| FIA President Max Mosley said: “The Advanced Side Impact System is designed to help prevent serious injury for rally crews in the event of a high-speed side-on collision and I’m delighted that all of the teams have embraced its introduction.”
The teams will introduce the crucial components of the system, which include more survival space, side impact energy absorbers and safety nets.
Further side impact measures, including a stronger supporting seat, strong seat rails and and optimised belt anchorage positions will be phased in during the summer break. In 2009, it is planned to introduce a new load spreading door cage system.
The FIA Institute began work on this project in March 2005, in partnership with the Subaru and Peugot teams. One of the major challenges was coming up with a system which could be integrated by all teams in the current rally cars.
With this in mind, the project group arrived at a formula which breaks down the individual safety components into steps that the teams could easily incorporate into their cars.
The first target was to minimize the energy forces on the body of the occupant in the event of a collision. This was achieved through the creation of a 200mm area between the door and the seat, including energy absorbing material and a load spreading door cage.
The next priority was strengthening the driver’s seat to improve head, shoulder and pelvic support. The seat is important because it is the main connection between the driver’s body and the car and also provides the last line of protection should an accident occur.
Much of the research was conducted in co-operation with Peugeot and Prodrive with engineering design by the Subaru World Rally Team. A high-g sled at DEKRA was commissioned for development testing and it demonstrated that a high velocity 70g side impact is, theoretically, survivable, without serious injury. |
