Q
What is a Marshal?
A Someone who is interested in Motorsport and who wants to be involved
in the sport without necessarily competing.
Q
What does a Marshal do?
A Almost anything linked with the organisation and running of motorsport
events – from club meetings to Grand Prix, from grass tracks
to circuit racing.
Q
Who can become a Marshal?
A. Almost anyone. As long as you are of average health all you need
is enthusiasm – BMMC can provide the rest.
Q
Are Marshals paid?
A. No. Marshalling is a hobby. All Marshals are volunteers who enjoy
being part of motorsport.
Q.
Do you need to be specially trained?
A. Yes – and training
is just one of the benefits of belonging to the BMMC
Q.
How many days to I have to commit to the club?
A. As many or as few as you wish. You decide where and when you
want to marshal. BMMC does the rest
Q.
Is it dangerous?
A. All forms of motorsport involve some danger, but our safety record
is very good and we provide our own insurance
scheme to cover or
our members whilst on duty at motorsport events
Q.
So what is the BMMC?
A. The British Motor Racing Marshals Club is the largest marshalling
organisation in the world. Founded in 1957 the club still follows
its original objectives of training and providing marshals for all
forms of motorsport. The BMMC provides officials for all the organising
clubs in the country. Events covered include Circuit racing, sprints,
hill climbs, autotests, rallies, rallycross, autocross, trials,
kart racing, motorcycle circuit racing and many more.
The club has over 2,200 members, men and women from all walks of
life. All are amateurs in as much as no financial reward is either
sought or given, but at the same time they are professionals in
their attitude to their marshalling.
The club is organised into six regions, each covering a defined
area of the British Isles. Members are offered the opportunity of
marshalling at almost any event they wish, anywhere in the country,
the club will co-ordinate the volunteering and liaise with the organising
clubs. BMMC brings you and the organising clubs together.
Each year our marshals are invited to an ever increasing number
and range of events. Clubs throughout the country rely on BMMC members
to staff their meetings. Members for the meetings they wish to attend.
Members can marshal from two to over a hundred events a year. It
is up to the individual to decide the type and number of events
they wish to attend, the jobs for which they volunteer, the clubs
they want to work with, and the venues at which they want to marshal.
Q.
What duties do BMMC Marshals cover?
A. According to experience, the jobs offered include: Observer,
flag marshal, course marshal, incident marshal, incident officer,
spectator marshal, race administration, paddock marshal, pit marshal,
startline marshal, telephonist, rescue unit crew, rally stage marshal,
rally timekeeper, passage control marshal, sector marshal etc. etc.
The list is almost endless. BMMC members include doctors, scrutineers,
timekeepers, ambulance drivers, firemen and commentators. In fact
BMMC members can and do perform every official job function at all
levels of the sport.
The club was responsible for establishing the Emergency Services
teams at Silverstone, Donington and Cadwell Park and provides the
vast majority of their personnel.
Q.
What about training?
A. However enthusiastic you may be, every marshalling job requires
a great deal of training
and practice. BMMC recognised this in 1957 and the improvement in
standards has been a constant aim of the club ever since. BMMC was
one of the first clubs to set up a regular training programme for
its members.
All regions have their own training officer whose job is to construct
and run a training programme for the members, co-ordinated by the
National Training Officer. In conjunction with the RAC MSA and other
clubs BMMC provides training throughout the year. Sessions include
theory and practical sessions, including fire fighting and rescue
unit work. Experienced marshals will guide and offer advice to you
at race meetings, observe your progress and help you gain greater
enjoyment from your duties.
Training covers all aspects and disciplines of the sport. Our aim
is to make motor sport safer by training the volunteer officials
to the highest possible standards.
Q.
How do I recognise other marshals experience?
A. It is essential that the experience and capabilities of marshals
can be easily recognised and that the marshals are offered a clear
path through the many duties and levels of marshalling. BMMC has
run its own grading
scheme for over twenty
years, identifying all marshals by the use of colour coded badges.
Our scheme has now been adopted by the RAC MSA as the basis for
a national, all clubs grading scheme and has been adopted by other
marshalling associations and clubs throughout the world.
All members carry grading cards on which their experience is noted.
Experienced members are nominated as "examiners". They
will observe the marshals actions, both at training sessions and
on actual events, offer advice and then, if a job has been done
well, sign the card. Completed cards are checked by the National
Grading Officer and a badge and new grading card issued to enable
the marshal to progress to the next level of responsibility.
Q.
What if I am interested in Rallying?
A. One of the benefits of membership of BMMC is that it also brings
with it membership of the British
Rally Marshals Club.
The BRMC was formed by the BMMC to parallel the activities of the
club in rallying.
The BRMC has its own training and grading scheme, offering a progressive
means of obtaining the skills needed for rally marshalling. The
BMMC provides marshals for all rallies throughout the country. It
does not matter whether it is a multi-venue or single venue rally,
or who the organising club may be, or whether it is a club rally
or an international. As long as the event is recognised by the RACMSA
the BRMC will provide officials.
Q.
How do I volunteer for events?
A. Each region publishes its own newsletter
or magazine, keeping members informed of news at both regional and
national levels. Articles include comment and information on changes
to rules, reports of events, news of club activities, details of
events requiring marshals, factual and fictional articles, and even
buy and sell advertisements. All members are encouraged to contribute
articles.
As well as the newsletters members will receive availability
forms from the organising
clubs themselves and will see events advertised in the motorsport
press.
All a member does then is to complete a volunteering form and send
it to their Regional Competitions Secretary. They will then liaise
with the organising club who will send the member their passes and
instructions for the event.
Q.
What else does the club offer?
A. Every region has an active social side, with meetings and events
throughout the year. Details of these are to be found in the regular
regional newsletters, but include organised visits and dinner dances.
The club has its own exclusive range of badges,
clothing, and accessories.
These are advertised in the newsletters and may be obtained either
on events or by mail order.
Q.
So How can I join?
A. If you are interested in joining either the BMMC or the BRMC,
or want more details, then download
a membership application form,
fill it in and return it to the club or contact:
Sue Whitlock, New Members
Secretary, tel 0132 785 7011, E-mail: info@bmmc.org.uk
Membership
forms are in Adobe's Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). To
read and print them, you will need an Adobe
Acrobat Reader or a Web Browser with a PDF Plug-In.
You
can view PDF documents in Web browsers compatible with Netscape
Navigator 3.0 (or later) or Internet Explorer 3.0 (or later). Most
current Browsers support the PDF format, but, if yours doesn't,
PDF readers are available free of charge from Adobe's Web
Site.
Just
download and save the membership application form to your computer's
hard disc and open it with the Acrobat Reader. When
you've printed and filled in the form, send it off to Sue Whitlock,
3 Acorn Way, Silverstone, Northamptonshire, NN12 8DQ.
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