At the start of the 2008 World Rally Championship season, the Advanced Side Impact System - developed by the FIA Institute’s Closed Car Research Group - was integrated into the rally cars. This 200mm space between the door and the seat provides a critical survival space that helps minimise the energy and forces on the body of the occupant in the event of a collision. The space, filled with high efficiency energy absorbing material, enables the crash forces to be attenuated.

Two additional sections of FIA approved foam have now been added, one within the door cavity and one between the door and the seat, both designed to further increase the strength of the car in the region of the front doors and help reduce intrusion. As a result of this, the original door glazing and window winder mechanisms have been removed and replaced with transparent polycarbonate sliding windows, which can be rapidly removed, without tools, from both inside and outside. Both the Citroën Total World Rally Team and BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team have incorporated this latest experimental development in to their cars.

The new specification racing seat which was introduced to the sport at the end of 2008 is also an integral part of this side impact safety system. It has improved strength and support during rear impacts, and maximises pelvis, shoulder and head protection during side impacts by spreading the load evenly through the occupant’s body. The seat brackets and belt positions have been specified to create optimised belt strap geometry and angles which ensure the torso is efficiently and equally restrained by each of the straps of the safety harness. A high-g sled test, together with full-scale vehicle testing, has demonstrated that a high velocity 100g side impact could be survived without serious injury.

Professor Sid Watkins, FIA Institute President said: “I’m delighted that the work of the FIA Institute, the Closed Car Research Group and the manufacturers has led to these developments; we are making significant steps forward in reducing the consequences of side impact accidents.”

The FIA and FIA Institute continue to work with the manufacturers, striving for ever higher levels of safety in the sport. Breaking down the individual safety components, teams are able to incorporate them more easily into the design of the car.