UK Marshalling

How does it work in the US? I'm sure you'd have to become a marshal of a certain body. An IMSA marshal or an AMA marshal..

I was looking for if/when we decided to do some mrshalling across the pond and it's faaarrr more difficult to find the bodies that run it. There doesn't seem to be anything all encompassing like the BMMC here.

nickyf1 wrote:How does it work in the US? I'm sure you'd have to become a marshal of a certain body. An IMSA marshal or an AMA marshal..

contact the SCCA or IMSA or NASA

not the NASA you love...

http://www.nasaproracing.com/

Yeah i've heard of NASA.

Less bureaucracy.

Just wanted to say thanks for this Forum page. As a result I've decided to take the plunge after too many years thinking about it. Off to Goodwood Circuit for my taster day tomorrow - can't wait!

Thats fantastic to hear!

Yep, Goodwood is only about 30mins away for me so ideal! Hoping if all goes well I'll be able to Marshal at the Revival in September. Visiting the Festival of Speed next Friday as a paying customer!

I'm thinking on doing this! I am going to start with a taster day then maybe join it! It just looks so amazing and for £10 for under 16s (which I am at the moment) or £20 for over 16s (if I decide to do it, I'll be 16 then) is bloody amazing. Normal tickets are sky high prices and you don't get a close or as involved! It really does look good!

We're off to Castle Combe in a couple of weeks for Britcar.... (again) then it's an all Silverstone affair.
Really pleased our exploits have encouraged others to take the plunge. Can I also encourage you to check out the Marshalling section of Ten Tenths. LOTS of good advice and discussion there, we're on there as SuperDuff (Steph) and Matt Hunter....funnily enough!

i redbeard wrote:

Matt wrote:

SuperDuff wrote:

Matt wrote:We would have loved to have done F1.

I would marshal F1 if it was abroad, and not in Bahrain, Suzuka or Spa.

Ok what's wrong with the Belgians? They are neither rioting in the streets nor highly radiated and submerged under water.

I was thinking that too! Valid reasons not to be going to Bahrain or Japan at the moment, but Belgium?



It does look rough.

DOn't get me wrong (and apologies for the late reply...) I love Belgium. I have told Matt it is one of the only countries I would consider emigrating to, but you did not witness the bog monster that appeared after last year's F1 at Spa... nor do said bog monster's washing. I appreciate that this will almost certainly count Sinister Vole out too as it has only not rained once in the days I have been up there.

I think one of the things that Matt probably should have mentioned is, if you do take the plunge, go with an open mind. I have been very fortunate to have been flagging on my first ever day, and incident for the rest - but listening and learning is what it is all about.

Also, pack a bag for every eventuality - Thruxton was completely soggy and I came away miserable. Silverstone, I escaped unburnt, but Matt was very different.

Ten tenths has been really good for advice.

2" of water in your right boot no matter how exciting the racing is on track (when you can see it through the spray) is not fun. GET WATERPROOFS!!!

Been looking at races that I wanna do at Brands Hatch. DTM and BTCC are my top 2 and they got Aston Martin Owners Club race soon aswell! It just makes you realise that you pay £20 a year and you can go for any race, so you save yourself money!

Matt wrote:2" of water in your right boot no matter how exciting the racing is on track (when you can see it through the spray) is not fun. GET WATERPROOFS!!!

Don't ask me why but I'm sensing a jingle coming along. Might cheer you and Steph up when you're marshalling and its chucking it down.

Johnny, I think because you're under 18, from what I gather, you would probably be posted to places like assembly, scrutineering or pits for safety - but they're great places to be. Apparently race control is very busy and interesting too. Matt often leaves me watching the garages when we're going as non-marshals.

at Combe for Britcar (again) in a week and a half - looking forward to it! I have also put my name down for all three days of Britcar 24hr - should be interesting! Matt is only doing one or two days though I think.

SuperDuff wrote:Johnny, I think because you're under 18, from what I gather, you would probably be posted to places like assembly, scrutineering or pits for safety - but they're great places to be. Apparently race control is very busy and interesting too. Matt often leaves me watching the garages when we're going as non-marshals.

I dont mind that though! You are still a whole lot close then everyone else But nah I think it would be really good fun to do even if you are not trackside!

I have to say having watched the piece the BBC F1 guys showcased about marshalling, I have even more respect for those who are brave enought to put their lives in danger. I wouldn't mind marshalling but I would need to shake my life around first before I commit to anything like this.

@Matt and Steph (SuperDuff): You have to remember that the british weather is mostly miserable and very unpredictable. These last few summers haven't done us a favour though. Feels like early spring sometimes. But I do hope the weather starts to pick up soon on more of your marshalling experiences coming up soon. Where are you heading to next?

Sorry to be off-topic, but Johnny can you make you signature NOT start automatically? It's quite annoying to have that video start up every time I see you on a page.

There you go.

I know the weather is unpredictable, and it wasn't so much the unpredicatablity that was the problem, so much as the lack of preparedness for it. We'd taken (what we thought) was adequate waterproofs, but you live and learn.

Off to Castle Combe next for Britcar. It's looking a good line up, though a packed schedule. I think I might be the only person (drivers excluded) looking forward to the Smart Cars - it's gonna be hilarious!! I have got a map of Combe, labelled the names of the track, jotted down the posts, and located the showers and campsite. We're sorted!

Smart cars? lol! That would be quite a hilarious site to behold.
Its a good job they'll be fitted with bucket seats and proper seat belts. I was a passenger in a Smart once. Never again. The supportness of the seat belts was rubbish. Driving down hill for example, your body would just lean forwards because the seatbelts didn't support you properly!
But I hope the weather is a lot more pleasant for you both at Castle Combe (fingers crossed!)

Got our taster dates! 13th, 14th, 20th or 21st August! BRSCC or MSVR.

Sounds good JB. Hope you have a good time and be sure to let us know here how you get on.
If you haven't already, sign up to Ten Tenths and have a butchers around the Marshals section there. Very informative

Will definetly keep you posted Matt! And yeah I had a look around there but I only just flicked through them, I'll have a proper look tomorrow.

Ok so days 4 and 5 now complete!
Britcar at Castle Combe restored my confidence in marshalling after a sub-par meeting at a soaked Thruxton. Saturday saw us placed at Bobbies (the last chicane before the final corner).
A great group of guys made us feel right at home. Steph was flagging again and I was on course, swapping every three races with another pair of course marshals. We had a good day. I got to remove two cars from the track, pushing a smoking Exige and Castle Combe GT prototype to a safe place. We also had 5 BMW's decide that using all the kerbing and then some on the exit of the chicane was a good idea but actually saw them spinning dangerously across the circuit. Only one made contact with the tyres on our side but returned to the track.

Sunday saw us moved to Post 1 Startline. Again, Steph was flagging which also saw her climbing up the new (and wabbly) starting tower every few races. This was a largely uneventful day apart from a nice chat with Britcar series organiser James Tucker and avoiding a chat with commentator Brian Jones about the GT Academy who's UK winner Jan Mardenborough (sp) was in attendance.

Only incident for me was a loooong run down the Pit Lane with fire bottle in hand to recover a broken down BMW only to find the driver had long since vacated and left the car in gear. We couldn't get it in neutral so had to wait until the end of the race to remove it.
Note to potential marshals: NEVER let the driver leave the car!!!

All in all we had a great weekend and the racing was spot on. The community at Castle Combe is fantastic and I'd urge everyone interested to visit them.

[Sean Bean] Next stop: World Series by Renault [/Sean Bean]