NEWSLETTER. water water everywhere. United States Grand Prix

Transcription

1 THE OFFICIALS United States Grand Prix NEWSLETTER water water everywhere Friday s afternoon Formula One Practice was canceled due to a violent thunder and lightning storm. The marshals were all evacuated and taken to safe places, according to the plan set in place. It was a team effort, led by Sydney Davis, Assistant Race Chair; Bill Armitage, Flag Chief/Race Chair, and Jeannie Caulfield, COTA Motorsport Operations Event Manager. The transportation drivers were on point as well. Charlie Whiting said I don t think I ve ever seen such a violent storm, and this lightning. This Evacuation was a first for me. The Marshal s Evacuation Plan went exactly as planned. FIA F1 Steward Dennis Dean, of Washington DC, said I doubt that it s Standard Procedure to have such a plan. The fact there was such an Evacuation Plan in place, and that it went well speaks volumes. Saturday s rain storm caused additional issues for all three series cancelling all the Historic sessions and denying the Porsches any chance at a fast lap. Volume 4 Issue 3 Page 1

2 Meet the chief: Pit/grid/Paddock Ben Coleman hails from Michigan, and he has held this role for four years, and the Indy F1 races.. This year there is a full crew of 28 volunteer marshals. They will be divided among several areas: F1 Pit Lane-Pit Out, Pit In, and in the Support Paddock. Ben has also been Pit/Paddock/Grid Chief and Pit Lane Starter for the COTA FIM MotoGP and FIA WEC races. At WEC, Ben hosted five marshals from Mexico, who were on site to observe practices and procedures, in preparation for the upcoming Mexican Formula One over Halloween weekend. Other Senior Officials and marshals from Mexico observed different specialties, including Emergency, Intervention, Scrutineering. Ben registered his crew Thursday and held the group staff meeting Friday morning in Pit Lane. His crew is experience, with many four-year returnees. There are six females on the crew, who point out it doesn t take as many women to get the job done. Four marshals are new this year, including two females, from the UK and Montreal. In the F1 Pit Lane, for Race Day, Ben will have the full complement on hand for the F1 race. There will be marshals posted by each F1 car for fast intervention/pushing in case of a non-starting driver, as well as one at each of the three Pit Lane/Track Gates for non-starters. Up in the Support Paddock, where the air is rarified, those marshals will be gridding the two support groups - Porsche Mobile 1 Supercup 2015 and FIA Masters Historic Formula One Group. Those marshals will also be releasing those cars on course and returning them to their paddock. With the rain and diminished visibility this task becomes more important in waving the cars off course. Volume 4 Issue 3 Page 2

3 nick craw: president of accus & fia senate Nick Craw of Colorado is President and CEO of ACCUS, FIA s American coordinator for motorsports which include Formula One and World Endurance Championship, both at COTA. He s held this position since October In FIA, Nick is President of the FIA Senate and presides over the World Motorsport Council. Nick said, as FIA Senate President, ACCUS CEO, and as an American, The Americans rate top of the pile. I believe and we d like to believe that we re the best, and that s what we strive for all the time. We may not always get there but we still believe that. In addition to his role as President of the Senate, Craw is also a member of the Statutes Review Commission, a Trustee of the FIA Foundation and a member of the Fund Management Committee of the FIA Institute, which approves grants from the Motor Sports Safety Development Fund. He remains President & CEO of ACCUS, the ASN for the United States. It is FIA s arm in America, coordinating FIA s motor sport activities in the United States. ACCUS presently organizes three FIA World Championship events: USGP F1 and World Endurance Championship - both at Circuit of the Americas. And previously there were two years of World Touring Car Championship events at Sonoma Raceway. Nick also sits on the Board of the FIA Motorsport Development Fund which replaced the $66 million McLaren Fund, which has all been spent on marshal training and safety. The MDF s emphasis is to spend less but in more places promoting regional marshal training and safety. The Development Fund grants are limited to $50,000 one per year. The process calls for a proposal from any where in the world, including the 139 ASN s, for Worker Safety or Worker Training to be submitted and sent through the FIA channels for decision. While the majority of proposals have been for big dollar research projects, there are many on a much smaller level. There have been lots of proposals from the US. The last one went to SCCA several years back, on Worker Safety - Worker Training. And other proposals came from IndyCar, NHRA and RRDC for its S.A.F.E. Is Fast website. Nick is proud of his longtime membership in the Road Racing Driver s Club, which has a goal of promoting safety, including Marshal Safety. The McLaren money ran out, but the S>A>F>E website now has corporate sponsorship. FIA appoints/funds various Regional Training Providers in the FIA ASN countries who do Worker Training projects within their country as well as outside for others. Skip Barber is RTP for the US, and Mexico did a worker training at Puebla race track. RTP s are recognized by FIA as being a silver, gold or platinum provider. For those countries who do not/did not have an RTP, such as Russia or Singapore, they can go to a country which does, such as CAMS in Australia, for training. It s a way for training marshals in a relatively short point of time. The requesting country observes.trains at the host country and then the host country sends trained senior officials to the new country and year by year that number of trainers decreases as the locals become trained. What distinguishes this FIA administration from previous ones is understanding while F1 is important, the pinnacle, the top of the pyramid, but is not the only product. Other products are worthy of investment. FIA spends a lot on F1 for safety, testing, improvements and everything else. The 139 FIA-member countries have varying levels of resources, experience and personnel. And so we cross fertilize and level that field a little bit. We re trying to level that and the more you cross-fertilize so to speak, the better off we are. We give grants to tracks so they can develop and host races. Five years ago Barbados the track was worse than any I ve ever seen but a proposal well thought out with local support and funding. FIA granted $200,000 to design one. They did, constructed and opened. Last year it hosted the Race of Champions, and a Rally Cross this year, which spoke well for our initial small investment. FIA isn t just a monolithic thing funding F1. We can t help all 139 ASN countries, but we surely can raise the bar. Volume 4 Issue 3 Page 3

4 supporting f1: porsche supercup & historics This year marks the return of historic Formula One cars, from the golden age through Many the cars are the same which ran the first year, but this time with a new group formed by the American historic group being acquired by the European FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship. to run in their period livery. COTA is the last race of the Master s 2015 season. The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Series has 30 entries, including seven Guest Starters. Two of the series drivers hail from the US. Is there talk about IndyCar/former F1 driver, Juan Pablo Montoya driving one. He s hanging out with the McLaren team, so who knows? This series runs exclusively at Formula One events, dating back to They have two races each weekend, although that is problematic forcota at the moment due to weather. There are four classifications within the Series - A and B for Drivers, as well as Team and Rookie classes. Whereas the Masters F1 drivers race for glory and gold trophies, the Porsche drivers win quite nice purses. The current cars, used since 2013, are 911 GT3 Cup, based on the street-legal 911 GT3 RS lightweight sports car, with a 460 hp 3.8-litre boxer engine similar to the production unit. It is a spec series with Michelin tires This year there are thirty-one entries, ranging from the gorgeous and very fast 1971 Lotus 72, the JPS Special driven by Katsuaki Kubota of Japan and two blue Tyrrells driven by American teammates, John Delane and John Dimmer to five 1983 cars, RAM March, Tyrell 011, an Arrow A6, and two Williams -FW08 and FW08C. There are 21 drivers from the US, many from overseas, mostly Europe. The Masters drivers run in four year-based classes: Fittipaldi, Head, Lauda Stewart, and Fittipaldi. The gold loving cup trophies go three deep in each class. All cars are required Volume 4 Issue 3 Page 3

5 Meet the chief: starters Ben Coleman hails from Michigan, and he has held this role for four years, and the Indy F1 races.. This year there is a full crew of 28 volunteer marshals. They will be divided among several areas: F1 Pit Lane-Pit Out, Pit In, and in the Support Paddock. Ben has also been Pit/ Paddock/Grid Chief and Pit Lane Starter for the COTA FIM MotoGP and FIA WEC races. At WEC, Ben hosted five marshals from Mexico, who were on site to observe practices and procedures, in preparation for the upcoming Mexican Formula One over Halloween weekend. Other Senior Officials and marshals from Mexico observed different specialties, including Emergency, Intervention, Scrutineering. Ben registered his crew Thursday and held the group staff meeting Friday morning in Pit Lane. His crew is experience, with many four-year returnees. There are six females on the crew, who point out it doesn t take as many women to get the job done. Four marshals are new this year, including two females, from the UK and Montreal. In the F1 Pit Lane, for Race Day, Ben will have the full complement on hand for the F1 race. There will be marshals posted by each F1 car for fast intervention/pushing in case of a non-starting driver, as well as one at each of the three Pit Lane/Track Gates for non-starters. Up in the Support Paddock, where the air is rarified, those marshals will be gridding the two support groups - Porsche Mobile 1 Supercup 2015 and FIA Masters Historic Formula One Group. Those marshals will also be releasing those cars on course and returning them to their paddock. With the rain and diminished visibility this task becomes more important in waving the cars off course. Volume 4 Issue 3 Page 4

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7 The officials newsletter Editor, Writer & Photographer: Lynne Huntting Photographers: Jon cronk, Jay Bonvouloir, & Annie Bonvouloir layout design: Sydney Davis view & download online at: Volume 4 Issue 3 Page 7