Marshals' Post
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MARSHALS’ The newsletter of the South East Region of the British Motorsport Marshals Club POST AUTUMN 2019 Chairman’s Thoughts As I write this column, it’s not even yet October and yet my motor racing season, in terms of marshalling, ended uncharacteristically early at the beginning of September. Anyhow, as I look back on the last few meetings at which I’ve marshalled, they’ve been cracking stuff. I’m referring to the (mostly) full grids and superb racing that I witnessed at the British GT/F3, DTM, CSCC, and MSVR events at Brands Hatch in August and September. Talking of the Classic Sports Car Club event...they were really short of marshals for their meeting and there were several appeals in the weeks preceding their meeting for more marshals to assist. I’m glad to say that their appeals didn’t seem to me to fall on deaf ears and the event proceeded with just about acceptable numbers of marshals, albeit that there may have been the usual amount of marshals press ganged into doing duties with which they were unfamiliar. What’s the point I am trying to make? It’s this: when you get your 2020 race schedules, make sure that volunteering for the CSCC event at Brands goes to the top of your list! Apart from the racing, which I have already mentioned….and apart from receiving £10 a day…the CSCC, in blisteringly hot weather, sent a van to all marshals’ posts with bottles of…wait for it!.......COLD WATER!! Both days! Brilliant! So it can be done. A little forethought; a bit of forward planning, including checking on the weather forecast, and above all: THE RIGHT MINDSET! A “CAN DO” ATTITUDE, if you like. There are big refrigerators right next to Race Control, and clearly CSCC had used them. So, if they can, so can all the other clubs that use Brands Hatch. No excuses! If the same facilities do not exist at other circuits, like Lydden Hill and Snetterton, then that needs to be corrected….for a relatively tiny cost: a fridge and some bottles of water. What could be easier? Oh and in return, what can we marshals do?......Don’t throw your used plastic bottles into the tyre wall. At the very least put them in the rubbish bins or, better still, take them home for re-cycling. By the way, I’ve written to our National Chairman Nadine Lewis about this and she will raise the issue with Race Committee at Motorsport UK. That brings me on to race day itself and something that Chief Marshals and Marshals’ Administrators have to bear on a much too frequent basis…. That is “No Show” marshals. By that I don’t mean those who contact said chiefs and administrators with apologies for whatever reasonable reason, or who, in rare instances, are faced with an emergency. I mean those serial offenders who do not have the courtesy to communicate with race clubs to inform them that they can no longer attend an event (for which they may have volunteered many months before). Currently there are no formal means of handling these individuals, whether they be BMMC members (I hope they aren’t!) or not. I’m quite happy to name names on-line, if that helps with breaking the habit. Has anyone else got any ideas of how we should handle this issue? I recently also held my regular meeting with Mike Groves, Circuit manager at Brands Hatch, to discuss improvements and alterations to the infrastructure that may assist or impact upon marshals whilst on duty at the track. Please see the report on page 5 of this issue. If a marshal has any observations, suggestions or concerns relating to performing BMMC (SE) AUTUMN 2019 - Page 1 their role at the venue, please contact me or any of the SE committee and this will be raised either immediately or at my next scheduled circuit meeting. Sorry to disappoint, but no rants, this issue! Close to it, maybe, but none. So I’ll end for this year, living in hope that SKY inserts a “No Commentary” red button option on their F1 screens…and wishing you all a HAPPY CHRISTMAS and the VERY BEST for 2020. Neil Stretton Chairman: BMMC (South-East Region) “And Another Thing…” (An Editorial) A bit like motorsport turning ‘electric’ or hybrid, or nuclear, or whatever, change is most likely inevitable. It sometimes comes along and slowly but other times much faster than we would personally, or ideally, like. Often the change provides better value or choice. Other times it leaves you with no choice at all. You’ll be happy to know that unlike some of your favourite motorsport publications, the cost of this particular offering has not changed, but I can’t say the same for one of our longest-established weekly motorsport magazines: ‘Autosport’. If you’re not a regular subscriber you may not have noted the recent increase in the weekly cover price from £3.99 an issue to an eyewatering £10.99 (!) Brutal…(Price rise now reversed !! Ed) Another publication and one which may be less well known to many, is the German quarterly magazine ‘Automobilsport’ (they produce an English version so no need for Google translate!). An excellent, quality magazine covering mostly the historic racing scene. I mention this as it too has caught the inflation busting price rise bug, rising from £7.99 to £13.99 per issue (Do we dare blame Brexit?!) So, your cupboards or shelves may soon not be quite so overloaded with dusty back copies as the world of motorsport journalism moves us ever closer to the ‘digital’ option (Maybe you will need to buy a larger hard drive though!). In saying all this I must probably reflect on our own SE Region ‘Marshals’ Post’. Each issue is now delivered digitally to over 550 recipients and also to around 15 members in printed copy. With regard to the foregoing perhaps our region has inadvertently found itself ahead of a trend. The Motorsport UK Yearbook 2019 can be an interesting read.. Take Part 2, ‘The Regulations’ for example. From Page 51 you will find ‘The National Sporting Code’. Under point 10 of this code sits a ‘Code of Conduct’. At point 10.2 the subject of ‘Abuse’ is covered and states: “Motorsport UK will not tolerate any form of abuse or aggression towards officials, marshals, spectators and competitors.” I mention this as for only the second time only in over 40 years of marshalling in the UK and around the world, but sadly twice during the same meeting (!), I was witness to and later subjected to this manner of behaviour. I fully appreciate the pressures and stresses not only the competitors are under but it will be interesting to see how this unsavoury, unnecessary and most certainly ‘unsporting’ conduct will be resolved under this code. So, as another season draws to a close, some of us have already hung up our overalls. Some are beginning to wind down, while others never stop… But before long it will all start over again. I know I bang on about our personal safety quite regularly and make no apology for that, because as we all know… ”It will never happen to me…” On that point are you eligible for a new set of our BMMC sponsored overalls ? Visit the BMMC web site Regalia page for more information: https://www.marshals.co.uk/regalia/ BMMC (SE) AUTUMN 2019 - Page 2 The BMMC (SE) ‘One Question’ Prize Quiz can be found on page 6 of this issue Have a bash and you may be the winner of a BTCC Team Excelr8 polo shirt and lanyard, a signed BTCC Halfords team Yuasa Honda shirt and a VP Racing Fuels baseball cap bundle !! As my parting shot to 2019 may I also take this opportunity to thank you for your support and to wish you and yours an early ‘Merry Christmas’ and I look forward to meeting up again, somewhere warm and sunny, in the New Year. Cheers !! Bob McEwan / Newsletter Editor [email protected] [email protected] BMMC (SE Region) – AGM The AGM for BMMC (SE) was held on Wednesday 23 October 2019 in Hailwood’s Restaurant, Brands Hatch. The committee would like to express their sincere thanks to all those 29 members who attended and participated. In addition, we pass our grateful thanks to MSV, Andy Lyle and the catering staff who looked after us during the evening. The minutes from the meeting can be found on the BMMC (SE) website ‘News’ page. BMMC (SE) AUTUMN 2019 - Page 3 MSV MARSHALS F3000 Prize Drive Now we’ve all seen the emails from Mildred announcing the latest winner of the marshals’ F3000 prize drive following an MSVR promoted race meeting, but what happens if it is your name on the message…? Back in May I was fortunate to be the recipient of this fantastic voucher and in August I arranged for my drive at MSV’s spectacular PalmerSport Bedford Autodrome facility. The weather on the day could not have been better. Blue skies, sunshine and the whole West Circuit all to myself – including two rescue units! My instructor firstly took us on a tour of the engineering facilities where a huge selection of mouth-watering track day machinery is maintained. This included a ‘vertical’ car park, the resting place for the fleet of cars that MSV ran for the FIA Formula Two Championship between 2009 and 2012. We then took to the track for a fast sighting lap in a BMW X5, before undertaking the necessary instructional video and systems briefing for my F3000 car.