"What have YOU done today to make you feel proud?" Heather Small (2000)
"What have YOU done today to make you feel proud?" Heather Small (2000) |
|
If you enjoyed this site, please click on logo above to register vote.
4th March 2002 |
With a sis-in-law living just 30 miles away from one of the big international motorsport venues, it was no wonder that once we'd started marshalling that we'd combine one of our family holiday visits with a spot of international marshalling. What we weren't ready for was the reception we got, and continue to receive to this day!
To date, we have made 3 separate visits to the track. The first was in December 1994, before Jackie and I were involved in marshalling. We drove up to the gates on a mid-week day and asked the security guard whether we could take a look around. Amazingly, not only did they say yes (track owners are somewhat reluctant to do so in the UK) but they gave us a map to find our way around. We spent an hour there, driving around and taking video footage, no knowing we would be back!
Turn 9 (shown in the picture) become our home posting, and we now proudly wear the Turn 9 crew badges on our UK overalls, alongside our UK club badges.
They have their own clubhouse within the circuit, where they meet up for a beer and a braai (BBQ for the non-SA speakers!), and in the gathering in the meeting hall afterwards, Jackie and I were asked to stand and a large round of applause given to us. We immediately felt very much at home.
Our last visit was in March 2001, coinciding with my need for a rest and recuperation break after the accident. So 9 months and 4 days after the accident, there we were, again at 6AM (don't you guys know about lay-ins?????) signing on. Again Turn 9 was to be our home for the weekend, this time for the World Superbike meeting, and I was expecting Jackie to marshal and me to spectate from the rear of the post. But NO - on the Friday they were a little short on hands, and so probably for the first and last time, I was drafted in to flag (from my wheelchair!!!!!!) one of the extra flag points the WSB organisers installed for the weekend. By the end of that day, you couldn't wipe the smile of my face for anything!!!!!!
The Saturday and Sunday went very well, this time with me purely spectating, and it was a pleasure to see the guys and girls of the post in action. At Kyalami, they marshal in teams and spend some time together (in some cases, many years together) so everyone gets to know how everyone else works. Whilst there were a couple of new faces to get to know, many of the crew from our second visit were and are still there, and it was great to get to know them more, and for them to realise our first visit wasn't just a flash in the pan.
On the Saturday night of the meeting, the marshals gathered in the clubhouse for the giving of the 2000 Marshal Awards, and at the end of the ceremony, the Chief Marshal Tony Taylor presented Jackie and I with the first 2001 WSB bars to be worn under the club badge. Initially he was going to come to where I was sitting, but after all the kind words I'd heard, I wanted to stand and walk to the front of the hall. So I gestured to Tony to stay there, and with help from Jackie walked on my crutches to Tony, shook hands and received the bar.
What I wasn't ready for was the sight when I turned around!!!! All 250+ marshals and officials in the hall had stood up and were applauding us!!!!! And so I decided to take the microphone, and say a few words in thanks, for both the welcome and the support Jackie and I had received ever since the accident. Well, I got about 10 seconds into it - when the emotion of the moment got to me and I sort of cracked up and finished off much quicker than I had planned. Carol Penrose, then editor of their monthly Newsletter, apparently had tears in her tears too, amongst others!!!! An emotional moment, and one I will never forget.
To all the guys and gals of the Kyalami Marshals Association, I want to go on record to say a HUGE thank you for your kindness, warmth and show of mutual admiration and respect shown to us during our time with you. It is a shame we only get to meet up every couple of years but when the occasions happen, they become memories Jackie and I treasure for the rest of our lives.
|
The
word "Kyalami" is the Zulu word meaning "Our Home", and the
Kyalami Marshals Association there have made it very plain that it is also home
for Jackie and I, anytime we care to visit. We are their only active overseas
members, as we pay subscriptions to remain members of their organisation, and
love the contact we maintain to this day, both with the marshals and the circuit
officials.
The
second was in November 1999. After 2 seasons, we felt quite confident we could
visit a foreign circuit without the locals feeling we shouldn't be there and so,
with the help of Chairman Ernie Penrose, we got our clearance through the 2
national Sporting Authorities (UK & SA), and duly signed on at 6AM (yes,
they start VERY early!!!!!) on the Friday for day 1 of the ISRS GT Sportscar
meeting. What followed was 3 days of absolute pleasure, with our being sent to
the pitlane on the Saturday afternoon to watch the way they ran their pit
complex, and being taken to every marshalling point personally by Ernie on the
Sunday morning to meet all the marshals. 
