MARSHALLING FEATURE HEROES
John Bennie at Circuit of the Americas
John Bennie and Matthew Greenwood working together on the same crew
“ There are often differences in expectation,” explains Pearce.“ When I was briefed at my first event in Canada, the expectation was that rather than let the dust settle after an incident, you get to the driver immediately. I have noticed most marshals in the USA are often also racing drivers themselves, so they have a different perspective. Some maybe lack the technical marshalling knowledge, but they understand it through their own racing experiences.”
Bennie adds:“ The level of training also differs from country to country and there is always something new to learn every time. As a Motorsport UK Trainer and a Mentor for Rescue Crew Trainees, I see a lot of similarities but also several differences. I was accepted onto the Safety Team crew at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin and when I trained alongside them, I learned several new methods and techniques.”
Greenwood says that even the progression processes within the marshalling ranks are different in some countries. The British approach is to start off as a general marshal then move over to more job-specific roles, including flag marshalling. In contrast, others start out as flag marshals then move on to intervention. In in the USA, bank marshals do not get involved in intervention at all.
“ They have a totally different grading system to ours,” he explains.“ They start with a basic introduction, like a lot of circuits do in the UK with their taster days, then they sign up for a region. The intervention team is different, with specific teams who are typically professional paramedics. The only volunteering option in the USA is flag marshal, but over there they are called‘ F & C’ – which stands for Flag and Communications.
“ The other difference between the American system versus ours is that they tend to move marshals around on different days – and that can be great when you are an international visitor. When I was at Laguna Seca, I did three different corners and one of them was the Corkscrew, which they like to put visiting marshals on. I got to stand and flag at the top and it was a phenomenal view from up there.
Revolution- August 2025
“ To enjoy marshalling abroad you need to be flexible. They have got their systems, and you must take on their way of doing things. Some visiting marshals try to implement their own approach and that does not go down too well! I have always been able to adapt how I work very quickly, and I think as long as you are capable of following direction, you will not have a problem.”
The other challenge can be the language barrier – but that is not always as much of a problem as you might think. Greenwood has tried to build up a basic grasp of French for Le Mans and has also learned a bit of Spanish for the east coast of the USA, where there is a large Hispanic population. That can sometimes help eliminate delays in responding to non-English language instructions, but if not, there is usually someone nearby to translate.
“ There has always been a fair few Brits around at Le Mans and there is also usually at least one French person on your post that can speak English and help you out,” he says.“ On our post, one or two of our English people spoke reasonable French, and two of the French marshals spoke English, so we could all communicate. It used to be all in French, but since it merged with the WEC, a lot of the communication now tends to be in English.
Pearce has had similar experiences with language and adds:“ In Canada, radio calls were in both English and French but on occasions I only heard the French and while I knew‘ drapeau rouge’ meant‘ red flag’ I did not understand the rest of the message, so I had to grab a French speaker quickly! It is not just foreign languages, though, radio calls and etiquette also differ and there is often different terminology when everyone is speaking English!”
The universal language of pointing and waving is something that does cross over between all the different countries and Greenwood continues:“ If you put your hand up in the air – which is a signal in the UK for a doctor – it is the same in France, so they will understand that you want medical assistance. The USA tends to use a lot more hand signals for
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