Knee Down News caught up with marshal Patrick Connolly

Splitlath withdraw from BSB

Blackburn ready to battle in Superstock 600

ContentsKnee Down News caught up with marshal Patrick Connolly

Dayne Blackburn ready to go in Superstock 600

Splitlath temporarily withdraw from BSB

Dunn gets sponsorship from Twitview Racing

Brookes prepares for race season

Editor:Laura Bryant

Photography: Adam Lines and Ashley Bryant of Bryant Photography

Knee Down News caught up with Patrick Connolly

We caught up with Racesafe marshal Patrick Connollywho is normally found at the side of the track helping the British Superbike race events get underway; without marshals races just wouldn't happen.
Here is what Patrick had to say:
How long have you been marshalling and how did you get involved?
This year will be my 3rd season as a marshal and 2nd as a member ofRacesafe. I got involved afterenjoying abarbeque with the Silverstone marshals one evening. I was introduced to the marshals coordinator, and before I knew it, I was on 'the bank' in my overalls!!Marshaling is dangerous and voluntary, what made you want to start?The love of the sport is what really pushed me into becoming a marshal. I always wanted to get involved in bike racing in some capacity, but being ridiculously slow on
a motorbike and having no money to race, marshalling seemed to be the obvious choice really!!Talk us through a typical pre-race weekend. (ie training)The week leading up to a race weekend for me consists of preparing all the essentials I'll need to make the meeting as easy and comfortable as possible for me really.Plenty food and drink,2 sets of overalls, waterproofs, passes etc. And not forgetting to check the final instructions on the marshals homepage!!Talk us through what you do at race weekends..I usually arrive at the circuit Thursday afternoon as I prefer to set-up early and be ready for Friday morning stress free!!I'll sign-on around tea-time,catch-up with friends, then have a wanderaround thepaddock. Friday morning, on post at around 8am, between us we will distribute the fire bottles around the corner we're on for the weekend and make sure we have a scoop (metal stretcher) at hand.Make sure we have brushes, a spade and cement dust, for oil spillages, and the required amount of flags for the flag marshals.We'll check our section of track for debris or oil.Arrange ourselves into groups and work a rotation pattern so we're not covering the same sectionall day.
Our Incident Officer (section leader) will give us a daily briefing on Do's and Dont's and inform us of any changes we aren't aware of. We will thendo a scoop practice, where wereplicate the safe removal of an injured rider after he has come off his bike and isunable to move himselfdue to injury.This procedure is usually performed with the paramedic on your corner.

You're very passionate about the sport, so for you, what is the best thing about being a marshal?Being part of such a fantastic sport and the feeling that, in a small way, you're contributing to the successful running of the mostcompetitive domestic race series in the world.If someone is reading and would like to get involved with marshaling but they don't have too much time on their hands, how many events do the have to attend or is it up to you?For people wanting to get involved, i think there is a minimum of around 4-5 events per season required, and of those events, you are required to marshal at least 2 of the 3 days of the meeting.

Us fans see that marshals get along well, do marshals have many social events away from the circuit?There isgreat camaraderie between the marshals and medics, we all seem to get along well with each other, so a good sense of humour and broad shoulders are helpful if you fancy joining the ranks.During the season there's usually something going on to bring us all together, andmost weekends on the campsite, thereis a medics v marshals quiz.If there is anyone that is reading this and wants to become a marshal, how do they go about doing this?New marshal applicationsbecome available around October/November time each year.To obtain the application you need to log-on towww.racesafe.organd follow the links.Once all paperwork is submitted and accepted, you need to attenda training day, which is both classroom,and outdoor/practical focused.When all this is completed, you are then ready tomarshal you'refirst meeting!!

We would like to thank Patrick for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer the questions. Here at Knee Down News we thank all of the marshals for doing a grand job beside the circuits across the country, we wish you all a successful season.

Josh Brookes has been at home in Australia over the British winter months but is preparing to return to the UK and his Northern Ireland home ahead of the race season as he targets to test his Tyco Suzuki in the coming weeks.

The Aussie has been training hard in the Australian sunshine over the off season with plenty of cycling and riding motorbikes to keep himself fit. However the 29-year-old decided to put a twist on things when he jumped a jet-skii; which you may of seen on his twitter site.

Although Brookes was the most consistent rider last season he aims to go one step better this year as he wants to get himself on the top step of the podium more often in 2013.

News in brief

Blackburn ready to go in Superstock 600

Dayne Blackburn will return to the National Superstock 600 series for 2013 as he is set to switch from Suzuki to Yamaha on board an R6.

Blackburn was offered to ride in the Triumph Triple Challenge last season but with sponsorship so hard to find the budget couldn't be found and the youngster thought his dream was over. Although a call from AyeGee Suzuki put plans firmly in place and Blackburn was entered in the Superstock 600 class.

The Worthing based rider continues his journey in the Superstock 600 Championship this year and with the experience and knowledge of the circuits from last season and a new Yamaha of which he has already tested, Blackburn is a force to be reckoned with for the year ahead.

Dayne Blackburn said: "Everything the team and I have achieved so far is amazing and I wouldn't have done it without them.

"I look forward to my future in racing and continuing on this path with a great family, sponsors and team alongside me. The 114 Club is a massive part of our team which is helping us get on track this season. We have some amazing people that have joined the team whether it be companies or bike enthusiasts."

To get involved with Dayne Blackburn and the 114 Club, check out Dayne's website here.

Dunn gets sponsorship from Twitview RacingTwitview Racing have announced they will be sponsoring Bespoke Racings' Jay Dunn in the Ducati 848 Challenge for the season ahead.

Dunn who has championships to his name along with snatching lap records off Casey Stoner in his 125GP days will now make the step up to the Ducati 848 Challenge series.

Jay Dunn said: "It's real great working with Twitview, Rob and the guys are true boys who give a down too earth view on things which makes it easy to be able to say what you want and need. I've grown a great relationship with them in such a short space of time and there ability too gain sponsorship and get your name out is obvious, both with this and the sponsors they already have on board for me and bespoke racing! I look forward to a fruitful future with them and can't wait to get on track and show Twitview and the paddock how effective and important there job is!"

"I am very excited for the 2013 season. I think I've made a positive pick of riders to be sponsoring this year, and hopefully we can see Jay and Twitview grow in many ways, weve got help from Italsport for Jay" added Twitveiw Racing manager Robert.

Splitlath withdraw temporarily from BSBSpiltlath Redmond have announced they will be withdrawing from the British Superbike championship temporarily due to the ill health of owner John Dimbylow.

The squad had their 2013 plans ready and waiting to go with Mark Aitchison and Jakub Smrz on board their Aprilia RSV-4s as they were aiming to be building on the development of the bikes throughout the season.

However co-owner Derek Redmond said this withdrawal does not mean the end of the team.

"We would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere apologies to all out loyal fans and supporters as well as our suppliers and most of all Piaggio UK, which has contributed greatly to the teams effort for this and over previous seasons.

"This is by no means the end of Splitlath Redmond, it is simply an unavoidable and necessary action which the team is being forced to take at this time and we look forward to returning to competitive racing very soon." added Redmond