From the Members

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

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!

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 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.

All comms must be detailed (specific station number, car(s) number, car color(s), explanation of problem) by the corner worker. These details are then repeated by the dispatcher in Race Control to confirm what was said. Decision is then made by Race Control, specifically the Race Stewards, known by all as “the brass”. Resultant decisions are sent back to the corner workers for action. Hence the corner worker will display the correct flag(s): black flag, yellow, double yellow, red as necessary. The brass will also decide on the need to send the safety vehicle out on the track if essential to restrict vehicle speed during incident resolution.

You would not believe the constant flow of information going back and forth. Which means, there is not a moment left for daydreaming! You must be laser focused at all times. We are constantly reading and recording car numbers, car color matching their number, and what transpired on the track, or the occasional off-track excursion! When you have sixty cars coming down the road, in formation, it is quite a spectacle to watch. By the time all cars have cleared your station, it seems you can’t remember color, number, or any conversation on the radio. Adding to the confusion is the noise. Even with headphones cars fly by singing about 2-3000 decibels from the exhausts at full tilt. And you get to experience it all for 50 more laps, Whew what a rush! Good thing I was with a professional, because no way I could have managed the corner safety of the drivers by myself. Totally insane!

The following day, Friday, I was able to get some feedback from the PCA registration outfit on my real volunteer working duty. I was assigned to turn 1 station. I stopped by the Safety building thereafter to confirm with the crew my assigned position and followed my new instructor/coworker Mark to the station. Unfortunately, no radio available this time. Bummer! This corner was definitively less eventful, give or take a few minor excursions in the dirt by some, compared to the day before where we had to black flag a few cars for non-compliance, mechanical issues, or rough behaviors. There was a trip to the opposite retaining wall by some. Without the radio, it is difficult to understand what is happening!

On the next day, Saturday morning, I brought a few dozen Dunkin Donuts to show my appreciation to the Safety Station. A spike of sugar can’t hurt the productivity of those workers! Then I headed back to the PCA Registration Center to rotate to yet another station, turn 10. My position was this time purely honorific since there were already two pros assigned there. And still no radio for me. So, my duty was to enjoy the wheels-to-wheels combatants approaching turn 10. Spectacular.

For the afternoon session I was delegated to help at turn 17a. My new coworker Patricia showed me the ropes dealing with safety car on the track, cars formation at start & restarts. Nice corner to watch some highspeed action. However, this is a hard corner to manage due to poor visibility with the overpass bridge midway through the turn. Patricia and I are quite busy flagging constantly. No rest for the weary here!

Finally on Sunday morning I was the first in line at the PCA Registration and Volunteer desk. I was able request turn 7 for the main racing events of the day. It is a hairpin turn, and the slowest corner of the track, but the workers sit and flag mere feet from the cars jockeying for position entering the turn. These Sunday events are endurance races, 1-1/2 hour long “enduros”. It took me a while to figure out the way through the back access paths to get to park my car by turn 7 but I ultimately found it. Having no radio meant I had to rely solely on my coworker for info. I did manage to understand about half of what he was shouting at me. All races went without too many hitches, flags were posted properly, and all drivers made it safely. So, we did not do too bad of a job.

I can checkmark this experience from my bucket list but will gladly reenlist as needed to help during the next 48 Hours at Sebring event. Thank “y’all” for a great exposure to a different aspect of Club Racing. My hat off to all corner workers from all disciplines who spend their days keeping us all safe.