MGCC Brands Hatch May 2/3

[Pitsmarion]

Many, many thanks to the Startline and Pits team for the MGCC at Brands Hatch this weekend. I know the start procedure was new to some of you, but you all did a great job sprinting up the grid and keeping the timetable running to time. The Club have asked me to pass on their thanks to you as well.

Also thumbs up to the Assembly team for briefing the drivers so they knew what to expect when they saw us on the grid, and to Bob and his team for fire cover on the start.

Finally - thanks to the drivers, who gave us two days of good, close racing with the occasional (!!!) safety car and some imaginative "parking".

[Richard Duvall]

Originally Posted by Pitsmarion

I know the start procedure was new to some of you, but you all did a great job sprinting up the grid and keeping the timetable running to time. The Club have asked me to pass on their thanks to you as well.

I guess that the MGCC, fairly unique, start procedure is intended to speed turnaround. However, I suspect that it is actually less efficient as the cars can't get out until the track is clear (and there were was lots of recovery)and then the drivers may take longer to find their place on the grid than if they have been gridded up more conventionally?

[Pitsmarion]

You're certainly right that the intention is to speed up turn round time, and yes, if there is a lot of track clearing, the cars wait in Assembly rather than on the grid. However that is not necessarily a bad thing - there is much more scope in Assembly for any last minute car adjustments, and for getting the drivers into their cars than if we were having to do that on the grid itself, without any of the mechanics being there. I believe we have fewer on-grid car problems with this approach, as the cars start their green flag lap when they leave Assembly so if they fail to start they do it off the track in Assembly rather than on the grid itself and the race can start without them.
As for the drivers finding their spots on the grid, yes, you're right that the first time they see their starting place "for real" is just before the lights go out. I always ask the Assembly team to brief the drivers on the basics such as which side of the track they're on and whether they are an "inner" or "outer" stagger, and I always put out a team on the track so that one person splits the pack into two lines ahead of the grid and others run down the grid to point out the grid marks. The other key is the Safety Car Driver slowing the pack down before he peels off such that they bunch up together and we have fewer stragglers at the back. The ideal is that the running start line marshal arrives next to the grid spot at the same time as the car, so the grid forms at the pace of the running marshal. I've once had it described as "start line ballet".
At Brands at the weekend we were settling 16 row grids such that there was well under a minute between the pole man approaching the grid and the green flag being waved at the back, and we did one 10 row grid in under 20 seconds - but they were a pack well used to this procedure.
Incidentally it's not only MGCC that does this, HSCC and 750MC do it as well, and I'm sure there are other clubs doing it who I've not had the pleasure of working with.