U.S. MotoGP Training

Whether you are seasoned veteran or a newcomer to working a corner at the racetrack, you need to keep your skills and knowledge sharp. One thing to ALWAYS remember, whenever you walk inside the fence at any circuit, you're in possible danger. If you don't think so, ask some the more experienced folks about some of the crazy stuff they've seen happen. The first rule of corner working is to keep yourself safe, at all times. Your second concern while working the track is the safety of your fellow workers. There's a very simple reason for that, If you or a fellow cornerworker (aka marshall) get hurt, you no longer can help the riders stay safe and suddenly you are part of the situation rather than a solution to the situation.

Being a good corner worker starts with using some common sense. Make sure that you have the proper equipment. Take advantage of those with more experience with whom you work, they'll be glad to help enlighten you about what needs to be done and why some things might be done one way over another. There's no substitute for experience but learning from others experience and knowledge is very smart to do. One of the biggest things that needs to be learned, is to constantly be attentive to what's going on around you. Some of the more experienced workers seem to sometimes know that something is happening, before it even completely happens. That's because they're acutely aware of what's happening around them. They might have caught a bit of a tire slide, heard something unusual, etc. When the track is "hot" (bikes on course) you should be paying attention to the track, that's why we are there. Being attentive is not just being able to react to things on track but is also paramount in regards to YOUR safety.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Those helping to train you can't read minds, so ask. Another good thing to do after an incident, when time permits, is to review what happened with your fellow marshalls. What went right? What went wrong? What can be done to make a similar situation happen better, safer, faster? Did everyone act in a safe manner? Did we work as a team? This is a great thing to do, no matter what the level of experience is. It's always helpful to reflect on what can be done better.

Here's some information that everyone should know well. Whether you're a handler (response), flagger, communicator or Turn Marshall; you need to know the hand signals and what they mean. It's loud at the track and we can't usually hear each other with a live track so we must rely on hand signals to communicate. Study the hand signals, know them. Everyone should also take a look at our manual as it has lots of good information in it. There's a section for the communicators and another for the flaggers. There's also some information about other positions at the track such as being a Turn Marshall (lead/foreman for the corner), working in pit lane or on the DragOn Wagons (aka crash trucks). If you work as a response person (handler) there's a bit about responding to motorcycles in the manual.

A big thanks to Doug Smith for the PowerPoint presentation that he put together. It's usually shown on the Thursday night before the race weekend. It gives the highlights of what you need to remember about various track assignments such as flagging, handling and communicating. You can view or download it as a PDF file or a PowerPoint file. If you need a free PowerPoint Viewer, MicroSoft offers one.

We also have a NEW training video from the MotoGP folks and it's been converted so that you can view it. It's approximately 12 and 1/2 minutes long. There are two versions, a low quality (352x240) file that's approximately 130 meg and there's a better quality (720x480) file that's approximately 525 meg. Those on dial-up or slower connections should not try and view/download either unless you have LOTS of patience and time. Those with a broadband connection should not have a problem.

You can also look at the official GP Regulations. This isn't something we ask everyone to study or know but some folks might find it interesting and there's some good information about procedures, etc.