We are delighted to hear that Jon Smart won the the Vernon Clarke award for marshalling at the recent Hunts Kart Racing Club Awards Presentation.

Congratulations to Marion Quarrington, winner of the British Women Racing Driver’s Club Volunteer Gold Star!

Her nomination shows her commitment to marshalling:

“Marion marshalled for over 70 days in 2023, including Race, Rally, Speed and Kart events, as well as sitting on the Motorsport UK Marshals Advisory Group as the Kart representative, and being a Regional Secretary for BMMC! She added three new “firsts” to her marshalling career; her first Rally including a night stage, her first International Kart event and her first Kart Grand Prix.”

Fantastic recognition!!

We are delighted to hear that Malcolm Flippance has been awarded the Lalique Trophy, for Marshal of the Year, by Prescott Marshals Club. Malcolm has been a long time marshal in our region, and only recenly retired after many years from the South Midlands committee.

Well deserved, and congratulations to Malcolm!

1950 – 2023

It is with great sadness that we have to announce that John Newman passed away on Thursday 2^nd November 2023 after a short illness.

For those of you that did not know John, he and Mike Abbott will probably be best remembered as the flag marshalling team at Silverstone. Those were the days when we could always have at least two marshals on a flag post!

Sadly our records do not show when John joined BMMC (formerly BMRMC) but judging by his membership number it was prior to 1984.  John could not sit and do nothing, so it was not long before he got more involved.  In 1992 he was listed as Assistant Training Officer on the South Midlands committee. John produced and kept up to date an online set of flag training notes; probably the first online training module.

Mike first met John when he was the BRDC Chief Pits marshal and John was considered a highly rated member of the pits team. When the RAC de Belgique invited Mike to take a team of Pit Marshals to help out at the Spa 24 hours John was a key member. When Mike retired as BRDC Chief Pits John taught him how to flag. Eventually advancing years forced Mike to give up flagging and the team dissolved.

That does not mean John abandoned marshalling. John continued as a Post Chief and in 2002 qualified as an Examining Post Chief (Race on Track Assessor). Eventually John also retired from marshalling on the bank and started to qualify as a Steward and very recently he was seen stewarding from his wheel chair.

John always gave BMMC his full support. He and Cath could always be found at our Noggin & Natters and annual dinners. He enjoyed a pint, and a good chat about motorsport. He was a larger than life character who will be sorely missed.

John’s funeral will be held on Tuesday 28^th November at 3.15pm at Northampton Crematorium (NN4 0JF).

Cath, Sarah Middleton and Sam Newman welcome you to join them at Peggotty’s Lounge, Fosters Booth (NN12 8LB) to reminisce and remember him.

The family request no flowers please but donations to Macmillan in his memory would be gratefully accepted: https://tributefunds.macmillan.org.uk/In-Memory/John-Newman

RIP John

Glynn Ellis is our 2023 Marshal of the Year.

Catherine Smart is our 2023 New Marshal of the Year.

Congratulation on your well deserved recognition!

The Pathway grading are still available to members. Members can contact me using the usual methods.

If members confirm their SM marshal membership number and expected grade. I will return the relevant grading badges.

Currently I have enough badges to cover 50% of the membership. If you do not receive your grading badge members will get their badges with their annual membership at the beginning of next season.

I will be at the following meetings:

• 750MC Birkett Relay 28th October
• 750MC 29th October
• Walter Hayes 4th & 5th November.

Adrian Cashmore

SM.Regalia

Sm.regalia@marshals.co.uk

All marshals from around the country are invited to the BRSCC’s inaugural Driven by Racing event at Silverstone on 18 and 19 November.

The weekend includes a variety of Marshal’s training for both on and off track grades, including ‘live’ practical training scenarios.

There is also an opportunity to explore other roles in the sport, including scrutineering and other senior official roles.

For more information, please visit the event page on the BRSCC web site.

We are holding this year’s AGM on Saturday 28 October. Please find below the draft minutes from the 2022 AGM:

Hi, I’m Annette, and I’m the Zero Hero for the BMMC South Midlands Region. Here’s my August thoughts for our Sustainability Campaign.

Have you been thinking about sustainability since last month? With the cancellation of the Formula 1 race at Imola due to the extreme flooding, and damage to many communities in Italy, and then the forest fires in Canada which have caused many sporting events in the northern USA to be cancelled due to dangerous air quality, it can’t have escaped your notice that climate change is having an impact on the activities we love the most. Humans have a huge impact on the planet, but we have the power to change the way we do things.

So, my first question this month is: What’s in your lunchbox? And to start with, what IS your lunchbox? As we both marshal in our house, we have very cheesy pink-and-blue, his-and-hers insulated lunch bags. Perfect for keeping our lunch and snacks together, and we can pop in a freezer pack for any hot days to make sure everything stays cold.

Secondly, what about your lunch itself? I don’t mean your preference for cheese-and-pickle sandwiches or a love for sausage rolls (no discussions of pork pies, please). We’ve managed to give up using clingfilm or even foil to wrap sandwiches – we use plastic tubs which can be used over and over again. I’ve got a selection of them at home, and yes, we certainly do have a strange collection of lids!

Have you heard about Plastic Free July? This is what first got me started on using less single use plastic in my packed lunch. You can find out more at https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/

There are a whole range of inexpensive food storage options, some of which will keep very secure and leakproof if the contents are my favourite pasta salad, but you could re-use a plastic tub that had a take-away in it. In, fact you could use up any leftovers from last night’s takeaway as your lunch!

We have stopped using single use plastic bottles for drinks. There are a wide range of options for re-usable insulated water bottles and flasks, to keep water or squash cold, and to keep coffee hot! These can range from high end brands to much cheaper unbranded steel bottles. I just can’t make it through the day without a coffee (or two). Non-insulated ones are useful too – and lots of locations now have drinking water refill points so there’s no excuse for getting dehydrated during the day.

I hope to hear that you are finding ways to reduce your impact on the planet whilst enjoying marshalling.

Best wishes, Annette