Lindholme Motor Sports Club of Doncaster

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Marshalling - What's it all about?

For those of you who are new to the subject of Marshalling the following should help prepare you for what you'll be getting yourself into.

Many people assume, from the TV coverage they have seen, that you simply stand around, at all sorts of odd hours of the day and night, in a yellow tabard, waiting for something to happen and taking appropriate action if it does.

Not so … There are many essential functions to be performed in the organising and running of Stage Rallies and nearly as many on Road Rallies.
Here I'll concentrate on the Stage event Marshalling as it's what we, as a Club, are more commonly associated with.

Off Stage - At Scrutineering and the Start Venue many Marshals are needed to ensure things run smoothly. Passage Checks are also very important areas that require manning.

On Stage - Here is where the largest concentrations of manpower are required. General marshalling duties on stage rallies can lead to more specialised roles of timekeeping, safety officer and rescue/recovery tasks.

There are Arrival Controls, Start and Finish Controls to be manned and within the Stage in addition to the general Course Marshals, Radio Operators are needed to provide communication to the Stage Commander and other Rally Officials.

In many cases you also get to talk to the famous names in rallying at the time controls. Oh, and there's the bonus of being right at the forefront of the action.

Road Rallies
Road rallies too need lots of marshals to staff controls and passage checks. This is a very sociable side of motorsport with many a friendship born from meeting on an event, and without the services of these volunteers, the world of motorsport would be impossible.

LMSC organises marshalling and stage commanding on a wide range of events including the British round of the FIA World Rally Championship - The Wales Rally GB - www.walesrallygb.com

If you are interested and would like to come along and assist come down at Club night or email us

Marshal Training
As a result of the 2002 Report of the MSA's Safety Group, the training of marshals will have a high profile. A voluntary registration scheme includes training meetings, with backing materials on video and paper. Three grades of marshal will reflect increasing levels of expertise and experience. In addition to this National scheme, all Regional Associations offer a range of training, including incident procedures and safety radio operation. As a club, we are keen to recruit new marshals to our widely respected team. We attach "novices" to experienced marshals to guide them through the skills needed on rallies and Autotests. Full details are on the MSA website - (see links page)

Currently the nearest Training Days for LMSC members are:-

1. Association of North Western Car Clubs (ANWCC) at Stockport College on Saturday 26th January

2. Association of Norther Car Clubs (ANCC) at Askham Bryan College (York) on Sunday 27th January

3. Association of North East Midland Motor Clubs (ANEMMC) at the University of Derby on Sunday 24th February

(Members will find the appropriate online application form at volunteers in Motorsport's website)

As always, this training is provided FREE of charge by MSA Marshals Instructors.

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