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gazchap
Original Poster
889 posts
53 months
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 A friend of mine took this photo yesterday at Loton Park Hillclimb near Shrewsbury. I went there for the first time a few months back and saw lots of lovely metal, and each one had one of these little black metal bars sticking out of the front, as in the photo. What are they? Something to do with the towhook perhaps? Only thing I can think of, but I'm used to just seeing stickers with "TOW" and an arrow on them pointing down to it.
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deuchars
207 posts
85 months
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It's to break the timing beam.
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s2sol
601 posts
41 months
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I'm no expert, but I'd have thought is would be something to break a timing beam.
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charliedaker
278 posts
44 months
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Timing beam is correct!
We were there yesterday too, doesn't that Audi sound mental?!
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gazchap
Original Poster
889 posts
53 months
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Aaah. Makes sense, cheers.
Charlie: I didn't actually go yesterday, couldn't make it as I was otherwise engaged but I'm itching to go back, possibly as a competitor (albeit not a competitive competitor :P) if I can get everything sorted.
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Deluded
3,462 posts
61 months
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What's a timing beam and why does it need to be broken?
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RESSE
2,621 posts
91 months
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Timing strut:
To enable your car to be timed it is mandatory for you to fit a timing strut (more commonly known as a beam breaker) to the front of your
car.
MSA Rule S.10.9:
Timing struts
"Where timing is activated by a light beam, the vehicles will be fitted at the front with a vertical timing strut, minimum vertical height 254mm, the bottom of which shall be not less than 180mm and no more than 200mm from the ground. The strut will be in matt black on both sides, over its total area, which shall be not less than 254mm by 51mm. No other, or further forward, part of the vehicle may interrupt these dimensions or actuate the timing".
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Krikkit
2,683 posts
51 months
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Deluded said: What's a timing beam and why does it need to be broken? It's exactly what it sounds like - an infra-red beam is projected across the start and finish lines, and to make sure the timings are accurate you have to have a clean cut of the beam, so you put a nice straight bit of plastic/metal on the front of the car. [edit] Beaten to it above ^^
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charliedaker
278 posts
44 months
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gazchap said: Aaah. Makes sense, cheers.
Charlie: I didn't actually go yesterday, couldn't make it as I was otherwise engaged but I'm itching to go back, possibly as a competitor (albeit not a competitive competitor :P) if I can get everything sorted. Im not 100% certain but i think its fairly 'inexpensive' in motorsport terms to compete in hill climbing isnt it?
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onomatopoeia
2,924 posts
87 months
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Deluded said: What's a timing beam and why does it need to be broken? Speed events are timed to 1/100th of a second from a standing start, so there needs to be a way of ensuring the cars are correctly lined up at the start, as even a couple of inches "run up" to the start of the timed area gives a measurable advantage on 1/100th timing (a timekeeper told me this when I asked if the lining up beam could have a bit more leeway in it to make it easier for the startline marshalls, and I did the maths and confirmed it). So since many venues don't have support for transponders a light beam is used as already described.
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Trev450
2,457 posts
42 months
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charliedaker said: Im not 100% certain but i think its fairly 'inexpensive' in motorsport terms to compete in hill climbing isnt it? It can be if you compete in the production car classes but even then you are looking at a budget of at least around £250-300 per event, and that's not taking into consideration accomodation, if required, or mishaps. If on the other hand you want to challenge for overall wins, then the sky's the limit.
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BertBert
7,203 posts
81 months
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Deluded said: What's a timing beam and why does it need to be broken? And isn't it wasteful in timing beams? COuldn't they find a more sustainable method? Like re-usable timing beams? Bert
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Renny
171 posts
109 months
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Krikkit said: It's exactly what it sounds like - an infra-red beam is projected across the start and finish lines, and to make sure the timings are accurate you have to have a clean cut of the beam, so you put a nice straight bit of plastic/metal on the front of the car.
[edit] Beaten to it above ^^ It's not even as hi-tech as infra-red, just a simple light beam (or 2 at the start) and receiver opposite. They are usually only seen on cars in speed events (hillclimbs and sprints), race meetings use radio transponders with detectors buried in the track surface.
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LordHaveMurci
3,158 posts
39 months
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charliedaker said: Im not 100% certain but i think its fairly 'inexpensive' in motorsport terms to compete in hill climbing isnt it? Yes, production car class is probably the cheapest. Entry fees approx £75 per day, very little fuel used & low tyre wear due to short runs. Main expense is buying suit, gloves & helmet initially. MSA license is about £40 Production cars only need the beam breaker (make it yourself), yellow tape on the earth terminal of battery, race numbers (print them), ignition off sticker (I use masking tape!). That really is it, you can then spend as much as you like on upgrades, travelling to different venues, accomodation etc. I tend to stick to local venues (luckily Wiscombe is my nearest!).
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Adam205
560 posts
52 months
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LordHaveMurci said: Yes, production car class is probably the cheapest. Entry fees approx £75 per day, very little fuel used & low tyre wear due to short runs.
Main expense is buying suit, gloves & helmet initially. MSA license is about £40
Production cars only need the beam breaker (make it yourself), yellow tape on the earth terminal of battery, race numbers (print them), ignition off sticker (I use masking tape!). That really is it, you can then spend as much as you like on upgrades, travelling to different venues, accomodation etc. I tend to stick to local venues (luckily Wiscombe is my nearest!). Indeed, you don't have to have an Aston Martin! My sister decided she wanted a go so did Llandow and Llys-y-fran in our bog standard 500 16v. Despite being used to slightly faster transport, I thoroughly enjoyed thrashing it around Llandow at the test day! 
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RichieRich998
4 posts
10 months
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Im doing the Bournemouth & District Car Club run sprint at Clay Pigeon Kart Track on the 7th Oct in my Mitsubishi Evo 3. Its about time I used it for something apart from parking in the garage. Should be fun, Also another cheap form of motorsport is Autocross, can use a standard production car, need Non Race National B licence, motor club membership, crash helmet, gloves, suit and fire extinguisher and away you go http://www.aswmc.org.uk/autox.htm
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andylaurence
182 posts
81 months
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