On 4th and 5th September, 800 volunteer track marshals and senior officials from Singapore GP congregated at Johor Circuit for a full 2 day “shakedown” in preparation for this year’s F1.

Photos: Jimmy Loh

“Shakedown - A period of appraisal followed by adjustments to improve efficiency or functioning. adj.”

On 4th and 5th September, 800 volunteer track marshals and senior officials from Singapore GP congregated at Johor Circuit for a full 2 day “shakedown” in preparation for this year’s edition of the Singapore GP.  They ran a full simulation of race conditions and ran through all the contingencies to ensure that everyone is clear of their roles.  20 volunteers also provided their time and cars to drive around the track to give the marshals and officials simulated situations to practise their control of the race.  SMSA also took this opportunity to organise the SMSA Touring Car Challenge so as to act as a warm up for Singapore GP. 

“Scenario - Car breakdown in Turn 2

Turn 2 marshalls radios back to Race Control to inform them.  Marshals before Turn 2 and at Turn 2, waves the Yellow flag. (Yellow Flag - proceed with caution, no overtaking between first and second yellow flag)  Incident car is not moving but it is not blocking the track and not sitting on Apex - not dangerous so there is no need to deploy safety car.  Appointed marshals assist the driver out of car and behind safety wall, fire extinguisher on standby in case of fire.  The evacuation vehicle or tow truck is called in.  Once it arrives and clears the vehicle.  The all clear signal is given by race control.  All parties informed..”

Actually much more happens and more complicated scenarios are practised. Track marshals and officials are essential to ensure the safe and proper running of the Singapore GP. They are deployed at all corners of the track to monitor, guide and coordinate through the use of flag signals and lights.

In the event of an incident, they have to ensure the safety of the driver of the incident car and the rest of the competitors as they are the first point of contact on the ground.

Our hardworking volunteers were seen braving the sun and rain to carry up their duties with great efficiency and spirit. According to Mr Daniel Yong, our Chief Track Marshal, this Singaporean team is largely intact from the first year and has great camaraderie. This low attrition rate is a testament of their commitment and a shining example to all other F1 organisation around the world. This year, CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motorsports) will act in an advisory role only and some of them were seen assisting in setting up scenarios to test the responsiveness of the organisation.

As for the SMSA Touring Car Championship, although the participation was not overwhelming, the participants turned up with their game faces and were seen busy preparing their race cars. Gerald Tan qualified fastest in his “borrowed” Honda Civic EK9 and eventually went on to win the first race. He was closely followed by veteran Goh Jenn Woei in a Toyota AE101.

Kenny Chua in his endurance spec Honda Civic EK9 came in a distant 3rd place. Mark Ong brought his freshly prepared Honda S2000 for his first shakedown race but had to retire after 5 laps when his clutch pump overheated and he could not find any gears. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with his car after some fettering and he finished in a credible third place on Sunday. Kenny Chua took the chequered flag on Sunday with Gerald Tan in second. Gerald Tan was crowned the overall champion for the inaugural SMSA Touring Car Challenge 2010.

Let’s hope that this will become a regular event on Singapore’s race calendar.