give marshal's a chance to...

[Richard Lowe]

As others have said I always try to marshal a car as I'd like to be marshalled. I also make a point of not putting a car down that the driver starts revving as I'm righting it. It achieves nothing other than p*****g the marshal off, although I've noticed more and more people doing it over the years

[Jez]

got my fingers burnt at bury last year by f1 driver,kept revving while trying to turn car over.my request to back off throttle was returned by a barrage of abuse by his dad.wouldnt mind if i was slow due to me being a fatty n all but it was right in front of me and i was a volunteer marshall!!!! i complained to my regional rep only to be shrugged at.later found out he was good friends with said drivers dad.case closed.

[rcracer]

i was pushed in the chest at the indoor finals by a what i would call a senior member of the rc scene and told to move back as i was blocking the veiw of the drivers apparantly i really should have took this further at the time . nothing to do with this topic but it just came back to me with jez saying that.

[AaronR]

Originally Posted by neiloliver

I think it is a mix, there are good and poor marshalls across the F1-F5 range.

OFF TOPIC: I keep reading on here "F1 driver" this, "F1 driver" that. Where do you get these ratings and how do you determine what level a driver is at? I would assume a Lee Martin or Neil Cragg would be F1 and bmag would be F7 correct?

[antnee]

theres one guy at my club, will look at every other marshal on the track first to see if they will marshal the car, even if its right in front of him!!

If someones clearly revving it, I won't put the car back down until they stopped

[Southwell]

I have found in recent times the biggest problem with marshalling is not them being slow etc, it's them watching the racing instead of their designated areas.

[Chris Doughty]

I am probably going to be on my own here, but I will say it anyway.

I will marshall a car that has the throttle on, again as a lot of people have said, I marshall how I like to be marshalled myself.

I have been there on my roof as 2nd and 3rd place pass me to loose an A final on the last but one lap, I know how frustraiting it is, not thinking properly.

I still put in the effort to get to the car and right it as quickly as possible, if its revving its nute off (by the drivers own fault) then I might not be able to right it as fast to keep clear of its wheels but I don't delay putting it down.

maybe instead of punishing these people there and then, tell a ref after the race and they could talk to the driver before his next race? at least the message would be clearly told as oposed to having to be 'learned' in the heat of the moment?

[peetbee]

Originally Posted by DoughtyUK.net

maybe instead of punishing these people there and then, tell a ref after the race and they could talk to the driver before his next race? at least the message would be clearly told as oposed to having to be 'learned' in the heat of the moment?

At least this way they'd be told about it, rather than just thinking that the marshalls were crap.

[josh_smaxx]

I got slapped by a marshal when trying to take photo's at shields does that count?

BTW it was my fault as i was sat in a really awkward place and it was accidental lol.

[darryl]

one bad experience i had at a york regional a few years ago was marshalling a schumacher fireblade and as i picked it off a hose the bodyshell came off in my hand,, it took me what seemed an eternity to put it back on and the lad in question was on for pole in the A at the time, well i have never had so much abuse off the lads dad some of his phrases are un printable, so mistakes can happen even if you are trying to marshall to the best of your ability

[Northy]

I have noticed more of this recently, and from people that should know better. I can mention it ath the next NE regional drivers briefs if people want.

G

[Kash]

Originally Posted by darryl

one bad experience i had at a york regional a few years ago was marshalling a schumacher fireblade and as i picked it off a hose the bodyshell came off in my hand,, it took me what seemed an eternity to put it back on and the lad in question was on for pole in the A at the time, well i have never had so much abuse off the lads dad some of his phrases are un printable, so mistakes can happen even if you are trying to marshall to the best of your ability

I remember that

[Kopite]

i kind of feel that the revving the car whilst on it's roof can almost be instinctive at times, i actually don't even know if i do it or not, i'm concentrating that hard on the race. I'm not saying that it's acceptable to do it, i just wonder if other people do it without even realising it.

the one thing that does piss me off though, is people who shout at the marshall to hurry up, whilst their car is still flipping through the air, or has literally just crashed. Give them a chance eh!!!

[telboy]

I can understand why people rev the car when its on its roof and no one is running to it.
Having marshalled both on and off road, I have noticed that-
1. Off road is noisier when races are running, but they don't make as much noise when they turn over. So if you have your back to it or you are watching another corner, you may not notice.
2. When TC's are running the are quieter, but make more noise when the turn over, because of the full covering bodyshells. This is why you don't see as many TC drivers revving them up when they crash.

But obviously, when a marshal gets to your car you should stop revving so as not to cause injury or ruin your own run any further.

I agree G, it should be something mentioned at drivers breifings.

[Benh]

If you don't crash, you can't get upset!

If someone shouts Marshall when there car crashes, fair enough - even if it's still spinning through the stratosphere - sometimes you dont hear or see it. Shouting anything before or after "marshall!" (other than behind you) is out of order and said driver should be penalised!

Maybe some recognition for Marshall of the day at the end of a meeting will proactively encourage good marshalling and it thanks the thankless of all tasks!

[Trish]

You know one thing I find funny, embarassing and somtimes annoying is when someone crashes into a pipe and tries to drive themselves out of the situation, whilst there would be 'me' the 'marshall' chaising after it like a headless chicken arms out stretched and when I get to the car they would get free and drive off lol!

I agree with mr doughty on the matter of marshalling, il marshall anything, but if they are being a nob about it, then if i was that upset then maybe a slight word to a race offical would be welcome.

Trish

[MK999]

You seem to chase after piped cars more than anyone else Trish, it is quite funny to watch

Same as you/Doughty I will marshall anything as like most things I do I tend to get a tunnel vision and all I think about is getting the car back on it's wheels, also I find most A finalists tend to be the better marshalls, personally my awareness of other cars that are still moving on the track when marshalling is quite poor, watching a lot of A finalists marshall they have developed a better awareness and they're ducking and jumping over cars they already knew were coming 5s ago ! (Lee Martin springs to mind on this one)

Although marshalling can make and break races sometimes you do kinda have to remember it was you that made the mistake in the first place, and try not to blame the marshalls

[Nick Goodall]

How horrible as a driver on a good run is that feeling as you see your car flipping over and then realising that the marshall hasn't spotted it - i agree that revving is wrong as someone's trying to put their hands in but as others have said sometimes you HAVE to do something to get attention, and shouting just confuses people as they don't know which direction to look in!

I think one sharp Blip and locking of the brakes really doesn't do any harm, it's when people are on full throttle as you're picking it up that it annoys me......

[Kash]

Is there not a BRCA rule about spinning your wheels when the car is being marshalled?? For some reason I think there is.

[dave p hall]

Originally Posted by Northy

I have noticed more of this recently, and from people that should know better. I can mention it ath the next NE regional drivers briefs if people want.

G

think thats a good idea g,im glad this thread is making us think about our attitudes/manner's when racing