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We are in to month six of 2024 already and despite the persistent inclement weather, the motorsport events across the country have continued at pace. We have had had three exciting rounds of the British Touring Car Championship and support packages, British GTs at Donington Park, The British Hillclimb Championship at Gurston Down as well as the hugely popular Jim Clark Rally.

I am writing this on the Monday after an excellent three days at Thruxton for the TOCA Test on Friday and the two days of the British Touring Car Championships. There was some fantastic racing across the weekend and lots for the Marshals to do. My particular post (Post 22) was in the spotlight on Saturday during the first British F4 race of the weekend, and thank you to everyone who was with me who dealt with that specific incident so professionally and effectively.

There were other incidents, not only at Thruxton but at other venues too over the weekend, some of which were quite significant. If you are affected by anything you were involved in over the weekend, or just need someone to talk to about your experiences then please reach out to your regional committees, fellow marshals, myself or contact our telephone counselling service provided by DAS which is available 24/7, free of charge to all members on 0117 934 0105, quoting policy number 100580442CCI.

This confidential, non-judgmental and supportive service is included for free as part of your membership fee, and you can discuss with them anything you wish. The club will not be notified when someone uses this service, and it is 100% confidential.

June is also Pride Month – Pride is a month dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ communities. It is an opportunity for people to come together to show love, support and friendship and highlight how far LGBTQ+ rights have come, and the work that still needs to be done. The fantastic community at Racing Pride have a huge amount of information for those within the motorsport community available at https://racingpride.com/

Many of you will have also seen our social media post around Volunteers’ Week. This week long event rightfully highlighted all the great things about being a volunteer, thank you for being part of our big orange family, regardless of early starts, tight timetables, late finishes, rain, wind, sleet, snow, sunshine; whatever the weather – you are there, on the bank, in the garages, on the hill, at the control point, smiles on faces, enthusiastic about your work and contributing to the overall goal of ensuring motorsport, at all levels, and in all disciplines is safe and fair for all.

I was fortunate enough to be at the opening rounds of the BTCC at Donington Park and despite the disrupted Sunday due to horrendous weather and track conditions in the first half of the day, everyone got some running in and despite a big accident for Rob Fountain in the Legends Cup, there was some great close racing across the weekend. Rob walked away from a big accident during his Legends race and I am immensely proud of the first marshals on scene who dealt with the incident effectively and with the utmost professionalism. 

I also want to welcome the newest fifty members of the Club who have joined during May 2024, including those who have taken advantage of the reduced fees for Students and Cadets – a very warm welcome to you. I want to also congratulate the eight marshals who have successfully upgraded during May, well done to you and I hope that you enjoy your new grades and continue to develop your knowledge, skills and experience throughout your volunteering journey!

A special mention to Rob Hambly and Angela Garbutt who have taken up the position of South West and North East Regional Chairs respectively. I am sure you will all congratulate both of them in their new roles and give them all of the support and encouragement required going forwards.

For 2024, Our chosen charity is Mission Motorsport. Mission Motorsport is the armed forces motorsport charity and aids in the recovery and rehabilitation of those affected by military operations by providing opportunities through motorsport and the automotive industry. The Club has available for purchase a selection of Mission Motorsport patches but be quick as these are selling out fast!

Remember, if you don’t have the opportunity to see your Regional Regalia Coordinators you can also drop an email to the National Regalia Coordinator with your requirements where the full range of club badges and stickers can be posted to you directly.

Also, don’t forget to take advantage of the 10% Summer discount at the club merchandise eShop https://shops.fabryx.co.uk/collections/british-motorsports-marshals-club. Use the code BMMCSUMMER-10 at checkout. 

The Club’s finances remain cash positive with a surplus of almost £7,000 to date. Following up on my April comments, we still have around 300 members to renew although we have had c. 150 new members to date.

The May Sprint made a reasonable surplus as we included the REIS sponsorship as part of the income for the Sprint. This gave a surplus of over £1,000 and hopefully, we can repeat this in August.

The majority of our training income and expenditure has now been received/spent and as we only get a Grant of 73% of our what we budgeted to spend, there was only a very small overspend. Therefore, thanks to all the Training Officers!

Around the regions the Northwest congratulates Dan Chilvers on being presented with his Duke of Edinburgh Gold award. He is proud that he was able to use his marshalling as his volunteer section.

Mike Newton, BMMC Vice President attended a CSCC meeting late April at Oulton Park and spent the day on the bank with the marshals. He was able to get some valuable feedback as well as see some close racing. Recruitment continues to be at the heart of the region and were delighted to receive FIA Girls on Track Taster Day 25th May along with some new eager volunteers on their Taster Day at Oulton Park.

In the South East, taster day marshals on Sunday 26th May became stars for the day and will go viral, as the BMMC filming led by South East newsletter editor Simon Lloyd undertook a day of filming for the club to use to show prospective new marshals visiting our website what it is like to attend a taster day.

There was a good turn out with almost all the attendees going on to sign up within days to join the region. Keep looking out on our website and socials for our content which will be shared in the coming weeks. The South East region also held a half day mid-season training session for our new marshals on Saturday 1st June at Brands Hatch, which covered the basics of the roles and how to stay safe on the bank. Led by the South East Training Coordinator Andrew Le Hegerat, it gave those who were unable to attend the pre-season training an opportunity to learn new skills. The session primarily focussed on track marshalling, with a session for off track marshals being planned later in the year. Our thanks go to MSV and Andy Lyle for supporting this event with use of facilities and training rooms.

The end of June will also see the South East’s second annual EV webinar held to support the up-and-coming ABB Formula E-Prix and F1 British GP, supporting marshals to work safer with some of the challenges electrification has within our sport. Hosted by regional chair Andy Bumstead, the short webinar is an essential to ensure all marshals are aware of the dangers and to alleviate some of the fears and scare mongering. 

In the South West, Gurston Down held two rounds of the British Hillclimb Championship which was well attended by competitors and the Gurston Incident Team (GITs for short!) who all reported a thoroughly enjoyable weekend in the sunshine with Alex Summers in the DJ Firestorm going quickest over the day with Hillclimb stalwart Wallace Menzies and 2023 champion coming fourth in his Gould GR59. 750 Motor Club have also had a spectacular race day at Castle Combe, which despite some tricky conditions and hefty incidents provided some great racing. Classic Sports Car Club also had a Saturday race day at Thruxton, which was thoroughly exciting for all.

Finally, I want to say thank you to all the marshals I have met in my first few weeks as the National Chairman who have wished me congratulations and good luck. It is a huge honour and responsibility for me to be the Chairman and I hope that I can continue to build on the already strong position the Club is in and lead the club into the future. If you or anyone in your regions has ideas or comments or concerns about what we are doing, I want to hear about it. Good or bad, I am all ears.

Thank you again for your support, I look forward to working with you all in my new role, be safe and keep volunteering!

Another busy month of volunteering for me – days at Oulton Park, weekends at Anglesey and Donington and even some days at our local vaccination centre – preparing for a ramp up of attendees in the coming months!

My first truck racing event in August too – which was “eventful”! The support races kept us busy but the trucks were the star of the show for the crowds and kept the circuit staff busy with numerous tyre wall rebuilds and stack re-locations!

Motorsport UK registrations for 2023 will open online shortly – please read all information and documentation BEFORE clicking the automatic update………!

Particularly if you fall in to one of these categories:

1. I only need a few more signatures and training days to upgrade under the current scheme [extension allowances will be notified]
2. I am an Examining Grade and wish to become an Assessor [details of refresher course to enable this migration to be advised]
3. I have never been registered with Motorsport UK but have bucket fulls of experience and training that should be considered [details of acquired rights to follow]

It is important that you do register before end of December 2022 regardless of your circumstances so please ensure you have completed everything in advance of this date where possible to enable your correct grade to migrate across to the new Pathway.

There are still a few open questions which will be covered in updated FAQs but if you are still not sure please contact your local grading officer for guidance and support.

Alongside the changes to the Pathway we also need to ensure our systems are aligned. Therefore it’s really important to make sure your correct grade is showing on the system – you can check this via the volunteering portal to your own details. If they are not correct please send a copy / photo of your Motorsport UK registration card to your grading officer so that the system can be corrected.

It should also be noted that the infrastructure to our members and volunteering databases will need some updates which Sean (IT Officer) is working on. Therefore please do not enter these areas on the website – which are clearly marked. Thanks for your cooperation.

I am looking forward to another busy month – including further discussions about the Lights panel trials. I will provide updates accordingly and continue to welcome any new feedback encountered in recent weeks (I have my own dossier too!)

So the clocks have changed and the nights are drawing in – circuit racing calendars are nearing completion and rallying started in earnest last month with WRGB.  See and be seen out there!

Now is the time of year that our regional AGMs and social functions take place.  Your chance to have a say in the running of the club and get yourself nominated on to a committee.  SE AGM was at Brands Hatch and SM AGM was in the White Horse in Silverstone last month.  As well as attending both of these I am aiming to get to NW, MIDS, SW and BRMC – hopefully see you there!

Any gripes about race circuits should be put through the circuit representatives too – mostly BMMC members but check with your local committee if needed.

I missed the NE AGM at the weekend as I was attending Motorsport Days Live at Silverstone – a new concept (second year) aimed at wannabe track day drivers and racers: the chance to try out cars and attend talks on gaining sponsors and legal support.  We actually had quite a bit of interest from clubs, series and drivers who want to do a day marshalling – potentially more – and very supportive to ensure we don’t have any cancelled meetings next season!  Visits from our club ambassadors too as well as the winners of our ticket giveaway.  Next show will be Autosport in January.

And don’t forget the 62nd Annual General meeting of the British Motorsports Marshals’ Club Limited will take place at Jurys Inn, Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK9 2HP on Sunday December 1st 2019 at 15.00pm– every member welcome!

At this time of year we look to nominate people for our annual awards – our choices will be revealed at events, training days and social nights where appropriate after our National AGM.  We have also put forward each of our regional nominees to Motorsport UK for their annual award ceremony.  Let us know if you make their shortlist!!!

I am pleased to say that I have been invited back on to Marshals Advisory Group, Volunteer Officials Committee and Race Committee with Motorsport UK for 2020.  There will be some changes with new members on many committees but some people retained for handover purposes.  If your application was successful please let me know – if not please apply again next year as changes will happen every year for the next few years as the mix of members of each committee shifts.

And finally – renewals.  You will probably have received notification to renew your membership of Motorsport UK.  They like us to get in early so that we don’t get held up when all the drivers renew!  They should be sent out this month and valid for 2020.

Our own renewal process is not yet open for 2020 – many of our members take advantage of our direct debit scheme which is processed in early January.  All membership packs will be distributed early next year – so hang fire!  We will send out a reminder once the final quirks of our IT upgrade are ironed out.

One last note – Lille Racewear have advised that they will take final orders for Christmas delivery on 10th December. Any orders placed after that date will be delivered in January.

Our Council meeting in February was preceded by a Brand team afternoon with the Directors of the Club. We asked everyone to put their thinking caps on and broke in to smaller groups to discuss ideas – these discussions continued into the evening and the following morning. More specifics on this will follow soon… rally be ready is all I will say.