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Information for Marshals new to the sport

Provided by Bemsee

The first and most important action of the day for all marshals is to sign on. Organisers of race meetings are duty bound to provide basic insurance cover for their officials / Volunteers in the event of an accident, Bemsee marshals are covered up to £100,000 in the event of something nasty happening to you, you are also covered on your journey to and from the circuit, but whoever you marshal with you get absolutely nothing if you fail to sign on. Signing on normally takes place at Race Control from 8am on race day. Marshals may also be signed on in the Paddock or as they arrive at the entrance gate to the circuit, it varies between clubs.

Once signed on make sure you collect your program and find out from the Chief Marshal to which corner you are allocated. It is important that you report to the corner allocated, as the Chief Marshal is responsible to the Clerk of the Course for having the circuit adequately manned, any imbalance at one corner will mean people being requested to move before racing can commence. This all wastes time and there are 2 things that you can not get enough of from an organisers point of view and that is Marshals and time.

Marshals new to the sport are given training along the lines set out by the ACU (the current governing body of motorcycle racing) the different activities which they have been trained in are recorded and an attendance card completed after each meeting, which at the end of the season is return to the ACU to allow them to issue the Marshals Registration. This is a new process and will be recognised by all club throughout the UK. Allowing you to offer your services to different clubs and they know your ability.

When you arrive at your allocated corner make yourself known to the Corner Commander. He/She will normally brief you on how they run their corner and whilst each one follows the same basic rules everyone has a different way of doing it. .

The Corner Commander will ensure that your corner has sufficient flags and at least 2 fire extinguishers one of each type, he is the eyes and ears of the Clerk of the Course and is normally in radio contact with Race Control, providing on the spot feedback concerning any incident on his/her corner. They will allocate you a particular role, and this may change as the day progresses. New marshals will shadow the different functions marshals perform on corners. It may appear that when a rider falls off everyone just rushes out, but the action is choreographed and each one has a different function to perform. We’d look pretty daft if we all ran out and picked up the bike leaving the rider on his arse in the middle of the track!

You will be required to stand out on the circuit for most of the day, normally there is not too much shelter for marshals to hide from the elements, a handy time....visit the loo before you go out to your post, facilities are lacking at most corners (circuit owners are not to helpful here although some such as MSV are improving facilities) this varies from track to track, also please remember to take your food and flask, adequate clothing also most importantly your waterproofs. .Even for those sunny days !!! There will always be a lunch break, normally of an hour, although this can be less if there have been stoppages that have eaten into the time schedule. At Bemsee meetings they will be providing food and drink to their marshals at lunchtime, as indeed do some other clubs.

All Marshals should have gloves as these will be needed when picking up hot bikes and debris. Orange overalls are very advisable (although not compulsory with our club) as they help identify your as a marshal and keep you own clothes clean. Bemsee is able to offer it’s Marshals Proban fire resistant overalls at cost price, which is around £35, however don’t splash out on a pair until you are sure this is the sport for you.

The most important thing to remember, if you are not sure of anything ask ! Don’t be afraid to ask what seems the simplest of question, we all have to start somewhere, and what is considered normal for experienced race marshals may appear confusing for novices.

Bemsee prides itself on being the friendliest in the sport, we consider ourselves on race day to be one big happy family and we try to help our marshals as much as we can.

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