Classic 2CV  24 hours, Snetterton, 8 & 9th August 2009 - By Steve Humphrey, a BMMC & Silverstone Marshal Team Member.

'Why?'

That was the usual response I got from people when I said I had volunteered to marshal at this years 24 hour race for 2CVs. Interestingly, none of these people have ever attended the event. Those that have gave a slightly different response, usually along the lines of 'best weekend of the year, you'll love it!'. So I set off at a stupidly early time on the Saturday morning, knowing that the next chance of any real sleep would be in about 40 hours time.

After a day of cracking Caterham racing, plus some MGs & MX 5s, the 24 hour race started to build up to its 5.30pm start. The marshals were split into 2 teams for the duration of the 24 hours and, being in team B, I had a couple of hours break at the start so grabbed my camera and took up position overlooking Russell's for the rolling start.  And what a sight it was, 27 'tin snails' lining up in formation around Coram curve-not quite Le Mans but the only chance to experience a 24 hour race in the UK this year. The lights went green for the start of 24 hours of proper racing. The drivers were really going for it from the start, with some serious drafting and tyre screeching. I did start to wonder how many cars would be left at the chequered flag if this pace was kept up.

My first shift for the 24 hours started at 6.30pm at Russell In (AKA Fantasy Island) and I joined my shift partner, Stuart, for a 3 1/2 hour stint.  I'm still a trainee so said to Stuart 'I'll let you deal with the radio and follow your lead.' only for him to reply 'I've never used a radio before!'. Luckily this event has to be one of the most relaxed from a marshals point of view.  Race control were well aware that many of us were still trainees and not many of us had radio experience so there was no great pressure to get things spot on. Also, as soon as a car was reported to have stopped on circuit, the safety car was deployed and the car was recovered back to the pits so there was never any reason to go trackside (unless there was a serious incident but 2 CVs are unable to reach a high enough speed to cause one!).

Dusk is always my favourite time of a 24 hour race and this one didn't disappoint.  Watching the sun go down over the paddock while the cars started to turn their lights on was wonderful. There was some very creative lighting going on with some of the cars, with lines of leds on various parts of the car. It definately made it easy to spot some of them, although it was quite a job to read some of the numbers. The cars had to have numbers that could be seen in the dark so any that couldn't were reported to race control. I saw in parc ferme after the race, some had just gaffer taped a mag light torch next to the numbers! Night time also negates the use of flags so all the posts were issued with light sticks (or light sabres, as most people called them!) for red & yellow situations.  These had several settings, from a steady light to various flashing combinations but we only used the steady setting. Unfortunately this required several presses of the switch to reach so  there appeared to be lots of mini discos all round the circuit as the posts got used to them!

My first stint came to an end at 10pm. We had a couple of spins at the final chicane but nothing serious to deal with. I headed back to my tent to try & get some rest before the graveyard shift (2am-6am) on the Revett Straight.

My alarm went off at 1.15am and I really didn't have a clue where I was or what was going on! I slowly came round and remembered where I was and headed over to the paddock where a hospitality suite had been kindly set aside for the marshals, with tea & coffee. There were several more dazed & confused marshals there so I didn't feel so bad. There was a tv with live timing & I was amazed to see several cars within a few seconds of each other after 8 hours of racing! I got to my post at 2am and was joined by Stuart again. It was absolutely pitch black now. The bridge just before the Esses was lit up and the cars looked great coming past us flat out (75mph!). It was a real assault on the senses at that time of night and was slightly surreal, especially when what seemed like one car coming towards us, turned out to be 3 or 4 slipstreaming each other, nose to tail.

About an hour into the shift, we noticed that there was some patchy mist around. We could actually see it rolling in and then, just as quickly, disappearing. A call to race control was in order and they thanked us and said to monitor the situation. Within 10 minutes it was noticeably worse so another call was made. 'Can you tell us whether the lights on the bridge are working' asked RC. 'Err, we can't even see the bridge now!' we replied. Within seconds, calls were coming in from all round the circuit and the safety car was scrambled. Within a lap, we couldn't even see the other side of the track and the race was red flagged. It still hadn't been restarted when our shift ended at 6am and the next crew took over.

I awoke after a good 3 hours sleep to be greeted by silence. I unzipped the tent and saw the fog was still thick and the race was still stopped. At least I had a peaceful sleep! At about 9.15 the sun started to appear through the gloom and the fog cleared as quick as it had arrived and the race restarted at 9.30am. I had some breakfast and got to my next post, the Esses, at 10am. I was with a different marshal this time, Andy, who had been on his own all night so was glad of the company. We were also joined by a Caterham driver, Dave Pearce, who was after an extra point for a days marshalling. It was quite interesting to hear things from a driver's point of view and he said it was good to see how we did things aswell.

Another fairly quiet 4 hours on post, just a few spins and a couple of safety cars to recover poorly 2cvs from the circuit. So I set off back to my tent at 2pm for some food and rest before the last hour and half, when everyone is back on post for the finish. There were certainly lots of rather tired looking marshals, drivers and team personnel wandering around now but at least the sun was shining and the racing was still good. I was amazed at how many cars were still running and the pace at which they were still being driven. There were some cars which consisted of more gaffer tape than bodywork but they still plodded on.

At 4pm I returned to the Esses for the last 90 minutes. Still the cars were at it hammer and tongs and still the 2 leaders were running close together. Unfortunately the Gadget Racing car had to pit with an engine problem in the last hour, ending the scrap for the lead. Rather impressively, the engine was changed in just 9 minutes!! We were all very impressed to see the number 60 car still running. It had turned up on friday as a standard road car and the team had worked through the night converting it to  a race car. It was sounding very ropey in the last hour and we all groaned when it stopped circulating. However, it reappeared with 10 minutes to go,  running very slowly (I'm sure it was being spurred on by the collective willpower of everyone at the circuit!).

5.30pm came and the chequered flag fell and the winner was the Tete Rouge team (for the 3rd time, I think). We all went track side, in true Le Mans style, and waved all the flags as the cars came round on their slow down lap. I found it quite emotional (I always do at the end of a 24 hour race) and I'm sure some of the drivers did aswell, judging by their actions as they passed us. The biggest cheer was for car number 60, that managed to finish at a reduced pace and sounding like a bag of spanners! To me, that team represented the true spirit of the event, which was echoed by other's comments.

So all in all, a very enjoyable weekend. Yes it was tiring, yes the cars were slow but the atmosphere amongst the marshals and teams was great and the race was a corker, with very good driving standards.. It's a shame I couldn't stay for the after race party (an oncoming cold and a warm bed nearby put paid to that) but, after reading some reports on ten-tenths.com, it seems a great time was had by all. A big thankyou must go out for the goody bags and hospitality, also to Peter and Mike for arranging the shift rota-it was good to work different posts and with different marshals, and thanks to the Club and BARC for the generous food vouchers. I will be back in the near future and can recommend the event to anyone. Just go with an open mind and you will enjoy it!

Steve Humphrey