MARHALLING MATTERS
Safety Cars are a feature of racing
The marshalling perspective
Double yellows are sometimes used
Dinner dances , end of season and marshal grading are the topics of the moment , says the Club ’ s chief marshal Fay Crook .
I write this after having attended the HSCC Dinner and Dance , this year held at Sywell . It was a privilege to be asked and the dinner had a 1920 ’ s theme , including the music which was then followed by a disco late into the night . Thank you to our guest speaker , Stuart Graham . I know a lot of you will be attending various dinners between now and the start of next season and I hope you all have a wonderful time . It is lovely being able to catch up with people that you only see in passing throughout the season but do not have time to have a proper catchup with , especially with all the Covid restrictions we have had .
Our final events of the year included the Finals meeting and The Walter Hayes Trophy , both at Silverstone . The racing was fantastic and the marshalling was superb with most cars being moved without the need for too many Safety Cars . Unfortunately , when you read various articles in the press it looks like a lot of people are pushing for change to enforce that marshals are not allowed to go on the track in live conditions . I personally think it should be that more enforcement is done of obeying yellow flags . We used to have a stationary yellow , followed by a waved yellow , then green at the end of the section . It was decided that drivers were not paying attention to the yellow flags so double waved yellow flags were bought in . Now , the drivers are not paying attention to these , so they want to change the way we marshal . I understand the need for safety , but the drivers should be made to pay attention to the flags , as it is they will probably lose out as there will be more Safety Cars and red flags .
I also understand that Motorsport UK is planning on changing the entire marshals ’ grading scheme . Again , I understand the need for change to modernise the system , but perhaps they would like to run a survey online to see what marshals think of the changes . All marshals will now start as
Registered Marshals , so as soon as you start marshalling you need to register with MSUK and get your ‘ accreditation ’ and if possible , do the online training , as general training days tend to only run at the start of the season .
I also understand that Examining Post Chiefs , Examining Specialists , etc , will no longer exist , instead you will have Assessors who will be responsible for the upgrading of all marshals . I would like to think that these Assessors will have a minimum of , say , 10 years ’ experience , but as I understand it , organising clubs will be able to put anyone forward to become an Assessor . They will then have to undertake a course on how assessments will be done .
Many thanks to all our Chief Marshals and all our marshals at all the circuits and events around the country ( and indeed the world ). Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and I look forward to seeing how things change next year .
Some of the HSCC ladies at the dinner
35