There are a huge number of people who want to get involved in motorsport on the technical side, but jobs are scarce, and it’s very difficult for a beginner to find a place on a race team. One way to become involved, and also burnish your CV, is to help with smaller outfits on a voluntary basis, which is a great way to get experience. But what if you could tinker with a vast array of different racecars at a wide range of meetings? Wouldn’t that be something?
It is something, and it’s called scrutineering. What’s more, the clubs that run championships and the British governing body, Motorsport UK, are crying out for volunteers to train as scrutineers right now, and there is a set procedure for someone to become a part of this rather unsung group of technical experts.
Before we get to any of that, though, it’s important to understand that there is more than one type of racecar scrutineer.
The three degrees
‘There are three types,’ says Rod Bennett, a Motorsport UK national scrutineer and chief scrutineer for Castle Combe Racing Club. ‘First, the basic safety scrutineer who checks all the safety equipment in the morning. That’s the personal kit of the driver – helmet, overalls, that sort of thing – but also the car, making sure it’s got a rain light [high intensity red rear light] and the seatbelts and fire extinguisher are in date.
‘Then there’s the noise scrutineer, or environmental scrutineer, who makes sure a car’s not too noisy. Each car is checked statically before it goes out on the track and is then monitored throughout the day.
‘The third type of scrutineering, which is the most interesting, is eligibility. Making sure they’re not cheating,’ adds Bennett, who is also the eligibility scrutineer for the Castle Combe Formula Ford Championship and has fulfilled this role for many other series in the past.
‘After the race, or after a session, it might have to be a particular weight, and it must be the right ride height. Or you can get really detailed technical stuff, like taking the cylinder head
