Marshalls

Why is it that sometimes and more often than not those who shout Marshall at the top of their voices when they are racing, fail to marshall when others are racing i noticed this on Sunday maybe its time that points were deducted for failing to be at the marshall point or even marshalls walking away from there given area before a race has finished.
If we all had the same attitude towards marshalling then the racing would be poor this is just a observation from Sunday whats your views

LOL yea the 1/12th lads can be a pain 8 min on the track and cant marshall for 5

I hate it when drivers start shouting for a marshal. A marshal isn't going to step out in front of oncoming cars and they will wait for it to be safe.

As for people not performing their marshalling duty that is really annoying. It's always been a problem and will continue to be. Losing their race points would help the situation, but would also lead to arguments. In a major competition though things have to be tough.

At Ardent I find it a struggle to be at my marshalling point in time if I have to take my car back to the pits. I just can't move quick enough. I'm not going to leave it sitting on the floort to be trodden on and broken. At least at the Winter Series we leave our cars at scrutineering which means I don't have the long trawl back to the pits.

Gazza wrote:LOL yea the 1/12th lads can be a pain 8 min on the track and cant marshall for 5

don't think so, the touring car drivers are the worst! I've seen TC drivers chatting with their mates or other marshals all clumped on the same corner chatting & the car has gone off the track & pretty much landed on top of their foot, but they have to finish their conversation before putting the car back on track.... 1st to last just because the marshal was a clot!.


spottted at the UKEM, last weekend - this Marshal earned his team a Stop-go penalty.

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We do think so . . .

( most of us here race at Ardent and this post topic is our views as we have seen it happen alot at Ardent on a Tuesday night when we follow the 1/12th guys )

its just that as we all race we can see for our selfs who is not marshaling.
so from Ian's view I Guess he follows the TC so he can see that on his side . . . so sounds like we are all guilty

which brings me to . . . Well Me ? You may all wonder about me. . .

Well due to my disability I cant run or bend down quick hence Ardent let me race with out Marshalling so sorry to the rest who did not know this as It looks bad on my part
( car crash 3yrs ago 3 disc's gone take it easy say Dr's or I will be in a wheel chair by im 55 )

there now you all know

Gazza wrote:We do think so . . .

( most of us here race at Ardent and this post topic is our views as we have seen it happen alot at Ardent on a Tuesday night when we follow the 1/12th guys )

its just that as we all race we can see for our selfs who is not marshaling.
so from Ian's view I Guess he follows the TC so he can see that on his side . . . so sounds like we are all guilty

it's funny that because i've been at Ardent racing Touring car, Tamiya Mini, 12th & a couple of other classes., so i've had 12th drivers marshaling in heats i've raced there along with marshals who race all the other classes depending on what day or car I race - including when there have been 2 heats of 12th's & i've never had a problem with the 12th drivers. As i say the only problem i've had is with the touring car drivers.

To be honest i find when it comes to marshaling the 12th drivers are the only ones who don't have to be told to go & marshal, they race, drop their cars off & return to the track to marshal, not sit faffing changing parts or fixing their cars before going out to marshal. I admit i may click my charger on before heading out to marshal, but i don't sit there puling the car to pieces & then run onto the track when the beeps are counting down. But then you could argue that 12th drivers need to be marshalled the least because the standard of driving is usually quite high & mistakes happen but are often counted on 1 hand.

Also, i understand there are people with disabilities they prevent them from marshalling, i could i suppose lay a claim to this myself as i have 2 metal plates in my arm from a bike crash, so if i'm bent down & a car hits my bad arm then it could be very nasty.. even so i'm of the opinion if you can carry a pit-box then you are fit to marshal. John Wells marshals perfectly well & he's on a stick & has limited mobility.

Plus i know in some competition - especially the 10th & 12th nationals - they select a marshal to act as referee, basically a marshal to stand there & ensure that nobody creeps on the line before the start when the beeps are going & that slower drivers are moving cleanly out of the way of lapping drivers during the race etc, so even if you can't go to marshal because you are in a wheelchair or can't run becuase you are overweight etc there is nothing stopping you acting as a referee, this way it keeps the marshaling duties fair.

mad-wolfie wrote:


Also, i understand there are people with disabilities they prevent them from marshalling, i could i suppose lay a claim to this myself as i have 2 metal plates in my arm from a bike crash, so if i'm bent down & a car hits my bad arm then it could be very nasty.. even so i'm of the opinion if you can carry a pit-box then you are fit to marshal. John Wells marshals perfectly well & he's on a stick & has limited mobility.

Thats why I wheel my box in then . . . Yes I have seen John get across the track wish I could . . . I cant do that I will fall over and then more cars will hit me . . . so it obvious im worse off than John is then

Also noticed that often the first heat (which is usually the beginners'/newcomers' race and therefore most in need of marshals) is covered by the 'pro' classes who are last in the running order. Not only do the pros have more to setup and fiddle with between rounds but also the most mates to catch up with, especially during the first round. Couple that with the fact that sometimes there are as few as three cars in the first heat and you have a recipe for not enough marshals for those all-important first few races of the day. By the time you get to the third or fourth heat, you probably think you can get away with not marshalling at all since you haven't seen any thus far!


I voluntarily marshalled three heats at the Mardave GP weekend at Ardent as I could see there weren't enough of us, and I have two crushed discs from just last year, which have only recently healed enough in the last few months to let me walk without crutches. I'm probably so drugged up on Valium I wouldn't feel it if a car hit me in the face...

Hi Ya Eric

two crushed disc's. . . ouch

I have Lost L3, L4 & L5 when I mean lost I mean GONE there is nothing left hence My Left leg goes on me thats why you see me nearly falling over so no im not drunk

So if you only have crushed ones you can imaging how I feel

I'm in the view that its the TC's drivers have got to be the worst marshall's out there...and they are also arrogant....I've waited to get on the start line with my car, and the buzzer goes for the TC heat tgo end, and what do they do but carry one till around the minute mark when they finally decide that they better pull off the track! I think they believe that if you dont race 10th TC then your not worthy of being marshalled.

Another way to stop this moaning about marshall's.....is NOT to crash in the 1st place...as at the end of the day it's not the marshall's fault you have crashed etc!!!!

I would also like to see driver etiquette during races......I'm old school where if I cause a accident then I'll wait till the drivers I've flipped, ejected out the track etc......

Rant over.

P.S I also have 2 disc's in my lower back which are degenerating!! yet I marshall....BUT I pay for it BIG time the next few days after

I usually pick my marshalling point carefully so I don't have to do much. Quite often I can use my stick to right a car that is on it's side. lol

I have fallen over twice on the track and that's why I try and pick a point where I won't have much to do. At Crewe I get my son to marshal for me and do the same at Ardent when he's with me.

It is hard and it's painful, but I always try and do my best. Once the really cold weather is here I simply won't be able to do it and will most probably be in my chair at Ardent. Yes, I have to use a chair most of the time, but it's a pain in the backside and I'll only use it when I simply cannot cope without it. I'm always in trouble with my doctor because I don't use it when I should. Thing is though I'm not going to just give up and let this illness win.

Today is my first day out of bed since Sunday's 1st round of the Winter Series. I'm up, but only sitting in my chair as I'm still too worn out to do anything else.

4_cell_racer wrote:
I would also like to see driver etiquette during races......I'm old school where if I cause a accident then I'll wait till the drivers I've flipped, ejected out the track etc......

agreed on that one.. if you flipped a leader & just went sailing past & carried on racing at a national, chances are you'd get your time docked by 10 seconds & as we know that's nearly a full lap in terms of track distance for the elecric classes.

Plus on the subject of ettiquette, the same principal applies when racing, saying "inside" or "going wide" when a leader is lapping you to tell them where to pass also helps rather than just haave them guessing & losing time, plus of course the fact that if you hit a car accidenttally you should always apologise - i've had fellow racers start giggling when they hit you then because they think it's funny they do it on purpose at the next corner. daft as it sounds good manners on the track also make for good manners when marshaling. A few times i've seen people get annmoyed with someone in a race & then to get their own back they take their time when marshaling,

Plus another thing that gets to me is if your car is the 1st to crash & then the marshals' mate crashes, they rush to help their mate, but not the 1st car that crashed. a ferw times my car has been dead on the circuit with something simple like a battery connector has come off or the switch has turned itself off, right next to the marshal but they insist on running across the track to grab their pals car & start pulling the shell off & tinkering with it at the trackside while all & sundry plough into the back of your car, then a marshal has to come from another point to do his job for him.

Strictly speaking if a car is dead then it's put to one side off the track and it's game over for that driver. If it's a simple matter of switching it back on then fair enough, but it is not a marshal's job to carry out repairs. If he/she is fiddling with a car they are not watching the track.

most people dont like it, i know i have been bad at it in the past but im getting better at it

i like the drivers rules at CMCC regarding the marchels and all result in one thing, the marchel leaving your car where it is untill you have stoped

1, you must put your breaks on or stop reving the engine when upside down. i know its not so much of a problem with electric indoor but i have seen it done
2, no shouting at the marchels at all, if you do this the marchel shall gesture the international symbel for chatting


the 2nd rule i have noticed happens way to much with one TC driver at ardent, he tuens it over minimum of every 3 laps and shouts for marchel after a maximum of 8 seconds and yes i have counted. its simple. if you want to improve your lap times LEARN TO DRIVE

Gazza wrote:Hi Ya Eric

two crushed disc's. . . ouch

I have Lost L3, L4 & L5 when I mean lost I mean GONE there is nothing left hence My Left leg goes on me thats why you see me nearly falling over so no im not drunk

So if you only have crushed ones you can imaging how I feel

Yeah, fully! L4,L5 for me so at times they press on the sciatic nerve too - also my left side! I have good days that let me leave the house and bad ones where I can't even sneeze. If i miss a race this will be why... They prolapsed three years ago and last year they did it again. Dehydration has weakened them so this time they are mangled. I need an op to have them removed/replaced but I don't like the sound of something digging around in my spine.

I'd blame it on the RC but I only came back to the sport when John opened up Ardent!

I agree with the sentiment that if you crash then it's nobody's fault but your own. Shouting at a marshal ain't gonna help, no matter how satisfying it is. Slow it down, get the setup right and learn to handle the car around those corners, or else take up straight line drag racing!

As for the experienced drivers: just because you're able to get through a whole race without even scuffing your beautiful shells please remember that we all started somewhere, and you of all people should be setting an example to the new blood to our hobby!

QuackingPlums wrote:. Shouting at a marshal ain't gonna help, no matter how satisfying it is. Slow it down, get the setup right and learn to handle the car around those corners, or else take up straight line drag racing!

As for the experienced drivers: just because you're able to get through a whole race without even scuffing your beautiful shells please remember that we all started somewhere, and you of all people should be setting an example to the new blood to our hobby!

to be perfectly honest, i admit i'm terrible for shouting at marshals.. however it is usually done when the marshals are about as useful as a condom in a convent, i don't like shouting at marshals & feel guilty afterwards, but sometimes you just can't help yourself when the marshal is stood staring at your car knowing it's there but simply can't be bothered, or when you get marshals alowly wandering on the track instead of getting out of the way, or at least ducking down so they don't obscure half the corner.

I know sometimes the adrenaline & the red mist takes over when racing so tempers can get frayed pretty quickly, especially when you are doing well, but even so sometimes you can't help but shout at marshals & even in events at club level, half the time they have to stop the clock on rc-timing leaving people waiting on the podium for the heat to start while the club chairman is going round rounding up marshals that are hiding in the pit area or are sneaking off for a crafty smoke.