MARSHALS
Marshals are responsible for track safety and are the backbone of motorcycle sport. They are unpaid enthusiasts who give up their free time to enable racing to take place. Although unpaid they are highly professional and trained in aspects of track safety. They may not have any training in first aid but will act as directed to assist paramedics or medical officers. They are mainly located at marshals posts at regular intervals along the track. They may be identified by their orange overalls.
There are various flavours
of marshal including:
Flag
Marshals: Wave the
flags to communicate with riders
Spotters:
Observe the track for incidents/technical problems
Incident
Officers: collect
information and prepare reports about incidents.
Incident
Marshals: deal with on
track incidents e.g fallen riders, debris on track, oil
spills etc
Pitlane
Marshals: ensure
pitlane safety
If you are located at
a corner during a meeting it is essential to introduce
yourself to the marshals. Apart from being knowledgeable
about all aspects of racing they are responsible for your
safety. You must NEVER
go onto a live racetrack
unless directed by a marshal
Clerk of the Course
The clerk of the
course is in charge of the running of the race meeting.
He/She is responsible to the stewards and the organiser of
the meeting to ensure that the meeting is managed properly
and according to regulations.
Duties of the Clerk include
- ensure that the track is in good order and "legal"
- ensure that all necessary officials are present and all
relevant regulations complied with
- ensure that medical, first aid services are on duty
- make sure that riders are correctly entered (i.e no
excluded ones racing) and machines numbered
- to report to the Stewards all disciplinary decisions made
by the Clerk
- to adjudicate protests
- to brief officials as to their duties and
responsibilities
The Clerk has the power to:
- postpone or stop the race for safety (or any other)
reasons
- order the removal of a person disobeying officials
- discipline riders who breach the ACU sporting code
- report misbehaving riders to the Stewards
- flag riders off riders during racing (usually safety
reasons)
At large meetings there may be a Deputy Clerk
Stewards
All stewards
must be members of the ACU
Stewards do not take active part in the running of the race
meeting. They are there to check that the race has been run
according to sporting regulations.
They:
- check that regulations are being adhered to
- report back to the ACU
- give judgement on appeals
- may impose penalties on riders reported to them by the
Clerk
- may cancel the meeting for safety or other reasons
The stewards actions are not subject to appeal
Chief Medical Officer
(CMO)
Each meeting must have a designated Chief
Medical Officer (even if there are only 2 doctors)
The CMO must:
- satisfy himself that adequate arrangements have been made
for dealing with any casualties (including First Aid and
equipment)
- be accessible to the Clerk of the Course as appropriate
In practical terms this means that he makes sure that
minimum medical requirements have been met and that the
medical centre and cars are equipped to the standard
described in the Motorsport Association (MSA) Blue Book
Usually great people!
Secretary of the
Meeting
Responsible for
the administrative side of the meeting including:
correspondence, fees, programmes, passes, recruitment of
officials, entry forms etc
Sound Inspector
Has ACU
Technical licence. Measures sound to make sure not
breaching sound regulations
Technical Official
Has ACU
Technical licence and responsible for enforcement of
technical regulations
Measurer
Has ACU Technical license. Verifies that motorcycles are
within regulations e.g not been bored out
Environment Official
Ensures that the environmental regulations are adhered to