Marshal's wear.........

[Slowcoach]

After yesterday's tragic events at Monza and the numerous accidents which happen on the club scene ( for example @ Thruxton yesterday there were three serious red flag accidents alone ) there begs the question about what Marshals should be wearing ? Now my memory is pretty hazy as I tend to concentrate on the racecars more than those brave people in orange but what do they wear , am I right in saying that I've seen Japanese marshals in full protective gear including helmets - are there standards worldwide or Formula-wide ? Should there be a much more stringent minimum in safety wear for them ? What do u think ?

[Dan Friel]

We wear orange proban flame retardent overalls, good boots, woollen socks and some hefty gloves... that'll do for this country.

Other marshals, italians and japanese do wear helmets, which get provided free. But its not going to save people who get hit by wheels / cars.. They were used in this country for a while, but it was thought that they actually restricted visibility and made it more dangerous... catch 22.

As long as I'm protected against fire (buying a nomex t-shirt this winter for next year), I'm cofident about doing the job.

[R]

Can I take this one moment to say that I am deeply impressed with the courage of anyone who is a marshal at a motorsport event. I take it, Dan, that you are one of these brave people, and of course Marshal, who also posts at this forum, is another one. I'm all in favour of marshals being protected as much as possible, and I think that those who are out there, doing this job, are the ones who most of all knows which safety measures are the best.

[Jay]

However, Dan, I am betting you are not as dumb as the Marshals in Italy. That was really dumb. As the car came down the straights half of the marshalls were not even behind the catch fencing.

The drivers will throw blame at each other for this incident, but the real problem was simply that the marshal was not behind a safety barrier.

[Crash Test]

At that part of the track was it a case of track-wall-marshals-catch fencing crowd, or track-wall/catch fencing-marshals-crowd? I'm pretty sure it was the first, so wouldn't the option of having the large catch fencing right on the race track wall protect everyone? Even if they have a large fence between the crowd and the marshals, if they had a short fence (like they have on temporary road tracks here in Australia) would serve the marshals safety needs.

[Dan Friel]

They need to look at it... but if you go to the link in the Indycar forum and have a look at Mr Carpientiers accident last week at Laguna Seca - only so much can be done!!! He cleared the lot....