Why 48? A Corner Worker’s Perspective Stephane Salaun, GCR Member and 48 Hours Volunteer As Mark Johnson mentioned previously in the February Kassette, we have the weather, the historical track of Sebring & the competition. I’ll bring you a different reason to add to the equation, the corner workers. Having participated to the 48 Hours at Sebring many moons ago as a PCA driver, the only thing left for me was to see the track from the other side of the fence. It is fascinating to see a bunch of lunatics barreling down the straight 3 or 4 cars wide fighting for the right to lead through turn 1. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. He or she with the biggest “cojones” so to speak prevails. Now imagine you are standing in a booth at turn 1, watching a horde of cars coming at you full tilt. Your only protections are a concrete wall with a few tires tied together, and a fence.
Turn 1
I was fortunate to having spent 4 days in company of true heroes. You know, the underappreciated kind! The guys that stand up all day, listening to incessant radio traffic, waving flags. They keep the racers as safe as humanly possible by displaying race flags, an efficient and visible type of communication! Not only that, they must be prepared to duck out of their booth in case of incoming projectiles, such as cars out of control which can violently contact tire wall, or the structure of the booth caving on them, or worse both! When the Gold Coast PCA reached out for volunteers, I immediately raised my hand. Why not? Certainly, something different to do. I no longer race Porsche, having sold my old and battered 1978 911 Euro Carrera 3.0 which turned into a track GT3 R later in life. I was always intrigued by those guys
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Die Porsche Kassette
| Mar 2022
and gals waving various colored flags relentlessly all day long, pointing flags & numbers at those poor souls who step out of line unintentionally. Somehow, the email trail with the PCA Region main office got interrupted prior to the event. Nevertheless, I had made my hotel reservation, I packed rain gear, hat, sunscreen, plenty of water and headed to the track on Wednesday afternoon. I stopped by the Sebring main registration office, introduced myself, was told to report by 0730 next day at the Safety building by turn 6. So next day Thursday, by 0700, I went to the meeting spot, already occupied by a dozen individuals waiting for their assignments (i.e., corner station). I did not notice any PCA members which was kind of odd, so I introduce myself to the leader/speaker and explained my being here. As I ultimately learned, this group comprised the professional SCCA corner workers, not the PCA volunteer and worker support. Beyond working the Club Race events many of them will also work the big 12 Hours of Sebring IMSA race in mid March. After consultation with several members, I was assigned turn 15 with an old timer Mr. Robert Garcia. Great! The icing on the cake was I was provided with a UHF radio. As it turned out a corner worker was absent from duty, so my presence helped alleviate crew shortage. I followed Mr. Garcia back to the main paddock, through the restricted fence to my newly assigned spot. Quite interesting to see the maze of access roads along the track used by corner workers, ambulances & tow trucks. These roads are used to access the racers who are stuck or have had an incident. Having quick, unfettered access to the racing surface is essential to the safety of all racecars on the track. This becomes another bonus to the experience! One would think that knowing this famous track turn-by-turn layout, knowing the flags description & meaning and having a fair understanding of the English language would be sufficient to master a corner workers job of jumping up & down waving flags. You would be so wrong. Mr. Garcia spent a few minutes going through basic training, essential rules, and procedural specifics to his job. The key element is the radio, without doubt. Communication between different stations to and from the main dispatch station is extremely important.
