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Stuart Baird Silverstone Classic
I have Stuart Baird's car in our workshop after his heavy roll at the Classic last weekend. As Sam said the roll bar took a real beating but did its job and as a result Stuart emerged with nothing but a stiff neck and a bit of a shaking.
It was suggested that Stuart had been very lucky but in my opinion luck had nothing to do with it. Stuart had the foresight to see that his head was level with the top of the roll bar and asked Mike Waite (MW Fabrications) to extend it, Mike did just that and also braced not only the extension but also the original hoop and gusseted them both.
Stuart's foresight and Mike's quality fabrication saved Stuart's life, its as simple as that. We watched the incident live on the big screen and the severity of the roll shocked all who were there. The consequences of not having enough clearance between the drivers head and the roll hoop don't bear thinking about. This issue of roll bars and extensions is being checked and addressed immediately with the Chief Formula Ford Scrutineer from the MSA and recommendations will be made to all competitors in Historic FF1600, I would recommend that other championships do the same.
We can straighten the cars but not the people all of whom are our friends, prevention is always better than the cure.
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