March 30-31, 2007 Narrowsburg, New York

Overview of a Stage Rally for New Marshals By Diane Houseal

What is a stage rally? A stage rally is a number of racing sections known as stages linked together by legal speed transit or transport sections. A rally car transits from the start of the rally to a stage, races the stage, and then drives another transit to the next stage or service, etc. etc. until the end of the rally. On the transit sections, the rally cars are subject to all laws of the road,especially speeding and reckless driving. If a competitor is observed breaking the law, he may be disqualified from the rally. Stages are public roads temporarily blocked off by marshalls at the start and finish controls and all intersections where vehicular traffic could be encountered to ensure that the stage remains free of any "local traffic" while the rally is in progress. This enables the rally car to race at full speed without having to be concerned with overtaking or meeting on-coming traffic. Where do I fit in? Well, there's never such a thing as too many workers. It IS the absolute best way to get involved, meet people, see rally cars close up, find out how timing and scoring works, etc. There are plenty of jobs to go around. If you're an organization guru, volunteer to help at registration, if you're an ace mechanic, volunteer to work at scrutineering (tech inspection), if you are a computer whiz, you may be able to help out at the media desk or with scoring, if you have a 4x4, offer to help with sweep, if you are a licensed HAM radio operator, we need people to man the radio net, and if you are a paramedic or EMT, we've got a place for you (but hope you won't ever have any actual work to do)! During the rally, you may be asked to block side roads to prevent vehicles from entering the stage roads. If you have experience working TSD checkpoints, we may put you to work helping at the timing controls. Be sure to let the worker organizer know your special skills so that we can find the right niche for you! So, what do I do first? Find out ahead of time where and when worker registration starts. Try to arrive there as early as you can. Be sure to sign the insurance waiver and get your worker ID wristband. (This often gets you into private parties for the rally that the general public is not invited to.) Find out who your stage captain will be. Find out where and when you are to meet up with him or her. Find out who else you will be working with. Pick up any workers materials provided by the organizers. It's a good idea to get a copy of the running time schedule for the event and an up-to-date start list if one is not provided to you. Find out if there is a mandatory workers meeting - what time and where it is scheduled? Finally, take a look around the area and collect up any materials that someone might be giving away. Often times there are flyers for other events, notices of cars for sale, etc. Buy something from one of the vendors hawking their wares. Be sure to sign up for that workers drawing for a free set of tires. Also check in at the media desk for event information and any freebies that might be available. You should find out at registration who your stage captain will be - what time and where you are expected to meet with him or her. Specific worker assignments are generally given out by your stage captain after he has had a chance to make an assessment of who he has in his group and what their experience level is. This may be done at the workers meeting or at a meeting of the stage crew. Again, arrive early; bring a pen and paper to take notes. Find out ahead of time what YOUR stage crew's specific time schedule is. Will you have time after the workers meeting for a leisurely lunch or will you be leaving for the woods immediately after the meeting? If you will be leaving right away, you will need to have taken care of all your errands ahead of time. Arrive with a full tank of gas, have all your snacks and gear in the car - once you leave town, there's no time to stop! OK, so when do we get to the rally part? Most often, new people will be asked to block intersections along the stage road. While blocking side roads is one of the least technical jobs, it is one of the most important! It works like this -- your job when blocking an intersection is to keep anybody and everybody in any kind of vehicle from entering the stage road from the time you are dropped off by your stage captain until the time the sweep truck goes by and the rally cars are finished using the road. In order to do this, you take your car and physically block the road so nobody can get by. You may be given banner tape to string across the mouth of the intersection to help enforce this. Park your car far enough back down the road that it won't get hit in case a rally car decides to turn there by mistake or use your intersection to ditch his disabled car. Once the road is secured, you can walk around and find a location to take pictures as long as you don't wander too far from the intersection you are monitoring. If someone does approach, greet them in a friendly manner, explain that a car race is in progress and the road is temporarily closed. You may want to suggest they stay and spectate for a bit. You should have been provided with "road use permission" letters (copies of the letters the organizers received from the people whose roads we are using - township, lumber company, private owner, whatever) which you can show them if they are insistent. Be nice but be firm, if necessary; the point is, they can't drive down the road! (Once they see a rally car go by at speed, they get the idea, believe me!) You will be at this location for several hours while the stages run -- usually twice through an intersection from different directions. When all the cars and sweep trucks have gone through, you usually retrace your steps back to the beginning (or end) of the stage. Your stage captain will explain this in more detail at your workers meeting or when you are dropped off. The most important thing you need to find out is how many times the stage runs and from which directions to expect the cars. (Do you have to move your car and the banner tape for the second running of the stage?) Be sure you understand when it is OK for you to pack up and leave your location. If you're not sure, ask your stage captain BEFORE he leaves your location as, many times, he may not be planning on coming back through the stage to get you. If you will be working another group of stages, find out when and where you are expected to meet up with your stage captain. You need to bring enough snacks and toys to keep yourself occupied for several hours each day. You need to dress warmly and wear good boots if it is a winter event. You need to remember to bring plenty of liquids and bug spray if it is a summer event. You need to make sure your car is ready to drive around in the snow (blizzard)/mountains/desert/rain (flood) (you pick). If you have a HAM radio or scanner, bring it along so you can listen to what is going on with the rest of the rally. Bring plenty of pens and paper and a clipboard (to keep track of the cars that passed by your location) and a light for at night. DO NOT bring alcoholic beverages since NO ONE involved with the rally is permitted to drink during the event. You may be at your location by yourself (or hopefully, with the friend you brought along). Other people may be there. You may be working at a spectator location (official or otherwise). Many times you will be paired up with a HAM radio operator. Be sure to introduce yourself to the other marshalls. These people will probably become your new best friends - they're just as excited and interested in the sport as you are!. That's about it -- just be sure to be WHERE you're supposed to be WHEN you're supposed to be there or you will more than likely get left behind. Rallies work on a very tight time schedule and it takes the cooperation of everyone to make it all work! And now a note from our sponsors- Every person involved in a stage rally (officials, workers, spectators, competitors, service crews, etc.) is under close scrutiny by all the people who live in the area in which a stage rally is being held. Not all the people in the area like the idea of having a stage rally in their vicinity. They will observe and report even the smallest infraction of conduct to the town officials in hopes of getting the rally discontinued. Therefore, WE ALL must be on our BEST behavior at all times. It means being friendly with the locals, not speeding or rip racing through towns and villages, cleaning up our trash, and, in general, being good citizens. We want our presence in the area to be remembered as a positive experience for all the people who live there. GLOSSARY OF TERMS MTC- Main Time Control(s) are found at the beginning and end of each major section of the rally. Competitors are given their initial start time at an MTC OUT at the beginning of each section. Competitors are timed in as they arrive at an MTC IN at the end of each section. ATC- Arrival Timing Control is a timing control at the end of a transit at which the competitor is timed in and then given an out time to start the stage. SS - Stage Start- The actual place where the racing stage starts. FF - Flying Finish- The actual place where the racing stage ends. FTC- Finish Timing Control is the timing control at the end of the stage at which the competitor is given his time for the stage. Slow Course Opening or 00 Car- This is the car that goes through the course about 45 minutes to an hour before the stage opens to ensure that all the controls are in place, all the intersections are blocked and that all of the banner tapes, course arrows, etc. are set up in their proper locations. In some events, this may be your stage captain. Course Opening or 0 Car- This is the car that runs through the course a few minutes ahead of the first rally car to make a last and final check of the stage to ensure that it is clear of any traffic, that spectator areas are alerted and everything is set up properly before allowing the first rally car to start out on the stage. If he feels there is an unsafe condition on the course, he can delay the stage until the situation is remedied. Course Closing Car- Sometimes referred to as the 99 car. This is the vehicle that follows a few minutes behind the last rally car alerting the finish control and sweep crews of any rally cars it encounters along the stage, with a mileage to its location, extent of damages, and any other pertinent information needed by the stage finish and sweep crews. He generally picks up the control logs from the timing controls and delivers them to scoring. Often the course closing car and the sweep crews run together. Sweep- These are the 4x4's and trucks that follow along behind the rally cars to give aid to the teams that were not able to complete the stage due to mechanical failures or crashes. They will make an effort to get the car going again if they can make a quick fix or an easy tug. They may drag broken cars to safer locations or pickup the team and deliver them to the end of the stage. If a car is broken beyond repair and cannot be moved and the stage is to be used again, they will radio the location of the car to the start crew and make sure the triangles and OK sign are properly displayed. © Copyright 1998 Diane Houseal