Albert Park, Melbourne 2003 - TURN 1

Day 1, Thursday 27 Feb: Well you can imagine the buzz I got when I got notified I was going to be marshalling at the first corner of the circuit because the year before there was absolute carnage there as a result of Ralf Schumacher's impression of Superman over Rubens Barrichello. Not that we want that to happen again but you know there is going to be some action, right ? WRONG ! Even the Formula Fords got themselves out of the kitty litter on their own steam. Having said that, the Grand Prix is always a thrill irrespective of getting a lot of action at your point. So Thursday was a little bit slow

Albert Park, Melbourne 2002 - TURN 13

Day 1, Thursday 28 Feb: Standard. Picked up my credentials the day before. Probably the hardest day out of the lot because it's the first day you wake up at 5:45am. Got to the track at 7am. Signed on in the muster and collected my overalls which were kept from last year. Not a very good job of dry cleaning. Signed on and collected my food, minute by minute and other stuff. Saw a few old heads then gathered outside for briefing. It's become a habit to buy an egg and bacon roll and a nice coffee from the great people from Rotary who set up a good morning feed for the volunteers. Peter Nelson and Tim Schenken usually do the brief, welcoming us and regular do's and dont's while Mal's voice blares out through the support paddock speakers occasionally. After, we split up into our groups and Alan O'Dea looks after us. Looks like the numbers have diminished in terms of trackies since last year. Moved out to point and hooked up with the old team under Sector Marshal, Lawrie Schmitt. Good to see them again after a year. Catch up on some laughs and we tear a hole in the nearest Corporate facility and set up base underneath a stand. Check out all our access points and try climbing in and out. The access point between Turn 13 and 14 is over a tyre wall. Won't be much fun in the wet. Racing was pretty uneventful.

Day 2, Friday 1 Mar: Regular muster. No surprises and praise for a job well done. Everyone's spewing about the double height fencing and lack of access points in the wake of last year's accident. Chatted a bit with an FOA cameraman about his travelling schedule. They wear all black and it wasn't so bad in Melbourne because it was fairly cool this year but in Kuala Lumpur they sweat like pigs and can't take their vests off because it is corporate uniform. Nice bloke. It's always great to hear the high pitch sound of those F1 cars. Webber came out first to huge roar. Minardi had 2 x 2-seaters in Melbourne for corporate guests and personalities. One of the passengers today was Steven Bradbury, the Winter Games Gold Medal Winner who was driven around by Paul Stoddart himself. Bradbury was tripping out when he got out. Very Funny. As usual, I get very pissed off watching the F1 Digital Feed on track and seeing what great quality shots we see compared to the crap we get on regular feed. No dramas. You can really see who is committed or on a hot lap as they come into the corner and the Ferrari was truly smooth through there. Barrichello was putting in some killer laps - red hot. V8's were pretty good as well with a bit of crunching but no spinners or debris.

Day 3, Saturday 2 Mar: Regular muster. Had some pommy photographers pleading with us to take photos through the access points which was a no-no. Couldn't really do much about it considering there are security cameras all around the circuit as well. Something that Nelson always says is "You could be on TV anytime, so don't do anything wrong."

Fred and I were on the outer today between 13 and 14 commenting on how boring it was at this corner re:action when Sato came into the corner in the Jordan already a bit crossed up. We both looked at each other knowing what was going to happen.

He spun and slid sideways into the tyre barrier at a pretty fast speed and then spun back out onto part of the circuit. Did the usual bolt and went through the access point like lightning after we started getting the yellows then the double yellows thanks to the great work of our flaggies.

Fred and I were there first and he was talking on his mic to the team. I asked if he was OK. Helped him out of his car and escorted him back to the access point where Lawrie took care of him. He was a real short-ass. Tiny man.

Went back to the car and recover was already rocking up amazingly quickly - must have come from Turn 12. Picked up the pieces and just was quite amazed at the wreck. The wheel tethers worked well. Craned the car onto the flat top making sure that no wheels caught underneath. It never ceases to amaze me how much heat stays in the wheels even minutes after the car has stopped. That's me holding the tyre while the car gets craned on. All over in about 4 minutes. Pretty good action I reckon.

Qualifying was a lottery because it started to rain towards the end which is the first time this has happenned at Albert Park since the race came over here in 1996. Had to wear our plastic gear which gets very hot and sweaty.

Day 4, Sunday 3 Mar, Race Day: Got my 10 years service at this race so that's a pretty good achievement by my standards. From a bushy tailed and bright eyed marshal at CBC Corner in Adelaide 1993...

At muster we had the very entertaining briefing by the Deputy Senior something copper who explains how the cops are going to be located around the circuit at the start of and the end of the race. Always tells us to look out for any "strange sorts" and for the last couple of years the threat of serial pest - Peter Hore - was always a worry but he was interstate for this Grand Prix. Basically, he says, if we see any weird sorts and there's no coppers around, we can "look after them however you see fit".

Very sombre moment when the F1 Chaplain gave us the Race Day prayer and mentioned Graham Beveridge who died last year. Later we found out that the Team down at 4 had their own private moment of prayer. Very touching.

Race day was very exciting with the first corner incident and then the rest of the race was pretty ho-hum except for Montoya and Schumacher's dice before Schumi romped away. I watched pretty much the whole race on the big superscreen we had and at the end packed all our gear up with the rest of the marshals. Obviously the crowd went berserk when Webber finished 5th in a Minardi of all cars!! It was funny because the ad for Fosters "I believe this a prawn, not a shrimp, I believe..." was being played over and over again and as Webber looked more and more certain of a points finish everyone was so pumped about an Aussie that he said he wasn't sure which was the last lap towards the end because everyone was going berserk everytime he came around for the last 5 laps! Waited for the A-Team to come around and pick all the gear up because the rabid fans try to souvenir anything in sight. I've seen them rip advertising off walls and pocket bits of rubber off the track !!?? . Went back to the muster tent for a coldie. Dropped the overalls off, watched some race highlights and left the circuit.

Top

Albert Park, Melbourne 2001 - TURN 4

This year I was located at Turn 4. We're pretty lucky that we are the first to see the new driver changes and car liveries but because the track is usually a road around Albert Park Lake it gets fairly dusty so you see some sliding and caution on the first day.

Friday: Not really eventful except Schuey's brilliant barrel roll at Turn 6.  Apparently it is the first time he has flipped his car.  A friend of mine at 6 said he was imploring photographers not to take pictures of the car in no certain terms "Get away from the fucking car!!" He spent the rest of the session up in a cherry picker watching his colleagues. Hmmm, Interesting.

Saturday: I spent some time at the turn in to 5 and singled out Schuey, Hakkinen and Coulthard going through there absolutely flat. The commitment of those drivers is phenomenal. I had to take my earplugs out and stand right next to the fence so I could enjoy them blasting past at the turn in just feet away from me. Towards the end of the session Luciano Burti lost it out of 5 and put it in the wall. Aftermath looked pretty full on but everyone was OK.  I really feel for my fellow marshals when they have to clean up carbon fibre debris and car parts strewn over the track. Support events were pretty tame but we did have a Lambo and Ferrari F355 put it in the wall earlier. That Lambo went in sideways with a massive THUD! Didn't look like much from the other side of the track but when you saw the side that hit the wall... When you watch a Ferrari F355 sliding out of control backwards into a wall and then hit, well... you cry, really.

Sunday: We've all seen the accident between Jacques and Ralf and I had a clear vantage point to Turn 3 where it happened. I heard Villeneuve's engine rev really hard after the impact with Ralf and that's what caught my attention. As I turned, I saw the white flash of his car flying through the air and a split second later saw Ralf sliding out across the track into the gravel. At the time I had no idea who had flown through the air only that the car was white (Williams or BAR). I ran around the corner to see the aftermath and see Villeneuve sitting in his destroyed car (mildly in shock, I reckon) and just getting out while Ralf also got out of his car. Ralf went over to him and they seemed to be OK but I could not believe the devastation. Tiny pieces of car were still flitting down from the sky just as the dust was clearing. Then the Safety Car came out and you should have seen Schuey Sr. flip his visor and crane his neck out of the car to see if he could spot his bro when he came around next lap. Then the ambulance came and we all thought it was some minor injuries to a spectator because the level of safety is excellent.  The rest will remain in my memory and sadly we lost a marshal. Tragically, it was his first Grand Prix. Rest in Peace Graham Beveridge. The race continued and Coulthard's overtaking on Rubens for 2nd place at Turn 4 was masterly (a taste of things to come). A bit of argy bargy but clean and fair. The result was as we expected, only Hakkinen's departure was a bit of a downer.

Top