This article about 24H Motos will be slightly different from the usual post-endurance race articles. And with good reason! It’s taken me a long time to write it, waiting for the right moment to find the right words and the right sight. Indeed, the focus will be neither on the teams, nor on the race twists and turns – and there were plenty of those in this edition! – but out of camera range, in the safety lanes and …the gravel, focus on the people who remain in the shadows despite their fluorescent clothes: the track marshals.
You’re warned, this paper will be ORANGE!
12 years of Nova Moto le Mag before this « track marshals » topic?
The aim here has never been to talk about the writer and her activities, except for accessory testing, where I’ve always been directly involved. What’s more, it’s been 10 years since I last worked as a track marshal, and I’ve now moved on to pitlane marshals and other activities, if not just for Nova Moto le Mag’s purposes. Well, yes, marshal-writer requires good organization and physical good shape too 😉 And, I admit, being on pitlane/paddock area makes it easier to manage both.
So why this return to the safety lanes?
It’s simply due to a lack of contact with what’s key for me, the experience of the bike in action. Of course, on a racetrack, you’re a little further away from the machines in action than on a hillclimb race, but it’s the best place for motorcycle and racing enthusiasts, once you’ve had a look at a lot of the features around racing – just check it out, it’s all on Nova Moto!
A memorable human experience
The next topic was: with whom? No hesitation: my first edition of the 24H Motos in 2006 -sorry friends, OCP since October 9, 2004, in 2005 only Bol and WSBK Magny Cours- with a great team who helped me make my first actions, and always offered a warm welcome on editions with or without track chasuble, including a common thread: Jean-Jaques Pietri, recently validated as Race Director, who is currently taking advantage to train the next generation! We’d said on several occasions that the return to gravel would be together, so this April 2023 edition was now or never!
After 10 years, there are bound to be departures, changes of function (to tech’ for some), and people who left this activity…
It also takes a lot of energy to organize ourselves personally to be present at these events, and it’s not always easy to keep going! Many thanks to our families 😉
Without going into too much detail, as this is unique to our team, I’d just like to say that here, everything has been done to accommodate every member, whatever their profile, experience or personal organization. Having sometimes arrived at events with just the bare essentials, or even less, I’ll always be impressed by the logistics that some people are capable of.
All the more precious when the weather get or remains bad, as it did on this 24H 2023, and our post is just a few steps away: between 9 and 13 km walked per day. When you like it… ! It’s fair to say that in such cases, humor and friendship are the best way to get through. But what’s a track marshal after?
Friday, 4.15pm, finally out of the rain, after 9 hours, 1st round PMR (Handy Race Bridgestone) cancelled.
Commitment yes, but what about motivation and reward?
Straight answer: not after the money! We’re all volunteers, and even if some circuits offer a little compensation, it’s still minimal, even if it’s always welcome, when you have to cross France, fill up several times and take at least 4 days off if you want to make sure you’ll be present for test rides and and 24 hours endurance race. My conviction is that, after more than 13 years of trying to get close to the track on the public side, the ultimate reward, the Holy Grail, is to be as close as possible to the machines, riders in action and the teams, in other words: to be a marshal.
Nothing else to hope for, nothing to win, nothing to negotiate, just to fulfil a serious mission, because without us there would be no race. Even if sometimes it seems to be forgotten: places reserved for our bivouacs sometimes well compressed when race plans are optimized to the maximum, sometimes with our feet in the water, and too often in a deafening din – a slight quietness between 7 and 10 a.m. when the most excited finally sink into the arms of Morpheus, exhausted.
Personally, from the dream between 1991 and my first track/pitlane experience at the Bol d’Or in Magny-Cours in 2005, it wasn’t a question of value, just of pleasure, wonder, sound, smells, human exchanges, adrenalin, bristling hairs and sparkling eyes, no matter how tired you were. When you experience it, you know your efforts are rewarded, and that it will keep you going through the night with vigilance.
And what can we say about those timeless moments when we meet an eye, when we capture a moment? We’re richer for it, having experienced exceptional things thanks to this volunteer work. All the little things, the encounters, the trust, the commitment to intervention without having to look around, just running and doing what needs to be done, with complete confidence. Or battling with rebel flags in stormy weather. And making the necessary effort to earn the trust of your fellow marshals, teammates whom you also protect, always with an attentive eye and ear.
And then there are those moments when time stands still, like Alex Marquez’s thanks at the last GP:
Sometimes, it’s little « nothings » that remain in our boxes, pockets, cellars, motorcycles… like these 2 extinguisher droplets, the only signs of a more or less complicated operation. The difficulty is forgotten, but the memory and satisfaction of a job well done, or the conviction that we’ve done our best, remain.
The connection, beyond companionship
My experience tells me that these missions expose us to situations that are sometimes unforgettable, and sometimes dangerous too. Inevitably, a special bond is forged with the people who have shared them with us.
When you join a new team, there’s usually a moment of observation: finding your place, your bearings. Usually it’s more on the runway side for people coming alone to the paddock, and here I discover an event within an event: gathering of people who’ve known each other for a long time, and meticulous organization, including a « crêpes » party by a charming Breton woman, Cathy, happy to promote her region. Well, Isa, you’ll have to learn a thing or two about backaoffe in the paddock… I’m watching and taking notes, already happy with my blister-packed ham, tomatoes and ice blocks that made the trip this time!
Beyond that, the Team has the desire to thank someone who might appear to be an authority, and it’s the support, the training, the communicative motivation that his loyal team wishes to reward. Yes, a area manager who trains as a sports director is bound to take the plunge into this new function. So a little surprise is also organized, despite the distance between all of us and, on the spot, the shifted teams, not easy to plot a project in all discretion. And here too, things are running smoothly, even if 35 people have to be involved.
Oh, yes, the chequered flag had a different flavor this time, beyond the sport. Of course, there was the lap of honor, the chance to approach the machines and riders who had the honor of « performing » the finish of the race.
And then there was OUR finish, in the gravel of Turn 2, a wink to our Chief JJ, with all the emotion and more: hedges of honor, kisses, tears. And greetings so prolonged that we didn’t even see the podium! But no matter, at that moment, the essential thing was in the gravel: here and now, which is already an exceptional experience.
And it didn’t fail: Spa arrived on the lips. Who’s coming? How are things going in Belgium? Etc… Immediately, Damien – because a marshal has to be reactive!- picks up his mobile, and registrations are made at the drop of a hat, still with our feet in the gravel of the Bugatti, a crazy thing I tell you!
Ready to come with us et become a track marshal?
« Back home », in gravel and safety lane!
The moment of exchange between teammates continues, and little by little the return via the pits, with a few encounters along the way. Endurance is a family, a beautiful family. When we get together, we know why we’re here, and what we have to do together, each in his or her own role. You can’t explain it too much, you just have to live it.
Personally, I’d like to keep this moment and this sentense from Manfred: « You’re back home then, Isa! » That says it all. See you soon in Spa!
A word about the 24H Motos 2023 race!
Well, the edition deserves a word about the race, even if the leading motorcycle news magazines are there to cover all the details. On Nova Moto, as you know, it’s always been a personal and passionate flash since …2011.
Of course, one of the key moments was the monumental crash of the SERT bike in the entrance to the Dunlop, with Greg Black at its handlebars. The return of the SERT in its new configuration, with Damien Saulnier still at the operational gears and now a Japanese management, was awaited. Hard work enabled the team to ensure a P7 finish.
The very fast the BMW Motorrad Endurance Team, the Yart and the FCC TSR led their sprint race to the front, the last of which, with Mike di Meglio, Josh Hook and Alan Techer at the helm, concluded this 46th edition with first place on the podium. Consistency deserved after the BMW crashed.
In Superstock, victory went to Tecmas MRP BMW Racing Team, ahead of 3 ART Best Bike and … No Limits, the friendly Italian team, now on Honda, with Alexis Masbou, Lorenzo Gabellini and a French rider you’ve already heard of here, former Team 18 Sapeurs-Pompiers rider Johan Nigon! Great performance for this team, and it’s not over yet, as last season showed, the #44 team has resources and doesn’t intend to stop there.
A word about the « Reds », luck wasn’t on the side of the Team 18 Sapeurs-Pompiers team, Superstock World Champions this time, as they crashed hard at the beginning of the race, and were forced to retire at 2am.
See you at Spa in June for the rest!
