An Introduction to Racesafe Marshals Association Ltd

Racesafe was formed in 1996 to provide a high standard of marshalling cover for the British and World Superbike Championships plus the British Grand Prix. There was an annual membership fee but in 1999 we were able to scrap this and introduce a one-off joining fee with free annual renewal.

The aim of the Association was, and still is, to train members to work together in teams using the same methods, equipment and radio procedures at all meetings regardless of which circuit the event is held at. A good example of how this works was when BSB went to Mondello Park in 2003. The same “template” used at every other circuit was applied, and the weekend ran remarkably trouble free. All marshals must attend a Racesafe training day every other year. The Race Director and his team of stewards, timekeepers, safety officer, chief incident officer etc (easily identifiable by the shirts and jackets that they wear) together with the majority of Incident Officers (I.O.’s), travel to all meetings, which gives stability on the circuit and in Race Control. Everyone in the Race Director’s team is highly trained and accredited as their job dictates.

Marshals must be 16 years of age before the first meeting of the season. 16-18 year olds must have written permission from their parents/guardian and one of these must also sign the indemnity sheet at signing on for each meeting. Marshals can work at any British Superbike meeting and when sufficiently qualified and experienced, can then marshal at the international championships. All meetings are 3 days long and we prefer marshals to be available for a minimum of 2 days. The number of race day only marshals is now so low that we do not have signing on that day. Special arrangements must be made with Stephen or Mike if you are only available for race day.

Mike Blakey is the Chief Marshal and is assisted by Stephen Moore (Deputy Chief Marshal) who also maintains the database and organises marshal training, and Karl Booth (Assistant Chief Marshal). Roger Ingle writes the Newsletter and Martin Parish maintains the website.

The I.O.’s are responsible for the marshals on his/her corner and will delegate the various duties at the beginning of each day. He/She can easily be identified on the circuit by the white stripe down both sleeves of the overalls. He/she acts as the eyes and ears of the Race Director and should be told if anything changes in track conditions. Other officials you may come across are the Scrutineers; they wear blue overalls and are specially trained in the workings of the machines etc. They inspect all bikes before they go onto the circuit to ensure they adhere to the specification laid down for the class they have entered, that they comply to all safety regulations currently in use and that the riders leathers, helmets and gloves are of the specified standard. They issue a sticker for each machine, which must not be removed.

There are several jobs to be done at a race meeting apart from marshalling on the circuit. A specialised crew run the Pit Lane and wear white overalls. Their job is to ensure safety regulations are observed by everyone working in the garages and on the pit wall, to organise/supervise the grid at the start of races and provide a link between teams and Race Control.  Anyone can volunteer to work in pit lane either on a permanent basis or just to try it, ask at signing on if you are interested in this aspect of marshalling.

All machines that leave the circuit during practice/races are collected by the Recovery vans, which are crewed by fully trained marshals. The drivers must have a full driving licence and have to be added to the company insurance. The vans are parked at strategic points around the circuit and will be instructed by the Race Director over the radio when to go onto the circuit to collect a particular machine and take it either to the scrutineering area or team garage. The vans are also used to deliver equipment to posts before the day starts and collect it in again at the end of the day as well as taking marshals out to post in the morning, and collecting them again when the day is finished. Anyone can volunteer to work on the Recovery crews to load the bikes into and out of the vans, ask at signing on for more information.

Attending a Meeting

Before leaving home - Pack a bag with: Packed lunch – a light lunch is usually provided at events on race day at least, but be prepared! There are a couple of circuits that will not allow us use outside caterers for the packed lunches, so if the standard differs at these circuits, it is because they have insisted we buy the lunches from them. Bear in mind that if there are long delays in the morning sessions, the lunchtime may be reduced to a few minutes. DRINKS – to keep warm in the early season, to stay hydrated on a hot summers day. From time to time a marshal has had to be treated for heat exhaustion.

Clothing         

• Orange overalls will be provided by Racesafe. Please know your size – in metric e.g. 112 etc

• You will need a waterproof jacket and pair of waterproof over-trousers; unfortunately, we are not in a position to supply these

• It is advisable to take an extra jumper in case it turns colder

• A strong pair of waterproof boots, preferably with steel toe caps, is essential that you DO NOT WEAR TRAINERS or similar light shoes, they offer very little protection from cold weather, falling bikes or for kicking debris off track

• A thick pair of gloves – leather gardening gloves are ideal, bike gloves are fine, but not a material that could melt

• A warm hat in cold weather or baseball type cap in hot weather to keep the sun off your head and out of your eyes

• Sun cream in the summer and a barrier cream is a good idea to protect against the wind in cold weather

DON’T FORGET YOUR RACESAFE PASS – you will to show it to Security staff in order to enter the circuit so keep it handy .

Always allow yourself plenty of time to get to the circuit, especially on race day when traffic will be very heavy.

Arrival at the Circuit - Proceed directly to Signing-on which is usually from 7.30am and finishes at 8.10am (This varies from meeting to meeting – check the Racesafe website or the last Newsletter for the latest information. There is NO SMOKING in the signing on office – please observe this. Don’t leave it until the last minute or you may be late getting trackside – no later than 8.35am as the I.O.’s need to carry out a daily briefing etc before the track inspection takes place. If you have travelled a distance you may want to have a cup of coffee etc before starting work. Free Tea and Coffee is usually available in the signing on office during the signing on period only.

Signing-on acts as an indemnity and ensures that you are covered by the organisation’s insurance in the event of injury being sustained whilst carrying out marshalling duties and covers you from the time you leave home to travel to the meeting until you arrive home again in the evening. Your signature may be used as confirmation of attendance if a claim is made. The sheet you sign has the following statement printed at the top:

 “I agree to act in an official capacity at this meeting and in consideration of the Organisers having effected for my benefit a personal accident insurance policy for death or benefits prescribed more specifically by MCRCB requirements.  I agree to absolve all persons having any connection with and/or organisation and/or conduct at the meeting including the MCRCB, the promoters, the owner of the land, entrants and drivers and owners of vehicles from liability arising out of accidents howsoever caused, resulting in damage to property”.

You only need to sign on once for the whole weekend, unless you wish to change corners. If you are happy to stay on one corner all weekend, sign on for that corner on the first day then just go straight there for the rest of the weekend. If you want to change corners for any reason, you must sign on again for the new corner. When you have signed on you will be given a Programme, a guest pass, if you need one, child’s pass, where required, at most circuits there is free admission for children under 15 years of age, a packed lunch and any other information you may need for the meeting.

If you have friends already marshalling with us with whom you wish to be, every effort will be made to accommodate this, but some corners are over-manned and you may be asked to go elsewhere.

Getting to your Section -At some circuits you can park reasonably near your section but at others this is not possible. In either case transport round the circuit to your section will be provided. Make sure that you know where this leaves from and when – usually Pit Lane with the last run at 8.15am, but please check.

When you get to post, introduce yourself to the I.O. and tell him what experience/training you have and whether you have any medical problem that prevents you from doing certain jobs or in the case of diabetes, epilepsy etc, what medication you need and where you keep it. The I.O. will assign you to a small group of experienced marshals for the day. Most corners operate a rotation system so that everyone gets to flag, pick up, brush etc. If you are a Trainee, don’t forget to ask the I.O. to sign your Induction Card at the end of the day.

Circuit Inspection - Before every meeting there is a circuit inspection by the Race Director and other senior officials, This is important, as it is the final check that the right numbers of marshals and all safety equipment etc are in the right places just before practice or racing commences. In the case of world championship events the international organisers set a lot of store by this inspection in judging whether we can run a decent event or not. Any bales, air fences or other safety measures cannot be moved after the inspection has taken place so if you are concerned about the positioning of any of these items please tell your I.O. so that he can advise the Race Director, who together with the Stewards and event organisers will look at the area of concern and amend if necessary.

What happens next - When practice/racing starts make sure you have noted your first line of escape in the event of a bike or debris coming towards you. Pay attention to what is happening on track at all times, if you are flagging, make sure you are facing the correct way to use the flag you are in charge of and that the other flags are within easy reach. At the end of the session the damaged bike will be collected by the recovery crew and taken back to the paddock where it will be examined and assessed by the scrutineers, who will now decide what needs to be done to make it safe to resume racing. If you want to have a drink, snack or go to the toilet, please do so between sessions as you could leave an area of the bank without marshal cover if you go during practice or racing. DO NOT SMOKE DURING PRACTICE OR RACING and if you do smoke always discard ‘dog ends’ safely, straw bales are highly inflammable as is any fuel/oil which may be left after a bike has fallen/slid across the grass etc.

At lunch time and the end of the day, the recovery vans will pick you up and take you back to the paddock if you wish to do so. Please ensure you are back on post in plenty of time after lunch – the vans will take you back out so please check when they will be doing the run.

Problems, Queries etc - If you have any problems, queries etc, speak to your Incident Officer or if you cannot get the answers you need, see Mike Blakey or Stephen Moore at the end of the day, one or other of these people can usually be found in Race Control immediately after the circuit is closed for the day, or in the signing-on office next day.

Camping at the Circuit If you wish to camp at the circuit, facilities are available at all circuits – some being better than others, over which we have very little control, but all sites will have toilets and showers. Camping usually has to be pre-booked with Stephen Moore especially at circuits like Donington where Racesafe rents spaces at a nearby commercial campsite and you will have to pay if you do not pre-book. Electric hook-ups are only available at Donington and should be booked and paid for directly with Park Farm – Tel: 01332 862409 or e-mail info@parkfarmhouse.co.uk. Occasionally we are able to use hook-ups provided for the riders but don’t count on this being possible at every venue.  Camping is provided for marshals and their guest, if he/she is sharing the marshal’s caravan/tent only – other friends attending the meeting must make their own arrangements about accommodation.  Marshals or their guest found to be abusing the campsite will be removed and may be excluded from other campsites in the future – please remember that you are responsible for the behaviour of your guest and any rowdiness after 11pm, abuse of facilities or lack of consideration for those camping around you will not be tolerated. The only place where dogs are permitted is on the campsite at Park Farm, no animals are allowed into race circuits, even if kept in the car.

There is a list of off circuit campsites on our web site, but please note that you will have to pay the camping charges yourself at these sites.

Keeping in Touch -It is essential that you keep Stephen aware of any changes to your availability. If you can’t get to a meeting you ticked to do on your form, please either ring or e-mail him as soon as you know you can’t make.  If you make a copy of the availability form so that you can keep a record of which meetings you volunteer to do, please put it in a highly visible place on your kitchen/study wall so you can refer to it regularly. Anyone failing to let us know if they can’t get to a meeting may jeopardise their chances of marshalling at international meetings or the next meeting they have ticked on the form.

 Contacts:

www.racesafe.org

for up to date information and details