We Play a Sweeper System! If you’re not into football, that joke probably went over your head........
This oil spill (on an already wet track) went from the exit of Barn Corner to the middle of Coppice. A distance of some 480 metres.... The Stuff of Nightmares!
One of the most difficult things to deal with as a Clerk of the Course is an extensive oil spillage in the wet - it is the stuff of nightmares! Rider & Marshal Safety are always paramount, but never more so than when dealing with oil. Such things have brought about the complete cancellation of even the highest profile meetings in the past. BSB at Brands Hatch in 2012 lost 80% of the programme due to an oil spill in these conditions and even Moto-GP at Assen lost an entire day after a Moto-2 machine dropped oil on a wet track. So a 480 x 8 metre spillage at Cadwell Park could have been a disaster - and here is the football reference:- that is 3,840 square metres which is slightly LARGER THAN A FULL SIZED FOOTBALL PITCH! - That’s a lot of oil to clean up. So how do you deal with that when the clock is ticking and you have 300+ eager riders in the paddock wanting to race their bikes? - It is vital to get all the cleaning kit on scene as fast as possible. To aid that process we carry Detergents, Neutralisers, extra brushes and fluids on both of our recovery vans - and of course we have a loyal band of well trained and willing marshals to put these supplies to good use. When the going gets tough, the tough get going and we have proved that many times over. The Cadwell Park spill pictured above took 48 minutes to completely clean and we used 2 tonnes of fresh water, 68 litres of detergent, 24 litres of neutraliser, 42 brooms and one pressure washer to do the job. When the job is done it is the responsibility of the Clerk of the Course to satisfy himself/herself that the circuit is 100% safe to begin racing again. The diligent work of our marshals, recovery crews, startline officials and circuit staff made that a very easy call - I don’t think that section of track has ever been so clean, or smelt so fresh (one of our secret ingredients is Bold liquid....) Of course the patience of all of our competitors is very much appreciated in incidents like this and that bond of two way trust that exists between us is very much valued by all of the Officials & Marshals.
Please remember to thank the Team!
We have an extensive team of volunteers at Thundersport GB, the best team I have worked with in 23 years of organising events, but what is it that keeps them coming back again and again, even on wet and miserable days? A large part of it is the great racing that the riders provide and their visible appreciation of the hard work that goes on trackside. Every meeting sees dozens of riders (often more) visit Race Administration after their last race of the weekend to offer their thanks to everyone for yet another great event and we do our best to pass on those sentiments to the team. Here at Cadwell Park though YOU ALL have the opportunity to give most posts a wave, thumbs up or simply a nod of ackowledgement on the slow down lap after the chequered flag. Many of you are completely unaware that some of your biggest fans are out on post wearing orange, or in the other areas wearing our trademark Black & Orange. We are all one big team and I think that is what makes us so successful.
Thank you one and all
Dave COME & JOIN THE A-TEAM!
The sense of achievement at the end of a busy weekend is on a par with that experienced by even the most ardent adrenaline-junky rider. If you’d like to find out more about becoming part of the team, just contact our Chief Marshal John Pedersen or our Chief Technical Officer - Stuart Bailey by using the link on the Marshals & Officials page of www.thundersportgb.com or leave your details in the Paddock Office and we will contact you. You won’t regret it and it could change your life.