04 June 2009

Watching the Grand Prix: 7 - be a Marshal


Of course I'm kidding. These marshals are highly trained and I doubt they get to see much of the Grand Prix, as they'd need to be totally vigilant in their work at every second. It's also dangerous.

There are 650 marshals at the Monaco Grand Prix. The ones you see here (taken on the Thursday during a break between practice) are known as Chefs de Poste. There are also Commmissaires au feu, Commissaires de signalisation and Commissaires d'intervention. The ones you see here, I believe, are the ones who would quickly remove a crashed car by hooking it up to one of the many cranes around the track, allowing the race to continue as soon as possible.

These marshals are sitting alongside a statue on the edge of the port of Louis Chiron, the Monegesque Gentleman Driver, a major part of Bugatti's history. Please click on the link to read about this legendary man.

There are other ways of watching the Grand Prix and I don't have special photographs - from one of the hotels, for instance, and also from a restaurant. I read in Nice-Matin that seats at one of the port restaurants were available at 650 euros a head.

Tomorrow - more shots of Monaco at Grand Prix time.
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5 comments:

  1. Jane Hards Photography04 June, 2009

    Interesting for me to read about the Marshals for the Grand Prix. The ones we have are purely volunteers from the island. All walks of life and ages. Events like these couldn't function without them. Underrated and often overlooked group of people.
    I'm just hooked on this event now to photograph.

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  2. Jilly04 June, 2009

    Babooshka, so far as I know, some of the marshals - perhaps all or most of them -are indeed volunteers with a very rigid training programme.

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  3. Blind Fly Theater04 June, 2009

    Hi Jilly!
    I wonder if the port restaurants have a dress code, and if wearing those radio headsets would be against that code?
    Thanks for the great photos, and I hope someday to see one of these grand races in this type of environment!
    David

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  4. Jilly04 June, 2009

    David, I've never eaten in a port restaurant at Grand Prix time but I'd be pretty sure there'd be no dress code - just sporting gear and yes, those ear protectors. Those are essential.

    I hope you get to Monaco too one day, David. We'll roll out the red carpet.

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  5. Unknown04 June, 2009

    I wonder how many decide to do it year after year? I wonder if the person who has done it the longest has got a prize yet?

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