Point of Contact to Corner Work

[Kuala76]

I was wondering if maybe we could start a "universal" list of points of contact for folks interested in corner working.  This board was how some of the MidWest folks met up with us East Coast folks to come and play!  This list would not only be helpful for those who are current workers who may find them selves in other regions, but would be great for anyone "new".  Maybe having the information readily available would cause more folks to inquire about getting involved.  I am not even sure there are actual organizations for other regions or if it is a track by track basis, but even a few tracks and contacts for them would be a great start!

1.  MARRC - www.marrc.org - Summit Point, WV - CCS and WERA events

[TheHiriser]

Surprised there has been no response to this thread.  I did find this but I'm not sure how accurate it is anymore. 

    US Marshalls is a non-profit educational group dedicated to state-of-the-art motorcycle road race safety.

    We develop, teach and practice road race safety techniques and disciplines as corner workers (a.k.a corner marshals) at Eastern US motorcycle road racing events, principally at the New Hampshire International Speedway at Loudon, NH (Loudon Road Racing Series - LRRS).
 
    Our Southeast Bureau, under the direction of veteran Safety Director Egor Emery, is involved in events at Daytona , Moroso Motor Sports Park, Homestead, Virginia International Raceway(VIR), Road Atlanta, and other Southeast tracks.


http://www.usmarshalls.org/

[Simon]

There is a list of cornerworker groups and road racing clubs on the MARRC website under "Racing Links". Don't know how comprehensive or accurate it is.

[TheHiriser]

That is where I pulled the US Marshalls deal from but like I said I don't know how accurate it it.  A lot of the links were not operational to include their cornerworker handbook.

[Suzy]

For the CCS-Midwest contact:  Dave Fanning  email: dandlfanning@charter.net

For CCS-South, there is a web site with contact number, would assume they would assist anyone who wants to work down there.  link:     http://www.ccs-south.com/

Maybe CCS staff on here can possibly give us other contacts too from other regions? 

[Kuala76]

Thanks Suzy :)  appreciate the info! 

[Eric Kelcher]

We include contact or website info in the event info on our website.

The ones I cna think of off the top of head are MCRA, Mid-West Safety Crew, US Marshalls, MARRC, and Flagging by Faynisha.

[In Your Corner]

Regarding the US Marshalls..

I'm the USM treasurer, Mike Braley, and want to assure you we are actively teaching and developing cornerworking techniques as we have for years.
Every race weekend we hold a class on Saturday mornings at 9.
For members of any of the other orgs out there, we are always open to information, suggestions or questions and welcome you to come to Loudon anytime and work with us. We're happy to share any info we have with your organization. We feel we are especially knowledgeable in fluid clean-up techniques, and would be happy to share anything we know on the subject with other organizations or individuals.

We also work with Egor Emery in some events down south (Daytona comes to mind) and many of us travel to other tracks to work. I've worked Barber, VIR, Daytona and Laguna in the last couple of years.
Laguna GP rocks, btw.

I like the universal point of contact idea, but what I've been thinking for some time is that we need a national association of cornerworking organizations to both improve and standardize what we do, as well as facilitating workers who want to work in another area. There's a lot of good work that could be done in this area. Raising our general level of professionalism as a group would be the greatest asset.

If anyone wants to discuss something like this, e-mail me at msbraley@comcast.net.


Oh, and the web site is under revisement right now, some things may not work but they will. The new site will be more interesting.
If you find a non-working link, please let us know.
Thanks

[Kuala76]

Hey there!  Thanks for posting up!  This is EXACTLY what I was hoping to pull out of the woodwork! 
Unfortunately we are approaching the end of the racing season, but then it's a perfect time to discuss all the workings of corner working! 

I will definitely be in touch, I have family not too far from Loudoun.  I got a taste of "traveling to work" and now I'm addicted!  We can all learn from one another and it's great to find others like "us" 

[Burt Munro]

I just received this email from Egor Emery who coordinates Daytona events and looks like he is starting to work on Indy for Sept 2008.  Thought it might be helpful for anyone interested in these events.   



GREETINGS FROM CENTRAL FLORIDA
Start planning your 2008 calendar now! The Daytona 200 week is always a big
deal, but the 2008 Daytona 200 is the best preparation you can get for the
inaugural Moto GP at Indianapolis which will be held on September 14, 2008.
Don't miss out on these great events!

Fall Cycle Scene at Daytona: October 18-21, 2007.

The event begins with Hammer School on Thursday. There is a full program on
Friday including the Team Challenge race(43 laps) starting at 1200 hrs.
There will be a 2 hr Moto ST practice starting at 1700 hrs. Again this year
Moto ST will have an endurance race starting at 12:30 Saturday afternoon
and finishing at 2100. Sunday has several more CCS races than last year and
concludes with the ASRA program. There will be an awards ceremony Sunday
evening starting at 1900 hrs.

Workers are needed! If you would like to be considered for working Fall
Cycle Scene please respond now. Have a friend(s) that you think might be
interested? Pass this email along to them or submit their name with yours
on the Data card below. We are looking forward to a great event, act now to
help make it so!

Egor Emery
phone:  352-357-7104  cell 352-360-3003
email:  73530.452@compuserve.com


Date                      Event                   Location

10/18-21                ROC                      Daytona
12/1-2                    CCS FL                  Homestead
2/28-3/8/08(probable)                        Daytona
9/11-14                  Moto GP                Indianapolis Motor Speedway


Data Card
------------------------------------------------------------------


_____________________________________________
Last Name             First              MI
_____________________________________________
Address

_____________________________________________
City                                                State        ZIP

_____________________________________________
email

____________________________Shirt size:
Phone        Home/work

Emergency contact:
Phone:

Days I can work:

Other workers I recommend: (name, address, ph)


---------------------------------------------------------------------

[on your corner]

To add to what Mike Braley said above...  I have always thought that not every cornerworker has the skills and/or temperament as well as the physical capability to do every job there is in cornerworking.   In order to get proper recognition for the art and science of cornerworking and the respect that it deserves in motorcycle road racing, I think that national standards have to be developed to bring the craft to a certifiable level.  Then, the folks that hire a corner crew can know what it is they will get.  Car workers often just don't get it and cause the racing to be interrupted needlessly.  Promoters who hire the crews are too often taking the local car road racing crew because they are available and cheap.  As I said in a post here a while back, if some smart litigator learns that there are more comprehensive capabilities available out there, specifically for motorcycles, and responsible parties don't take advantage of them, they might be accused of negligence.

The problem for motorcycle safety work is that all the groups around the country, and the world for that matter, are not united on exactly what it is we do and/or should do in our craft.
I sat in on meeting a number of years ago at Daytona where reps from WERA, MARRC, US Marshalls, one of the Mid West crews that I can't recall, and some others that I don't recall were present...  We basically left the meeting with no consensus on the issues discussed.  The time is well past the point where the various groups should get on the same page.

My first proposal is for a nationwide consensus for defining what it is we do, how it is different than cornerworking cars.  After that, I think we need a rating system for workers.  Not everyone is capable of doing pick-up on a live track in racing traffic, not  everyone has that attention span to be the best flagger, few have the temperament and sensibilties to do race control.  Like EMT work, we need to have certifiable levels and positions.  Only then will we get the respect due the work we do without question from those in race management who hire and work with us.

I know that all of us have work and families in addition to the time we spend on the racetrack.  This is certainly why what I speak of hasn't already happened.  At some point, hopefully before the next road racing season, the US Marshalls web site will be up to date and our manual for what it is the USM does will be online.  I'd love to see other groups do likewise who haven't already done so.  Possibly then we can hash out a national strategy.

I think this forum could be a place for us all to get together on this.  Please respond with websites for all to check out...

Ed McFarland
22 year, US Marshalls
www.usmarshalls.org

[Kuala76]

Here's our site:

www.marrc.org

On the site is the cornerworker handbook as well which basically outlines our proceedures.  Unfortunately I believe that in addition to basic training, the making of a great corner worker will entail time and experience.  I also agree with the rating system and the fact that it would assist with folks "knowing what they are getting" and it would make it a lot easier for organizations to accept "outside" workers with confidence. 

I am not even going to start on the issues  with car folks!