MAY 07 NEWSLETTER

On Saturday the 21st April at East Fortune Race Circuit the Scottish Motorcycle Marshals Association's Marshals had a very serious incident to deal with. A visiting Irish rider in the classic class, was exiting Railway corner during his first race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon. Between Railway and Snake his bike seized and he fell. Unfortunately for the rider, he was trapped under the bike by his leg and as the bike slid down the track the raised fuel tap on the petrol tank flipped open and covered him from head to toe in fuel. The resulting sparks from the bike sliding on the track caused a massive fireball. The marshals on the corner reacted immediately; the first to the rider was Jamie Revels who attempted to pull him from underneath the bike, but was beaten back by the flames. As Jamie made a second attempt two further marshals, Willie Shaw and Ian Smith, arrived with fire extinguishers. Jamie retrieved the rider from under the bike, but not without melting his leather gloves and suffering minor facial burns. Meanwhile the Sector Marshal, Gordon Dingwall, had requested the race be stopped, and the medical team were despatched immediately. The rider and Jamie were attended to on the scene by the medics, before the rider was transferred directly to St John's Hospital Burns Unit.

The rider suffered serious burns down his right-hand side and will spend a number of months in St John's Burns Unit before being transferred to a hospital in Ireland for the remainder of his recovery, which is expected to be quite some time. It is certain that had it not been for the immediate intervention of our well drilled team, the Paramedics, Doctors, and of course the heroics of Jamie Revels, the outcome for the rider would have been very different.

This brings the real dangers faced by riders and marshals to the forefront. It also emphasises the need for marshals to wear the correct clothing and protective equipment to keep safe in a potentially dangerous environment. Although we have been promised to be supplied with Proban fire retardant overalls from our new sponsor, Buildbase, we still have a need for good quality gloves for our marshals. After approaching the SACU, who we are affiliated to, we are delighted that they have agreed to supply suitable gloves for our marshals. It should also be mentioned that SureSafe kindly donated a number of these gloves to the Marshals Association recently, which is also very much appreciated.

As a final note. Whilst those involved in the incident are happy to receive thanks, praise and the occasional BSN article for their efforts, they would like to point out that marshalling, as well as racing, is a team sport, and that without everyone in the team doing their jobs professionally this incident would not have had such a positive outcome.

For anyone interested in marshalling please come along to one of the race meetings at East Fortune or Knockhill where we'd be delighted to see you.

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