March club news
| Chair’s chat As we enter March, I hope all you fixed venue marshals have dusted off your overalls, waterproofs and associated gear ready for the new on-circuit season. Silverstone has already been in operation with the Pomeroy Trophy, whilst the kart clubs and rally clubs have never stopped. I also hope everyone has taken advantage of the training sessions run by ourselves and the other organising clubs. Although nothing beats the actual experience of marshalling it is vitally important that we all keep our skills and knowledge up to date by attending the training offered. MSUK has also been holding seminars for all the clerks, stewards and scrutineers around the country to update upon all the regulation changes for the 2026 season. I find that these sessions most valuable and the opportunity to meet and talk to my fellow officials. The management of the Club has continued apace over the closed season with a great deal of effort being expended in updating the Club’s Rules and Articles of Association so that the Club can continue to provide the services that you the members expect. Concurrent with this newsletter you should shortly be receiving details of the elections for a new National Chair, closely followed, I hope, by notice of an EGM for you to approve the proposed changes to the Articles of Association which will then allow us to commence the election of a vice chair for the club. The last time we tried to run an EGM to approve the articles we were not able to proceed due to not reaching the number of attendees to make the meeting quorate. In order to ensure that this time we do meet that number and to allow all members an equal opportunity to vote we will be sending out proxy voting slips with the EGM notice so please keep your eyes peeled for the emails and attachments. If all this sounds a little complicated it is simply to ensure that we enable all members to influence the way the Club is run. I am extremely proud of the fact that this is the only Club run by marshals for marshals, where all the officials are unpaid volunteers giving their time and skills to enable you to enjoy our fantastic sport and hobby. I sincerely hope you will all take a few minutes to review correspondence sent out to you and support us in this. As always if anyone has any questions, queries, or comments about the Club please contact me either by email or phone or stop me for a chat whenever I am officiating. I hope everyone has managed to plan and volunteer for those events they want to take part in during this coming season. Have fun and stay safe. Secretary’s Noggin Can’t believe it is already March, almost a quarter through the year already. Just wishing and hoping that the weather finally begins to improve ready for the 2026 racing season (I do know Rally Marshals are a totally different bred and seem to enjoy rain and snow). My season, hopefully, begins with BARC at Donington Park on the 21st and 22ndMarch. There has been positive feedback from the organisers and attendees at the various regions training days, it does take a tremendous amount of work and effort to deliver a meaningful, information and interesting presentation. So, a big thank you to all concerned, you should be very proud to train the very best marshals. Congratulations to Lando Norris for being awarded the BARC Gold Medal. This award is for outstanding achievement in motor racing by a British subject. Dating back to 1955, it was first awarded to Stirling Moss followed by James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamiliton. Jimmy McRae, the President of the BRMC has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Scottish Association of Motor Sports Clubs. Jimmy started his motor racing career on a scramble motorbike before commencing rallying at the age of 30. 5 British Rally Championships followed. He rallied for Dealer Team Vauxhall, Rothmans Opel Rally Team. Jimmy retired in 1990 with sons Colin and Alister following dad’s footsteps. And finally, another plea, the Club still requires volunteers to fill the roles of Bookkeeper and Brands & Communications Coordinator, if any member is interested, please contact me via email at nat.secretary@marshals.co.uk for details. Appointment of New IT Coordinator At the last Directors’ Meeting, the ratification of the appointment of Ricky Hodgson as the new IT Coordinator for the BMMC was confirmed. A very warm welcome. Ricky is taking over from Sean Clarke and on behalf of the board and members, I would like to thank Sean for all his valuable work he has done with regard to the Club’s OT systems over the years. Sean will, however, not totally disappear as he is remaining on the IT Working Group and providing technical back up. Thank you as well to all the other applicants who applied and were unsuccessful. It was not easy and thanks also to Derek Murphy for all his efforts in reviewing and talking to the applicants. Hello, I’m Ricky Hodgson, a South East Region BMMC marshal who has been trackside for three years now, last year I obtained my Grade 1 Race license. My day job is that of a national IT Enterprise Architect for Blue Light Services. I’m pleased and excited to be stepping into the IT Coordinator role within the club and looking forward to getting stuck in to help drive the club’s IT forward with my knowledge and experience. I’m all ears as I get up to speed so feel free to reach out to me with ideas, suggestions and feedback either by email or face to face on the bank (lunch break gods permitting!) -Ricky National Volunteer Next of kin information Organising clubs are required to hold contact and emergency information for every volunteer. Many clubs request this at sign on for their event, but you can also hold this information within the BMMC database. Remember this is a contact person in case of emergency – if you have no direct relatives – this should be a trusted friend. Their phone number and address are required. March 2026 Training The majority of BMMC Regions, and the BRMC, are running training events throughout the winter / early spring of 2026. Locations and dates as currently known are as follows: South Midlands Region Kart Marshals Training – 28th February Contact Nina sm.training@marshals.co.uk South East Region Marshals Training – July Contact Anna se.training@marshals.co.uk Midland Region Marshals Training now completed There will be an additional 1-day training event throughout 2026 – date TBD North West Region Marshals Training now completed South West Region Marshals Training now completed North East Region Marshals Training now completed BRMC To enroll for the above, please go to the BRMC website, http://www.brmc.org.uk/training Please contact the organisers directly to register an interest in attending any of above training events events. As always, please feel free to contact me should you need to – nat.training@marshals.co.uk Membership The current BMMC membership stands at 3344 as of 20.02.2026. New Members A very warm welcome to all our new marshals. I hope you have a long and enjoyable marshalling experience and remember everyone is willing to help you along the way. Marshal Upgrades The following Marshal upgrades the month of February 2026 are: – BMMC NoNameNew/Additional GradeSW10193Jessica HeadRace Grade 1 Regional Reports Midlands Caterham Academy test day May 8th, May 9th Marshals Club Sprint with Caterham Academy, Curborough Championship and Caterham/Lotus 7 Club Marshals required. Contact Steve Hill- 07710 131130 or steve@kelvicbec.co.uk August 30th joint event organised by BMMC which is Curborough Champion and Caterham/Lotus 7 Club Championship. Same contact details as above. North East  Special thank you to the BARC and the Cadwell Marshals’ Team for giving us the opportunity to present these awards at their training days. Hartlepool & District Motor Club (HDMC) Auto tests dates 2026 Saturday 14th March Saturday 11th April Saturday 2nd May June TBC Saturday 4th July Saturday 8th August Saturday 12th September Saturday 10th October Saturday 14th November Saturday 5th December A message from the chair of HDMC, Helen Moxon-McEwan; Anyone interested in marshalling or coming along to see what we do is more than welcome. They can Email me on: HDMC.chair@gmail.com All other information is available on the BMMC volunteering portal in the Northeast Region under the Venue of Trent Valley Community church. North West BMMC NW Region hosted its popular training weekend on the 7th & 8th February at the Oulton Park Fogarty Moss Centre. The Circuit Manager kindly gives us the site allowing the club to host members to receive both practical and theory-based training, ranging from cadets in up to live fire practice, recovery, and rescue. It was a welcome opportunity to meet up with colleagues, refresh our skills and plan for the 2026 season. The weekend saw 368 marshals in total including forty trainers. Our best weekend ever! Well done to everyone involved and that includes our Regional Training Coordinator, Sean Herbert, who planned and coordinated the whole weekend seamlessly. Oulton Park has seen some trackside improvements over the winter period, including the removal of the truck tyres at Brittens and Clay Hill. These have been replaced with Armco Barriers and once the grass has grown back will look a lot better. The tyres against the barrier at Dentons have also been removed. Wooden posts supporting the Armco Barriers have been removed and replaced with steel ones, making them safer and more durable. Valentine’s weekend saw the 100th anniversary of “The Great Fire at Oulton Hall on 14th February 1926. Oulton Hall was the lavish ancestral home of the powerful and wealthy Grey-Egerton family. Tragically, six people lost their lives including a fireman from the local town of Tarporley. Although Oulton Hall was never rebuilt, the main gates and lodges remain to this day along with a section of stonework at Old Hall, which has been renovated and will act as a lasting memorial. There was a commemoration service on the 15th February and it was well attended by locals and relatives of those who perished. During the Second World War, the site was commandeered by the military and used as a camp and store. Roads and huts were built and used by US troops, French sailors, and the Cheshire Regiment. Post war the site was taken over by Mid Cheshire Car Club and the circuit held its first race in August 1953. The rest as they say – is history. For more information about the history of the fire and the family there are two excellent small books available: The Great Fire of Oulton by R M Bevan Marching as to War by Roy F Ramsbottom South East January started with the sad news that one of our members Ian Redhouse passed away suddenly. For those that may know Ian, he was very passionate about his role, Brands Hatch and keeping the features of this iconic circuit and had also previously won an accolade from MSUK for his attendance to the British GP. Our condolences go to Ian’s Family at this time. For the last 2 months the committee has been Organising, delivering and supporting training days across the region from Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Lydden. There was some good training delivered and our support and organisation for the Lydden training has gone down well with the regulars at this circuit. Thanks go to all the committee, SE training coordinator Anna Lambe, Lydden Hill Representative Jason Chadwick, Chief Marshal at Lydden and other marshals who have assisted in the delivery of the training at Lydden. The region also commissioned some new presentation cases as some of the bags and cardboard boxes the trophies were stored in were at the end of life and tatty. SE Member Dave Still (previous winner of the Bryan Degerlund) has produced some phenomenal cases which are as good as winning the trophies themselves. New cases were made for the Hastings trophy, MOTY and the Bryan Degerlund trophy. My thanks to Dave on this as he had a tight window to produce these. The committee has met several times already this year and has launched our all-female taster day to be held at the American Speedfest in June at Brands Hatch. MSUK is supporting this with interviews and TV coverage of this all-female taster day. Fancy being a female ambassador for our sport then get in touch with Gareth se.recruitment@marshals.co.uk to volunteer. Other initiatives are being developed and will be shared via all our channels soon. Our factory visits have started again with our first visit to CKL Developments which should prove interesting for those who have secured their place. The SW region will also be supporting further opportunities with other companies and as Chair I was fortunate to attend a Bentley test day for customers of the new Bentaga Speed at a well know Stig circuit. These sorts of days increase our presence and create many networking opportunities. If you have not renewed then our membership coordinator will be chasing you to renew your membership. Please take the chance to sign up to direct debit as this is the easiest way to pay and renew. South Midlands Delighted to announce that Marion Quarrington has again been awarded the Helen Spence Trophy, this is awarded for Volunteer category in the BWRDC championship. Marion posted 73 volunteer days in the 2025 championship, and Catherine Smart (also a SM member) was second with 61 days. Marion was unfortunately unable to attend the BWRDC awards evening due to her commitment to the South Midlands Regional training day. However, Marion was presented with this award whilst taking at the Snetterton marshal training day at the end of January. Silverstone are currently looking for volunteers for the following events;MSVR / Equipe – 4th & 5th AprilBARC – 3rd & 4th OctoberEquipe – 3rd OctoberBRSCC / HSCC – 10th & 11th OctoberC1 24 Hour Race – 15th, 16th & 17th MayFerrari Challenge – 23rd & 24th MayLooking forward to seeing you throughout the season. South West Castle Coombe has announced the renaming of two corners on the 1.85-mile Wiltshire Race Track to commemorate 2 people who have played vital roles in the development of the circuit. Hammerdown, the swooping left-kinked straight shall be renamed Howard’s Way. This is in memory of Howard Strawford. Howard took full control of Castle Coombe in 1976. The circuit was struggling and in danger of closing but Howard, his wife Pat and support team over the next 38 years turned Castle Coombe into a success, employing 20 people full time and a turn over of £1.5m. The following tight right-hander corner, Tower, is now renamed as Gooch’s in memory of Rodney Gooch. Rodney was a motorcycle racer in the 60’s and 70’s before working for 22 years as Sales and Marketing Director Upcoming Events Rally MarchSunday 1stLee Holland MemorialGarstang & Preston MC / Pendle & District MCTrac Môn Anglesey Circuit, Ty CroesSunday 1stBorder Access Knockhill StagesBorder Ecosse Motor ClubKnockhill Racing Circuit, Dunfermline Saturday 7thBishopscourt Stages RallyBallynahinch & District Motor ClubBishopscourt Race CircuitSaturday 14thThe Border CountiesHawick & Border Car ClubJedburgh, Scottish BordersSunday 15thZone Systems Dukeries RallyDukeries Motor ClubDonington Park CircuitSunday 22ndLand & Estate Maintenance AGBO Stages RallyOwen Motoring ClubWeston Park, TelfordSunday 22ndAutosave Kinloss Spring RallyCondor Motorsports ClubKinloss Army Barracks, North AberdeenshireSunday 22ndThe Kath Curzon Memorial RallyPort Talbot Motor ClubPembrey Racing CircuitSaturday 28thRally North WalesWolverhampton & South Staffs Car ClubWelshpool, Mid WalesBRMC Club Member Jon Cordery is running SS2&5 Dyfnant North Stage – Register via www.rallystageteam.co.ukSunday 29thSwift Signs & Shirts Yorkshire Dales RallyNorthallerton Automobile Club LtdYorkshire DalesBRMC Club Member Elizabeth Klinkenberg is Deputy Stage Commander on the SS4 & 8 – Semer Water assisting Stage Commander Mark Williams – Register via www.rallystageteam.co.uk Volunteers Wanted RaceBARC HQ are needing additional marshals particularly Post Chiefs for their opening event on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March 2026 at Donington Park. If you are available would like to assist, then contact Chief Marshal, Sue Fletcher at BARC on 01274 882200 or email competitions@barc.net RallyThe organisers of the Circuit of Ireland 3rd/ 4th April 2026 are looking for marshals for this event. If you are interested then contact Chief Marshal Ronan on +44 7355 128742 Jon Cordery has been asked to run the Aberystwyth Sea Front Stages at the Rali Ceredigion between the 4th to 6thSeptember 2026. The stage shall be run twice on the Friday and Saturday. In addition, marshals shall be required for Park Ferme, timing control and stages. Details to follow |