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In Daz's second article, he explains how to get started as a marshal, explains the different grades, and updates us on his recent weekends. As an experienced marshal himself, Daz knows the inside line, so if the article raises an interest for you and you would like to know more, or if you have a question, why not go to the Forum pages and pose your question directly to him in the section Meet the Marshal. Meanwhile, read and enjoy:
Hi all,
Firstly I suppose I should point out that this article is about marshals training and duties in the UK and mainly covers the on track roles rather than the more specialised duties. This may vary in other countries, but the basics should be the same.
In my opinion one of the easiest ways to get involved in marshalling is to contact your local circuit as they should have contact details for the person who co-ordinates their Marshals. In the UK, the biggest of the marshals clubs is the British Motorsports Marshals Club (BMMC). Although joining a club isn’t a must to become a marshal, it is well worth doing as for a small membership fee you gain many benefits not the least of which is insurance.
In the UK, marshals experience and training is laid out in MSA guidelines and has been made the same for all clubs. The first thing you should do if you are interested in trying out marshalling is to arrange to work at a race meeting in a kind of taster day, this will show you if you will enjoy it or not, but most people who try marshalling love it. From there onwards you will become a Trainee Marshal and feed into the grading and training scheme. By far the most common course taken by new marshals is to train as a Track Marshal which is the basic level of qualified marshal involved track side, however if you do decide that you would rather work in areas like Start line, Paddock or Pit Lane then you can do this as a Trainee Specialist Marshal.
So what training would you have to do as a marshal?
Well, most of the training you will be given actually takes place “on the job” during race meetings, this does obviously mean that during your first few race meetings you will be paired with a qualified marshal who will help teach you the basics of incident handling and how to stay safe trackside. Each Meeting is a learning experience. To progress to the next grade you have to attend a certain amount of race meetings, a formal training day which teaches you things like how to put a fire out and further incident training etc mainly enforcing the lessons you have already learnt on track and teaching the things you need for your new grade, and finally be assessed by an Examining Official.
The marshal grades (trackside) are as follows: Trainee, Track (also called Course), Experienced (also known as Incident or Fire and also covers the old Flag marshal grade), Incident Officer(this is an optional grade), Post Chief (known also as observer) and Examining Post Chief (examining Observer).
Basically there is a job in marshalling for everyone. To work on track you have to be reasonably able bodied and over 16, but if you are limited with a disability or between 11 and 16 then there are still plenty of jobs you can do.
So, why not get in touch with your local track and start the process? It’s great fun!
Daz’s Diary Entry …
Now onto my trackside travels. The last few weeks have been busy with me marshalling at Donington park, the highlight of which was the World Series by Renault.
Plenty of excellent races from UK Clio Cup; Eurocup Megane’s; and the Euro and UK Formula Renault single-seaters.
There was also the 3.5 litre world series Formula Renault race and demonstrations by last years Renault F1 car which was driven to perfection by Jonathan Cochet.
Not only did the F1 car perform brilliantly on track but it also played an excellent version of the British national anthem using only the cars engine!
Over the course of the weekend several drivers stood out as stars of the future, my main tip is:
James Walker(GB)from Fortec Motorsport … watch this name.
- but also worth keeping an eye on are:
Riki Christodoulou (GB),
Duncan Tappy(GB),
Brendon Hartley (NZL),
Dean Smith (GB), and
Alvaro Barba (ESP).
Take care and keep enjoying motorsport safely.
Daz
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