Club Gossip June

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!