BBC F1 piece on marshalling

[EvilPumpkin]

I thought it was excellent. They obviously went to some trouble to show as many roles as possible in the time allowed - and it was fun playing "spot who we know" over the course of it! I would have liked to have seen a little more on flagging included, but I guess it doesn't make great tv!

Anyone else have any thoughts? Or is there just the small handful of us in here with the tumbleweed because everyone else is either still partying or still queueing to get out of Silverstone?

[Steve Milward]

I also thought it was a excellent piece, it's also covered in this weeks Autosport mag. Further to this the BBC plugged marshals.co.uk 3 times during Sat, Sun and Eurosport once during the Porsche Supercup.

Great to get some exposure to the millions of viewers, hopefully some will visit the site and fill in the form.

[EvilPumpkin]

Originally Posted by Steve Milward

Further to this the BBC plugged marshals.co.uk 3 times during Sat, Sun and Eurosport once during the Porsche Supercup.

yeah noticed that - Brundle even said "that's marshal with one l" At least I think it was him - might have been Jake....

[PVDA]

So how come I've got to post the YouTube link to it and I'm all the way down here in Australia??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArQVz...layer_embedded

For the best Marshals in the world you're all a bit slow I reckon

[Greem]

I loved the bit on Church: "This was pure adrenaline stuff". I've never met the marshal on the yellow in that sequence, but the edit is ever-so-slightly funny as he stands not taking his eyes off the yellow sector down the track. Adrenaline? All under control, thankyou

EP's right about the breadth of coverage though - even in the hallowed halls of race control, and at exactly the right moment. That was a biggie.

[Woolley]

An excellent piece. Coulthard could have been a tad more gracious afterwards, utterly failing to say anything nice. Big thumbs up to the producers and to Martin for it all.

I liked the bit when Jake said 'we should all have a go at that'. Somebody take him up on it quickly.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by Woolley

I liked the bit when Jake said 'we should all have a go at that'. Somebody take him up on it quickly.

He's possibly free for the WHT weekend in November (as there's no F1 that weekend). That would be a test, if the weather is shocking...

[Urgentemente]

I thought it was a pretty good piece, and the numerous mentions for us-in-orange throughout the weekend was great (to be fair they do mention us at other races, especially Martin Brundle).

The part where Plato pays an unplanned visit to the barriers seemed to give quite a good impression as to how quick things can happen, and the last segment with the startline crashes showing everyone in action (from race control to the guys & girls at the sharp end).

I also thought that Ted Kravitz looked genuinely 'awed' at being so close to the live action, a look I've seen recently on someone on-post at Dear Leap in Oulton, with being *so* close to the cars

[Eric Ridler]

Great to get some exposure to the millions of viewers, hopefully some will visit the site and fill in the form.

There has been a little interest shown, 737 on Saturday and 4867 on Sunday.

Peter Wilson has had over 280 enquiries for taster days and the number is climbing.

Big thanks to Ted Kravitz, Murray Walker and as always Martin Brundle.

[AMP Marshal]

Damn I missed that bit here in Canada, still getting the cut up BBC version, till the Fox issue is over, was that a pre race piece, if so I might be able to DL it, thanks for the heads up if I get one.

[AMP Marshal]

My mistake, we usually get the Speed feed, with Will Buxton, Steve Machet, David Hobbs, and Robert Varsha, not the BBC feed, unless its Fox time, where we get, in Canada, just the BBC feed via TSN and Speed is blacked out.

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by AMP Marshal

was that a pre race piece, if so I might be able to DL it

I put a link to it from YouTube in an earlier post in this very thread AMP

Sounds like it would've been nice to hear the comments after it though.

[AMP Marshal]

Originally Posted by PVDA

I put a link to it from YouTube in an earlier post in this very thread AMP

Sounds like it would've been nice to hear the comments after it though.

Thanks PVDA,I must have read the thread a bit too quick. I DL'd the British GP BBC Pre race feed,for the first time, and I must say that they do an amazing job. Now all I need to do is DL the Pre Race Feed from Canada, seeing as I worked that 1. Thanks again for the head's up.

[AMP Marshal]

Great link, loved the Jason Plato bit. The yellow flag marshal, with back to traffic, protected by that fence barrier, must have been a back to back with the blue station, sort of standard stuff. Jeez Louise, that stall on the start. Love Murray Walker. Yup 1st on, and last off. Thanks for that.

[MacGWC]

The figures quoted by Eric are in the "still counting" stage, thanks to Murray Walker's excellent endorsement of BMMC at the tail end of the Ted Kravitz piece on marshalling on Qualifying day and Martin's repeat mention of our web site address (as he said he would at a recent club night for marshals in BMMC South Mids region). Also thanks to Stephen Green's radio interviews on Radio Northants and Oxford and mention of BMMC in Autorsport article - notably omitted in similar article in MSA News.

The Marshals' Club recruitment activities over the past five or six years, spearheaded by Team Wilson's activities at BTCC rounds but very well supported by recruitment activities in all BMMC regions, taster days in particular, have almost single-handedly reversed the outflow of marshals from the sport that reached critical levels in the early 2000's. However, one of the largest sources of new BMMC members has always been personal recommendation from other BMMC members or following other family members into the sport, which speaks volumes for the camaraderie and feeling of "belonging" that comes with BMMC membership. Another element has been the raft of new ideas on how to treat marshals from JP and his team at MSVR.

Thanks to all who have helped!

[Stephen Green]

As I have only just got back from Silverstone I haven't had the opportunity to see the article yet; however, I wrote to Martin Brundle about 5 weeks ago suggesting the BBC might like to do an item on marshalling which could link in with their F1 Technical pieces. Martin said he would have to run it by the BBC as true to his word it seems he did so. I must watch it later today then e-mail Marting to offer our thanks.

[Stone-kicker]

I was able to speak to Ted in the pit lane after the the GP and congratulated him on the piece.

[The Flagman]

MacGWC makes important points about family following in the footsteps.

My son has had 27 years of exposure to motorsport stuff and me going to race meetings and flagging. For some time he has accompanied me as a track marshal primarily to HSCC meetings, most recently the Brands Hatch Superprix. He simply doesn't get it about the current demands on marshals and feels it is not worthwhile signing on.

I believe he's probably more able to be analytic about our efforts, an issue I've recently taken up with HSCC and specifically about timetabling. It seems we are entering a critical period for marshalling.

The economic situation makes it dearer for us to travel but also means that organisers are trying to cram in too many races to a race day often with smaller entries because the competitors can't afford it either. The MSA needs to get tough and only sanction race meetings that are viable. They've got enough evidence now. The Historic scene is particularly affected. Ironically the HSCC are not short of entries but they have increased the numbers of racing categories pressurising timetables. Lunch breaks are fast disappearing.

I only go to race meetings where the entries are published in advance so that I can be assured I'm not wasting my time waving to less than 10 cars. Were meetings rationed competitors would compete for entries, races would become more interesting by virtue of greater numbers of entries, marshals would have fewer meetings meaning to choose from and we would be spread less thinly. The marshalling experience would improve and it would be finacially healthier for the organisers.

At the Superprix my verdict is that 'we got away with it'. We were desperately short on Friday, a little better on Saturday and better still on Sunday. A fair number voted with their feet and didn't attend on Saturday afer the Friday experience giving the Chief Marshals something of a headache. Fortunately we had no major incidents. As long as 'we get away with it' that will start to be become the acceptable norm whereas it is really below safe numbers for coverage.

My son feels we are now being exploited for our generosity and are supporting organisers from our own resources beyond what is reasonable. The timetable for the forthcoming Silverstone Classic is a case in point. My personal point of view is that I cannot feel safe on post due to fatigue especially on subsequent days. After 30+years on the bank I'm having to seriously consider stopping as I don't feel capable of lasting out the hours and being sufficiently on the case to protect my fellow marshals.

Now time for BMMC to do some serious talking with the organisers.

David Morgan

[chezza]

Taking the thread a little off topic, I haven't seen the piece yet, that is for iplayer tonight, but in responding to The Flagman's post.

When issuing a permit for a meeting all you have to do is fill out where and when the meeting is going to be, who is gonig to be running it (as in the club) and which if any of the MSA registered championships you are going to have there. You don't have to give them numbers of cars entered, at the time the permit is requested its very likely that you won't have any entries at all, so they won't know if a meeting is "viable" or not. Also how would they determine if the meeting was viable? That really depends on the costs for the meeting as well as the number of entries, which you can only ever take a guess at until the meeting has happened.

Whilst we are quick to criticise the MSA in this, its not necessarily their fault and they also have no power to stop the clubs setting up new series, which they often do to try and pinch drivers from each other. The only ones that can really do that is the clubs, but they're all businesses and unlikely to work together to reduce the numbers of series and championships out there.

[gachjoel]

part of the footage that wasn't shown was when they were doing the shot on the yellow flag, we had ted up there as well and he was holding on the catch fence like he was on the edge of a cliff.
but he was pleasantly surprised at how close we were to the track, hence the part when i told him we had loads of protection..."The Tyre Wall".
if you notice, he did flinch a bit.
but was a pleasure to have him there for the race.

[Darren Holmes]

I did my little bit for Marshal PR, I was interviewed on my BBC Local Radio Station (Sheffield) which went out twice on Saturday morning!

[MacGWC]

Originally Posted by Darren Holmes

I did my little bit for Marshal PR, I was interviewed on my BBC Local Radio Station (Sheffield) which went out twice on Saturday morning!

Thanks, Darren, it all helps!

[Dave Weston]

Originally Posted by Greem

I loved the bit on Church: "This was pure adrenaline stuff". I've never met the marshal on the yellow in that sequence, but the edit is ever-so-slightly funny as he stands not taking his eyes off the yellow sector down the track. Adrenaline? All under control, thankyou

That'll be my uncle Paul then!

[Dave Weston]

Originally Posted by AMP Marshal

The yellow flag marshal, with back to traffic, protected by that fence barrier, must have been a back to back with the blue station, sort of standard stuff.

Yep, the yellow flag man was my uncle, and the blue flag man was my dad - both been marshalling together for decades.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Dave Weston

Yep, the yellow flag man was my uncle, and the blue flag man was my dad - both been marshalling together for decades.

And nearly always at Church.