Protective Shelters for Marshall's?

[Super Tourer]

In light of the tragic events at Monza, should protective shelters for marshall's be mandatory?

The cars are getting safer in terms of driver protection. Spectators are now further from the track than ever before and are better protected than ever. But has much been done to protect marshall's

Yes, marshall's a re part of the event accept the risks involved. But should there be any risk in being a marshall?

Protective shelters at the track side would at least give some protection from flying parts. Yes you may then be a sitting target, but it seems that accidents happen so quickley that there isn't time to run and where do you run to,with parts of cars flying everywhere.

[Dan Friel]

It's a difficult problem... I don't think you can make motor sport totally safe, and I'm not sure 'protective shelters' are the answer.. I for one, like to be able to move, and you should never be put in a position where its not possible to react to a car coming at you.

A marshals 'job' is to save lives, and becasue of this, you have to be in a position to get to cars / drivers quickly - and I'm not sure I'd like to trapped in a protective shelter with a car alight on top of me!! So is it best to be out in the open and ready to move in any direction.. We had an incident when a Minardi came off at high speed (140 mph +)at Thruxton yesterday, and we all had about 0.5 of a second to move.. all ok. But did the marshal in Italy see the wheel through all the dust that was kicked up???

[Marshal]

I'm with Dan here, the situations that I find most dangerous are those where there is no escape route. From what I've heard, this was a contributory factor in the tragic events at the festival speed this year.

In a situation like the one at Monza on Sunday, the shelter you use is to get behind the piece of armco in front of you. If you get your head down then you have to be very unlucky indeed to get seriously hurt.

I'm only guessing here, but I'd imagine the poor fellow saw the first accident go past, and in an entirely human reaction, looked round to follow it. It was probably debris from the second (Herbert/de la Rosa) shunt which got him.


I cant see how you could make any shelter completely safe, so I would rather have the freedom to avoid incidents myself. This will also remind me how important (especially on the first lap) it is to concentrate on the cars coming towards you. If its passed you its missed you.

[EERO]

I think it is worth noting that in his criticism of Monza, that Coulthard stated that he had seen the Marshal standing in an exposed position. It is sad enough that Paolo Ghislimberti lost his life, but had he been standing in the proper position, his risk in case of an accident might have been diminished.

[Dan Friel]

You can only do so much.. I saw three really bad accidents this weekend. 1. Monza 2. Mr Carpentier doing a back flip over the catch fencing at Seca and 3. The Minardi coming off at Thruxton.

2 out of 3 incidents, marshals were in a good position where they had the ability to take avoiding action (all of these incidents had debris or cars in to the 'marshalling' area), at Monza however I don't think the marshal was in the right place at all.....

[RIKB]

Maybe a shelter as such is not the answer, but perhaps higher (over head height) Barriers where the marshalls stand?

If they are made of armco then large enough gaps could be left for the Marshalls to see evrything, whilst still having a higher degree of safety.

Mind you, no safety measure will work if the individuals concerned do not use them. There is some suggestion that the Marshall who died was where he should not have been.