Single drivers have traditionally had to get out and run round the car but apparently that's regarded as dangerous these days

For hilarious entertainment, I bet you’ve overlooked the ‘Judicial’ bit of the MSA’s magazine,motorsportsnow! Dull it is not. The current issue of our national governing body’s publication is full of stuff about competitors punching each other in the face, pushing rivals over their machines, and yelling and swearing in that time-honoured manner ‘likely to bring the sport into disrepute’; of dodgy engines in kiddies’ karts and rally drivers deliberately bashing each other off stages.

The judgements given during proceedings in Motor Sports House appear wise but the stories always make good reading. The appeals are often the best – instead of getting off, as he’d hoped, some obviously guilty party usually finds the suspension of his competition licence massively extended and on top of that he gets stung for a few hundred quid towards costs. It’s all good stuff.

While the more thoughtful reader mulls over the interesting concept of yelling and swearing in a manner that does not bring motor sport into disrepute, let’s conjure up an imaginary scene. Historic racers never seem to run into such trouble, oddly enough, but let’s invent a farfetched case in which the driver of an old Formula 1 car has been hauled before this disciplinary tribunal.

We hear that this driver, a notorious old backmarker, was lying well down the field when another competitor made a high-speed move to pass him, on the straight in front of the pits. Video recordings show with absolute clarity that the accused swerved deliberately towards his rival, nearly pushing him into a concrete wall. To any reasonable man, life was endangered.

The tribunal, taking a grave view, reaches a decision quickly. Taking into account several similar offences in the past, of which the tribunal has been reminded, the driver has his competition licence removed for life, with no appeal allowed.

It’s just a fantastic daydream, of course. What we need in a column like this is some logical, practical thinking. So, switching to something completely different, think back to the recent Hungarian GP. Weren’t we all riveted by that Keystone Kops sequence of cars colliding and a flying wheel during the pit-stops? That improbable scene set me thinking about what we do in historic racing.

Our pit-stops are a very different business as we only need them for driver changes in longer races. Strangely, the pit-stop rules in historic racing vary from race to race, even at the same meeting.

In some races, you aren’t allowed to spend less than a total of 90 seconds in the designated pit area. That seems quite a good idea, calling for some nice judgement from competitors. Those who are too quick get a severe time penalty. Commentators can tell spectators instantly how long each car has taken and that definitely added to the fun in such races at the Silverstone Classic.

In other races, cars must remain stationary for one minute. This is harder to enforce; in fact, without a large number of competent observers standing by, stopwatch in hand, it’s impossible. Some competitors certainly cheat a bit and usually they get away with it. Setting off after 58 seconds instead of one minute doesn’t sound too naughty but two seconds represents over 80 yards on a circuit.

Sometimes there’s no restriction other than the pit-road speed limit that always applies and which everybody agrees is essential for safety. If one driver is doing the entire race, however, things must be made fair for everybody else. Single drivers have traditionally had to get out and run round the car but – and this made me laugh when somebody, with a totally straight face, explained it to me recently – apparently that’s regarded as dangerous these days because they might slip over and hurt themselves.

It’s enough, perhaps, to make single drivers get out, stand clear and then get back in. However, organisers do prefer to see two different drivers per car in these races and it’s recognised that single drivers have the advantage of being on the pace immediately after their mandatory stop.

Motor Racing Legends introduced a new rule this year, making single drivers wait for a minute but leaving the rest free to swap places as fast as they can. That’s an interesting answer, but two drivers who can change over in 15 seconds must gain about a mile on the lone drivers, which seems a bit harsh. But debates on the rules of motor sport will last as long as the sport itself.

TONY DRON

Having started his racing career in Formula Ford, Tony made a name for himself in 1970s Touring Cars and since then has raced an astonishing variety of sports and historic machinery. He is also a hugely respected journalist.