ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

One of the most important role's at MMSMA is training. At the moment we run a weekend training programme held at the beginning of each year. This course covers all aspects of a Rally Marshal.

With the help of key members of the MSA we are in the process of putting together an additional training course to compliment the one run in January. All courses are run jointly by MMSMA & MSA trainers and marshal's receive signatures for each one attended. This then allows them to upgrade their Rally marshal licence.

The course will cover all aspects of a rally marshal and be more focused on rallying in the Isle of Man. Marshals attending this course will get a Nationally recognised certificate issued by St John Ambulance for Basic Emergency Aid.

Is a must when marshalling, Hi Vis Tabbard, good sturdy boots or shoes, Gloves and Orange Proban overalls, if you have some.

Controls (Arrival, Start, Flying Finish, Stop, Passage Control, Service In, Service Out).

Although the actual tasks involved vary with each control, the fundamentals are the same. The role is to give the competitor a time on their timecard. This usually involves one person completing a check sheet, one person dealing with the time cards and additional people starting the cars at their due time or using the timing equipment to time the cars over the flying finish.

On-stage marshals are usually placed at a ‘junction’ or ‘post’ that is defined in the competitors road book and their role is to keep the stage safe. This usually involves making sure the stage is set-up correctly to the correct guidelines with regards to arrowing and taping; controlling spectators within their junction to keep them safe and dealing with any incidents that may occur – this can be anything from a car breaking down to a major incident where medical help is required.

Radio crews (using the MSA Safety Frequency) check the passage of cars through a stage by keeping a check sheet of the cars as they pass. They also look out for cars that may go ‘missing’ during a stage (ie breaking down etc between posts and out of eight). Its important to remember that radio crews are also marshals so unless there are also marshals on their post, they often have to deal with the stage equipment and arrowing. For this reason radio crews should be at least 2 strong so one can stay with the radio and one can deal with other incidents or become a ‘runner’ to attempt to find missing car.

In 2002, the MSA launched the Marshals registration scheme (commonly called the NMR or National Marshals Register). This is a scheme whereby marshals can apply to be given a grade to recognise their experience in marshalling.

The scheme has 3 grading levels; grade 3 - the entry level marshal grade, grade 2 - more experienced marshal and grade 1 - specialist marshal. The criteria for gaining each grade are shown below:

Grade 3 - Marshals must have marshalled satisfactorily on 3 events and be nominated to the NMR by an MSA recognised club.
Grade 2 - Marshals must have marshalled satisfactorily on a further 3 events (6 in total) and have attended an NMR training evening.
Grade 1 - Marshals must be registered as a grade 2 and attend a more formal modular training scheme.

Becoming registered on the NMR is quite straightforward providing you meet the above criteria. Anyone wishing to enter the NMR as grade 3 can simply download the rally marshals registration form from the our website and get their clubs chief marshal to nominate them to the NMR by endorsing the form and sending it back to the address shown.

Anyone wishing to enter the scheme at grade 2 directly at the moment can do so providing they have attended the training evening for the NMR and had their form stamped and they have marshalled on 6 events. They should get their clubs chief marshal to endorse their form and return it to the MSA. Shortly these grandfather rights will be withdrawn and every marshal will start at a grade 3 and have to work through the grades. ( if you require a MSA Marshal Licenece application form please contact Membership Secreatry)

The Arrival Control (commonly called the ATC) is situated at the end of a road section between stages and its purpose is to give the competitors an end time for completing the road section. At the ATC, competitors are issued with their stage start time which must be a minimum of (and usually is) 3 minutes after their ATC time. Generally an ATC control consists of 3 people. One person keeping a checksheet, one person writing on the timecards and one other who acts as a spare.

The start control is situated after the arrival control and marks the start of the special stage. One marshal keeps a checksheet of the times each car starts the stage, one marshal writes on the timecard and a third marshal gives the car a 30 seconds and 10 seconds verbal countdown and a 5,4,3,2,1 verbal and visual countdown to starting the stage. A fourth marshal is useful as spare.

The flying finish control marks the end of the special stage in terms of competitveness. As the car crosses the ‘finish’ the time is recorded by the flying finish on a checksheet and is relayed to the stop line to write on the competitors timecard.

The stop-line is situated around 200 metres after the flying finish and is where the timecards of the competitors are completed. Here, one marshal receives the time from the flying finish and may also run a checksheet although its better if these 2 jobs are done by 2 marshals. A further marshal completes the competitors timecard with the information relayed to him or her.

A passage control serves 2 purposes on a special stage rally. The first is to ensure the competitors are following the correct route between the stages. The second is to collect timecards (or usually portions of timecards) and transfer (usually by telephone) these times to the rally HQ or results service. Its useful to have one person dealing with the competitors timecards and one person keeping a checksheet. A third person can then be used to communicate the field results back to the main results team.

The Service In control is very much like an ATC but no start time is nominated. Instead, the service interval allowed is sometimes written on the timecard and in other cases it may not be. Service In controls are often used as card collection points as well. The staffing requirements are similar to ATCs with one person dealing with timecards, one with a checksheet and a third as a spare or phoning back results.

The Service Out control gives the competitors a time for them leaving the service area. Its useful to have one marshal dealing with timecards, a second keeping a checksheet and a third as a spare.