The following articles were published in the MG Car Club Magazine “Safety Fast!” during Winter 2021/22, as part of a series to explain the work of volunteers who support the club’s racing season. The articles are reproduced here by kind permission of MG Car Club, Abingdon, Oxon.
Assembly
In circuit racing, a driver will first go to the Assembly Area before driving onto the circuit, which is where they will meet the Assembly Marshals. Here the drivers and cars are checked before they are allowed on track, and, for a race, put into a “dummy grid” sequence which mimics where they need to be on the grid on the track. The driver checks include that they have signed on and are in the correct car, and are dressed in their race “kit” (suit, helmets, gloves etc). The cars are checked that they have been scrutineered (in post-Covid times they will have a signed sticker), that they have the correct numbers in the correct places, and there is often a Scrutineering team in Assembly Area to do more detailed checks, including noise testing. Before being released to the circuit the drivers are checked to make sure they are correctly strapped into their cars – not always an easy thing to get right for a tall driver in a “snug-fit” MG race car.
As an Assembly Area Marshal I will start work earlier than the rest of the marshals as we have to finish all our checks on the first session before it can go on track. For a qualifying session we will be given a list of the drivers and cars that should be in the Assembly Area for us to check against, and for a race we will have the grid sheet showing where each car needs to be on the grid. We are in radio contact with Race Control, so we can report and query anything that is not as expected, and for them to give us clearance to start the race countdown and release the cars to the circuit. The up-side of an early start is also an early finish, as our job is done when the last session of the day leaves the Assembly Area.
Startline
In MGCC circuit racing you will see two different types of race starts – a standing start and a rolling start. For a standing start the Startline Gridding Marshals will be on the grid to receive the cars, and to indicate where they need to be on the grid markings. It is the driver’s responsibility to know where the car should be, but it is not always easy to see which grid marking to stop on especially when some circuits have multiple grids laid out and some of the smaller cars have reduced visibility, so the marshals help by pointing to the correct lines. Once all cars are settled the green flag is waved from the back of the pack to tell the Starter everything is clear for the final countdown. Meanwhile the Startline Safety Marshals are on the side of the track (usually on the pit wall) to provide safety cover for the start. It is their job to let the Starter know if any drivers are unable to take the start by holding up a yellow flag, and also to wave a warning flag to the rest of the pack if any car is slow to leave the grid. In a rolling start the pack will have done a warm-up/green flag lap behind the Safety Car so the pack approaches the start at a constant speed, with the Starter turning the lights off to start the race as the pack leaders cross the start line – needless to say we have no marshals on the grid for these races!
As a Startline Marshal I am not needed until the first race of the day, but most circuits combine the Startline team with the Pits team so we are always kept busy! We will have a copy of each grid sheet, and the Chief Startline Marshal will allocate responsibilities to everyone so we each know what we are going to do. As MGCC races start their countdown in the Assembly Area, and only come to the grid after their warm-up/green flag lap, we cannot keep the cars waiting too long whilst we are gridding, so we are often working on the run as the race cannot start until we are finished and safely off track. If a race is stopped with a Red Flag then the cars will come back to the grid and we will go back on the track to re-grid for the re-start – we will use the same grid if the race has completed less than 2 laps, or use a new grid based on the race order on the previous full lap if the race is more advanced. Starline Marshalling can be very hectic but also very rewarding to know that “I started that race”!
Pits
The role of a Pits Marshals is probably the most diverse of all marshal roles. They are the safety cover in the Pits, but can be called on to do any number of activities involved in running the meeting. Safety work includes monitoring the Pits speed limit, working the lights at Pit Exit, making sure the outer Circuit Lane is kept clear and general people and car safety in a busy environment. For the Race Admin side roles include getting cars from the garages to the Assembly Area in time for their session, passing messages from Race Control to teams and drivers, running the Penalty Box for cars with drive-through or Stop-Go penalties, monitoring the Pit Stops, directing cars at the end of the session to Parc Ferme, to the podium or back to their paddock or garage places, to name but a few! It’s fair to say that every race meeting will be different, and sometimes every session at the meeting will be different, so Pits Marshals have to be flexible and able to juggle a lot of things at the same time. The senior Pits Marshals are in constant radio contact with Race Control, as things can and do change within the event itself.
As a Pits Marshal I will have done my “homework” and looked at the timetable and read the Race Regulations and the Final Instructions before the event so I know what to expect. A morning briefing session held by the Chief Pits Marshal is when the role allocations are given out and the day’s events are discussed, and is key to everyone working together as a team. If it’s a busy day we may have a second briefing at lunchtime. Once the first session is getting close we pick up our respective roles, always mindful of where we are in the timetable. We also keep an eye on where our fellow marshals are so we can cover for their role if they are unavoidably detained with something, which often happens! As we are always dealing with people, both with those involved in the event such as teams and drivers but also spectators, we have to be polite but firm when we need something to be done. It is sometimes a challenge to keep a smile on your face and be authoritative at the same time for a whole day – this is the role for the diplomat. We also have to be fit – it is not unusual for me to walk over 5 miles in a single day and as Chief Pits in the National Pits at Silverstone Classic I regularly do over 30 miles across the three-day event. The only downside with being a Pits Marshal is that you are often so busy with your role that you never actually see any racing!
Marion Quarrington, Examining Specialist Marshal, December 2021