09. Terry Scannell: View from race control

Sue Stockdale talks to Terry Scannell, a volunteer Motorsport UK race official who is the Permanent Clerk of Course for the Sports 2000 Championship. Terry explains what it’s like being in Race Control and having overall responsibility for the general conduct and control of a race event, and how he deals when unexpected situations like a change of weather, which can make life a little trickier for everyone involved.
Terry Scannell began marshalling on track as a Flag / Incident Marshal in 1969 and went on to assist Steve Bradley with running Karts in 1972 and Mark Dunham in Formula Ford 1600; then from 1973 running a fleet of Van Diemen Formula Fords, F2000 and a Lotus 69 F2 Chassis in Formula Atlantic. Over the years he has worked with other race teams, including assisting Colin Thorpe to run Ralt RT1, Argo JM6, Chevron B34, B38, B47 and March 773 F3 cars in the British F3 Vandervell Championship and European F3 Championships, and other F3 and F2 cars in the Monoposto Championship, winning this Championship outright in 1982 and 1984.
He has concentrated for the last 20 years being a volunteer Motorsport UK Clerk of Course working with clubs such as MSVR, HSCC, CSCC, BRSCC and MGCC, and is currently Permanent Clerk of Course for Sports 2000, Clubman’s Sports Prototypes, Monoposto Championship, Teideman Championship and F3 Cup.
About Sports 2000:
The Sports2000 Championship has been established since 1977 and features three championships - Duratecs, Pintos and Historic Pintos. Over the years several of the drivers have gone on to compete in British Touring Cars, Le Mans, F1 and other international series.
Website- https://sports2000.co.uk
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/srcc_sports2000/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/Sports-2000-Championships-327158720703344
Twitter- https://twitter.com/SportsCarChamp
Key Quotes:
“I try to make it as painless as possible for the drivers concerned. At the end of the day, they're our customers from the point of view of the club organizing the meeting”.
‘When I was 14, I started marshalling at Snetterton as a flag marshal/Incident marshal which you could in those days at that age. There were no such things as safety cars, red flags and if there was an incident, we jumped down off the bank and dealt with it right in the middle of the actual race.’
‘It's basically very similar to the race director role in F1. You're having to make decisions based on what you're seeing happen, dealing with sudden changes of circumstance.’
‘I'm not one of those Clerks of the Course that locks myself in a dark room all day and never talks to drivers unless I'm printing out a judicial form with a penalty. What I really enjoy is the part of getting out in the paddock.’
‘I do find is one that helps to build a degree of respect between the competitors and the Clerks in that we actually try to understand their situation.’
‘We want to get the right answers for all the drivers concerned and make sure that everybody gets their full enjoyment of the meeting in the right manner.’
Support for this podcast comes from Broad Town Brewery – the microbrewery in Wiltshire with big ambitions. www.broadtownbrewery.co.uk
Sound Editor: Matias De Ezcurra
Producer: Sue Stockdale