Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Rick Lindsay in Prancing Horse

[Rick Lindsay (rolindsay]

Thanks for the kind words John.  A few comments...

--- JAshburne [at] aol.com wrote:

> HI All:
>  
> For those of you who are FCA members, there's a
> great article in the  current issue of Prancing 
> Horse (#165) by our very own Rick Lindsay about 
> his experiences as a marshal at the formula one 
> races in Indy.  

I wrote a lot of that stuff and sent it to the List,
not long after this year's USGP.  As it was the last
US event, at least for a while, I was kinda moved and
a little saddened.  I needed to remember the good
times.

> Its a well writen article...

I might take issue with John there.  But thanks! :-P
 
> ...and describes what its like to be there in a
> humorous  way.  

It is a fun job and I tried to convey the goofiness
that sometimes happens.  Most of the hours in the pits
is really boring, if you can believe that.  We just
stand there in the baking sun and wait to be needed. 
Then some terrifying incident occurs and we're 101%
adrenalin.

> I learned a couple of interesting trivia type facts 
> about how the teams function during the 
> practice and race.  

And that was the whole point of writing the piece.  I
wanted to expose a few things that are not seen on TV.
  There are SO many other things that Jeff decided we
shouldn't include; Things like the team members
hitting on the grid girls and trying to take pictures
up their skirts!  Granted, that happens more as one
goes back the grid!  The front of the grid is all
business.  Next spring (here in the northern half of
planet Earth), when Peter is doing the interviews from
the grid, ignore him and watch everything going on
around him.  It's kinda fun.  It's also cool to watch
the celebrities roaming the grid.  Except for the
occasional TV shot, they are completely ignored!  No
one gives them the slightest glance.  They ignore
Bernie too.

> There is even a good photo of Rick and he hasn't 
> aged a bit since I saw him at the Indy GP... 

LOL!  Who could tell in all that get-up?!  As you can
tell if you have seen the picture, we are covered from
head to toe, save the zone from hat rim to the neck. 
We're even in gloves.  It is freakin' hot!  This past
year the air temp was in the mid-nineties and the
track - including the pit lane where we stand - was
20+ degrees hotter than that!

> ...in, what?,  2002!

I guess it was that long ago.  Dang!  Where is the
time going?!

FWIW, I tried to work the Grand Prix of Houston last
year.  They eagerly accepted my application and
appreciated my experience BUT that event is an
SCCA-sanctioned event, not FIA, and I am not an SCCA
member, so I had to be punished.  They offered to let
me check ID's at the hospitality area.  No thanks.

I also decided to NOT work the Australian F1 Grand
Prix next year.  It's expensive (but manageable) but
its four days of track work plus essentially two days
of travel on either end leaving me away from family
for over a week.  And Nancy doesn't want to go to OZ
and just hang out while I work.  Can't blame her
there.

I did work the race last year and took along my
daughter and son-in-law who are both FIA marshals. 
Here's a picture of the Turn 5 marshals:
http://www.aubard.us/F1/Turn_5_marshals_2006.jpg  I'm
the clown with the dark green rain slicker over my
white coveralls.  The man and woman in all white
(center) are my daughter and her husband.  The guy in
black is the chief corner marshal.  The guy on the
right is the corner doctor (Yes, in OZ there is a
doctor and a paramedic on every corner!)  The guys in
the black hats are the communications marshals and the
yellow hats are flag marshals.  The lone orange hat is
a spectator marshal.  As the Australian GP is held at
Albert Park, which is a city park, not a race track,
access to the track is not as tight as Indy or Canada.
 There are marshals who roam the no-man's-land between
the safety barriers and the spectator fence.  Their
job is just to keep the drunks from stumbling into the
work zone. :-P
   At that web address, http://www.aubard.us/F1 , you
will find a bunch of pictures.   Please feel free to
enjoy them.  We're not allowed cameras while on duty
so these aren't my pix.  Photo credit is to Brian
Manning, my best friend on the job, who was out of
uniform and snapping away.  Here's a picture of Brian
- the marshal smiling in the background:
http://www.aubard.us/F1/43099_2.jpg
  
> Well done Rick!

Thank you John.  The PH was supposed to come out in
mid-November and as I got an advance copy, I didn't
notice that the official publication came out so late.
 It's nice to know that you guys are members and saw
the piece.  Thank you.
  
> John

Rick

PS: CAMS is always looking for volunteer marshals for
the Australian F1 GP.  If you are interested in
helping out, drop me a line and I'll hook you up.