MGapr11 Bulletin no 60 - The Triple-M Register

Bo'ness Hill Climb Revival 2010A View from the Driving Seat.By Colin MclachlanA year ago I foolishly suggested in the Caledonian Newsletterthat I might enter my MG PA in the Bo'ness Hill Climb in September2010. Once something like that gets into print, it becomes verydifficult to pull out, so I went ahead, and had a great time!During the Hill Climb weekend, several MGCC members, seeinghow much fun I was having, suggested that they might try it themselvesin 2011. You know who you are! I think it is often the casethat this happens on the day, and is then either forgotten until it istoo late, or postponed through a lack of knowledge of what isinvolved. For what it is worth, here is a note of some of the stepsinvolved in entering this event. I hope this will encourage you to joinin the fun. Although this item was originally published in the CaledonianNewsletter, this comment applies to all MMM drivers.Firstly, you must obtain a competition licence from the MotorSports Association (MSA). Their website http://www.msauk.org is agood place to start, and there is a link to apply for a licence online.The licence you need for hill climbs is a “Non-Race National 'B' (notEU)”. The procedure is quite straightforward and does not normallyrequire a medical examination, but you will need a passport photo –check online for details. This licence is valid for a calendar year, andyou are best to get it sorted out early on before going any further.There is a link on the MSA website to the hill climb regulations,extracted from the “Blue Book”, which will give you an idea of therules involved for competing. When you join the MSA you'll get ahard copy of the Blue Book, which you should study (not an easyread!). The requirements are fairly straightforward, but some detailschange from year to year. Last year all I needed to do to the PA wasmark the earth terminal on the battery with yellow tape, mark theignition switch to show how to turn it off, have two throttle returnsprings fitted, and fit a timing strut. I believe that this is all that isrequired for road cars up to the end of 1961, but you should checkfor yourself (the umbrella on my PA is optional). Once you haveyour entry number confirmed you'll need to fit racing numbers – I gotmine from http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/.