40+ drivers attend the Silverstone Championship Launch.

26 cars and 35 drivers took to the track last Thursday to mark the launch of the 2009 Ma5da MX5 Championship.

The Dry conditions and the opportunity to test on the Silverstone International circuit brought cars from all over the UK. Many familiar faces return for 2009 and even more new drivers take to the MX5 for the first time, some as experienced race drivers, but many in preparation for their first ever race.

Read the full report

Important Scrutineers Observations

• Tow Hooks

New reg. in the blue book (number G99) says that you can no longer use the roll cage as a towing point, but must have a 60mm towing eye the position of which has to be shown on the bodywork

• Car number decal

This only applies to white cars, but basically what it says is that you must have a continuous line around the race number. It is on page 147 of the Blue Book, and is Reg. [C(b)] 6 it is about 2/3 the way down the page.

• Tyres ..Is Shaving/ Buffing allowed?

The simple answer is yes you can buff or shave your race tyres...

The question was raised at the Launch day and the following should confirm that you can.

Having clarified with our eligibility scrutineer the current Ma5da Regulations allow the buffing or shaving of tyres. Buffing or shaving does not modify the manufacturers tread pattern, it simply removes tread depth.

The current Technical regulation states:

5.14 TYRES

The control tyre for the Championship will be Hankook K110 (Ventus V12 Evo) (size 195x50x15) No alteration to any of the tyres from the manufacturer’s specification is permitted. Re-cutting, re-grooving or in any other way modifying the tread pattern is not permitted. All the manufacturers’ data must be clearly visible. Buffing of sidewalls to remove data is prohibited.