knee down news
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Knee Down News caught up with marshal Patrick Connolly
Splitlath withdraw from BSB
Blackburn ready to battle in Superstock 600
ContentsKnee Down News caught up with marshal Patrick
Connolly
Dayne Blackburn ready to go in Superstock 600
Splitlath temporarily withdraw from BSB
Dunn gets sponsorship from Twitview Racing
Brookes prepares for race season
Editor:Laura Bryant
Photography: Adam Lines and Ashley Bryant of Bryant Photography
Knee Down News caught up with Patrick Connolly
We caught up with Racesafe marshal Patrick Connollywho is
normally found at the side of the track helping the British
Superbike race events get underway; without marshals races just
wouldn't happen.
Here is what Patrick had to say:
How long have you been marshalling and how did you get
involved?
This year will be my 3rd season as a marshal and 2nd as a member
ofRacesafe. I got involved afterenjoying abarbeque with the
Silverstone marshals one evening. I was introduced to the marshals
coordinator, and before I knew it, I was on 'the bank' in my
overalls!!Marshaling is dangerous and voluntary, what made you want
to start?The love of the sport is what really pushed me into
becoming a marshal. I always wanted to get involved in bike racing
in some capacity, but being ridiculously slow on
a motorbike and having no money to race, marshalling seemed to be
the obvious choice really!!Talk us through a typical pre-race
weekend. (ie training)The week leading up to a race weekend for me
consists of preparing all the essentials I'll need to make the
meeting as easy and comfortable as possible for me really.Plenty
food and drink,2 sets of overalls, waterproofs, passes etc. And not
forgetting to check the final instructions on the marshals
homepage!!Talk us through what you do at race weekends..I usually
arrive at the circuit Thursday afternoon as I prefer to set-up
early and be ready for Friday morning stress free!!I'll sign-on
around tea-time,catch-up with friends, then have a wanderaround
thepaddock. Friday morning, on post at around 8am, between us we
will distribute the fire bottles around the corner we're on for the
weekend and make sure we have a scoop (metal stretcher) at
hand.Make sure we have brushes, a spade and cement dust, for oil
spillages, and the required amount of flags for the flag
marshals.We'll check our section of track for debris or oil.Arrange
ourselves into groups and work a rotation pattern so we're not
covering the same sectionall day.
Our Incident Officer (section leader) will give us a daily briefing
on Do's and Dont's and inform us of any changes we aren't aware of.
We will thendo a scoop practice, where wereplicate the safe removal
of an injured rider after he has come off his bike and isunable to
move himselfdue to injury.This procedure is usually performed with
the paramedic on your corner.
You're very passionate about the sport, so for you, what is the best thing about being a marshal?Being part of such a fantastic sport and the feeling that, in a small way, you're contributing to the successful running of the mostcompetitive domestic race series in the world.If someone is reading and would like to get involved with marshaling but they don't have too much time on their hands, how many events do the have to attend or is it up to you?For people wanting to get involved, i think there is a minimum of around 4-5 events per season required, and of those events, you are required to marshal at least 2 of the 3 days of the meeting.
Us fans see that marshals get along well, do marshals have many
social events away from the circuit?There isgreat camaraderie
between the marshals and medics, we all seem to get along well with
each other, so a good sense of humour and broad shoulders are
helpful if you fancy joining the ranks.During the season there's
usually something going on to bring us all together, andmost
weekends on the campsite, thereis a medics v marshals quiz.If there
is anyone that is reading this and wants to become a marshal, how
do they go about doing this?New marshal applicationsbecome
available around October/November time each year.To obtain the
application you need to log-on towww.racesafe.organd follow the
links.Once all paperwork is submitted and accepted, you need to
attenda training day, which is both classroom,and outdoor/practical
focused.When all this is completed, you are then ready tomarshal
you'refirst meeting!!
We would like to thank Patrick for taking the time out of his busy
schedule to answer the questions. Here at Knee Down News we thank
all of the marshals for doing a grand job beside the circuits
across the country, we wish you all a successful season.
Josh Brookes has been at home in Australia over the British
winter months but is preparing to return to the UK and his Northern
Ireland home ahead of the race season as he targets to test his
Tyco Suzuki in the coming weeks.
The Aussie has been training hard in the Australian sunshine over
the off season with plenty of cycling and riding motorbikes to keep
himself fit. However the 29-year-old decided to put a twist on
things when he jumped a jet-skii; which you may of seen on his
twitter site.
Although Brookes was the most consistent rider last season he aims
to go one step better this year as he wants to get himself on the
top step of the podium more often in 2013.
News in brief
Blackburn ready to go in Superstock 600
Dayne Blackburn will return to the National Superstock 600
series for 2013 as he is set to switch from Suzuki to Yamaha on
board an R6.
Blackburn was offered to ride in the Triumph Triple Challenge last
season but with sponsorship so hard to find the budget couldn't be
found and the youngster thought his dream was over. Although a call
from AyeGee Suzuki put plans firmly in place and Blackburn was
entered in the Superstock 600 class.
The Worthing based rider continues his journey in the Superstock
600 Championship this year and with the experience and knowledge of
the circuits from last season and a new Yamaha of which he has
already tested, Blackburn is a force to be reckoned with for the
year ahead.
Dayne Blackburn said: "Everything the team and I have achieved so
far is amazing and I wouldn't have done it without them.
"I look forward to my future in racing and continuing on this path
with a great family, sponsors and team alongside me. The 114 Club
is a massive part of our team which is helping us get on track this
season. We have some amazing people that have joined the team
whether it be companies or bike enthusiasts."
To get involved with Dayne Blackburn and the 114 Club, check out Dayne's website here.
Dunn gets sponsorship from Twitview RacingTwitview Racing have announced they will be sponsoring Bespoke Racings' Jay Dunn in the Ducati 848 Challenge for the season ahead.
Dunn who has championships to his name along with snatching lap records off Casey Stoner in his 125GP days will now make the step up to the Ducati 848 Challenge series.
Jay Dunn said: "It's real great working with Twitview, Rob and the guys are true boys who give a down too earth view on things which makes it easy to be able to say what you want and need. I've grown a great relationship with them in such a short space of time and there ability too gain sponsorship and get your name out is obvious, both with this and the sponsors they already have on board for me and bespoke racing! I look forward to a fruitful future with them and can't wait to get on track and show Twitview and the paddock how effective and important there job is!"
"I am very excited for the 2013 season. I think I've made a positive pick of riders to be sponsoring this year, and hopefully we can see Jay and Twitview grow in many ways, weve got help from Italsport for Jay" added Twitveiw Racing manager Robert.
Splitlath withdraw temporarily from BSBSpiltlath Redmond have
announced they will be withdrawing from the British Superbike
championship temporarily due to the ill health of owner John
Dimbylow.
The squad had their 2013 plans ready and waiting to go with Mark
Aitchison and Jakub Smrz on board their Aprilia RSV-4s as they were
aiming to be building on the development of the bikes throughout
the season.
However co-owner Derek Redmond said this withdrawal does not mean
the end of the team.
"We would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere
apologies to all out loyal fans and supporters as well as our
suppliers and most of all Piaggio UK, which has contributed greatly
to the teams effort for this and over previous seasons.
"This is by no means the end of Splitlath Redmond, it is simply an
unavoidable and necessary action which the team is being forced to
take at this time and we look forward to returning to competitive
racing very soon." added Redmond