MARSHALING

 

Every competitor booked in to race at a meeting must marshal the next heat after their race, or whichever heat the race director appoints. If that person cannot marshall for whatever reason (injury, disability or racing in more than one heat), then another marshall must be appointed by that competitor.

 

After finishing your race, you will be expected to switch off your bike and transmitter, put them in a designated area for scrutineering or back in the pits if scrutineering not needed, then immediately go to your marshal position. All marshals will go to their marshall point number on the track, dictated by their own race number. They must be at that marshal point before the next race can start and for nitro races, marshals need to be in position at least 2 minutes before race start to cover the 2 minute warm up laps. If not, a penalty involving loss of fastest time may ensue. If reflective yellow vests are at the marshall points, use them.

 

Marshalling procedures;

At all times marshal safety is paramount. No marshal is expected to risk injury to save a driver a few seconds, no matter how important the race.

Marshals are expected to retrieve fallen bikes and put them back on the track as quickly and safely as possible. Sometimes when a bike goes down it may be possible for the driver to spin the bike around and set off again. But marshals should still run to the fallen bike in case this is not possible. Drivers should only attempt to spin their bike around if enough time and space is available before the next bike comes along.

Bikes should be picked up by the rider and launched on to the track with a hefty push.

Do not pick up a bike by its bars.

Do not launch a bike back on the track without first looking to make sure another bike is not coming up fast behind it.

If possible, keep your body out of the driver’s line of sight. He needs to see the bike being launched, not guess it.

If a bike has stopped on the track, you should wait until the track is clear enough before attempting to retrieve it. A 2kg bike travelling at full speed will break a bone if it connects with you.

If possible, give a warning shout to drivers, like ‘bike down on straight!’  which may prevent an expensive pile up. Likewise, when driving, if your bike goes down, a similar shout on the rostrum will be appreciated by the drivers that are rapidly approaching your obstacle.

Good marshals use good judgement, but nobody’s perfect and it’s not always possible to make the right decision. Keeping concentration is the key. Do not spend the time on your mobile phone or chatting to someone. Smoking is not allowed whilst marshalling.

You will be expected to follow the race and keep a mental note of leaders, without taking your eye off your marshalling area.

If a leading bike and a lapped bike go down together, through no obvious fault of the drivers, the leading bike should be put back on the track first.

If one bike hits another and both go down, the bike that was hit should be retrieved first, regardless of either bike’s position in the race.

If a bike ends up on the grass between 2 parts of the track and you don’t know which direction it came from, ask the driver which part of the track the bike should be put back on.

If a bike goes down that you did not see, expect a shout from the driver or another marshal who has spotted it. This is only to make you aware so you can do your job and does not constitute harassment or abuse in itself, but swearing and general abuse from drivers will not be tolerated and repeat offenders will be asked to leave the meeting.

Sometimes it’s easy to miss one bike down, especially if you are already marshalling another.

If you notice a bike going down because of a mechanical problem, do not put that bike back on the track. Leave it somewhere safe where the driver or pitman can collect it. If the problem is easily repairable, say a crash bar or body clip fallen out and you can repair it quickly, then do so, but keep an eye out for other bikes going down, they now take priority.

Nitro bikes can be marshalled in the same way, but if an engine cuts you will not be expected to re-start it, just leave the bike in a safe position nearby where the mechanic can collect it. If a nitro bike goes out of control and the motor is screaming, you must leave it alone and let the driver or drivers’ mechanic deal with it, unless you have enough nitro experience to be able to stop the motor yourself.  

Some nitro bikes will leave oil from the exhaust on the tail section and it is possible with most nitro bikes to touch the exhaust while picking it up and marshalling, so gloves are a good idea.

 

The pits and Finals starting procedure

 

The marshal in pit lane or nearest the start line is usually the one to start the bikes off, but this will be confirmed by race control.

 

Electric starts

As start marshal for electric bikes, you will have to line the bikes up in the starting order. The race director should give you the starting position and start order, re-arrange the bikes appropriately. On the signal, launch the first bike in a straight line with a substantial push. Repeat with the other bikes at 1 second intervals. Ignore any bike that goes down until the last one is away, then resume position at your post.

 

Nitro starts

Nitro final starts will be usually on the back straight, about 1 – 1.5m apart, held by the drivers’ mechanics or appointed starters with the rear wheel off the ground so that the drivers can blip the throttle to keep the engines clear and prevent engine cuts. An appointed flag marshal will raise a flag at race start to indicate to the starters to push the bikes off (it may not be possible to hear the start beep from race control)

When the race has finished, stay at your post until all bikes are off the track.

 

Job done.

 

Easy, eh??