Ahead of the spring rally we sat down with Chief safety officer for ATCL Nicolas Hindy to talk more about safety issues, previous experiences and the all new Special stages in Spring rally.
What were your shortcomings last season and how are you working on fixing them?
Every event we have new problems and errors and we always work on dealing with them, and then another error takes place and we fix it again. It’s an ongoing process and we try to improve from event to event.
Our main challenges every event are the fans who are always in a hype, and it’s very difficult to control them and organize them but we always try our best. In previous years we used to have problems in insuring the right amount of internal forces and army forces. This problem is currently being solved. The number of army forces supplied has increased and this makes event organization much easier.
The “Red Cross” is always doing a great job so they never pose a problem. They have been very supportive and this is fundamental to our work. The civil defense forces are also very supportive. Last year their contribution was very valuable and they have acquired a small fire fighter vehicle that makes their operation inside the stages much easier.
ATCL is always preparing seminars for the safety officers to increase their level of understanding and enhance their capabilities in conducting their Job.
Last year in ROL there were complaints regarding the delay of the ambulance when Walid Tarabay had his accident, how do you explain that?
I totally disagree with this. We followed FIA regulations to the largest extent when Walid had the accident, but for his bad luck the
accident happened in the very back of the section, a considerable distance away from the ambulance’s position. FIA regulations don’t allow an ambulance to go in the opposite direction of the rally stage. The same happened when Gilbert Bannout had his accident in the Spring rally last year. We had a fire fighter truck that immediately put out the fire and an ambulance which directly attended to Gilbert state. It’s a normal feeling that time passes slowly when you are in an accident, especially if you are badly hurt.
Technically what are the characteristics of the “Spring rally” stages?
They are 2 very fast stages, and there is a fewer number of villages in the rally path which means that there are fewer problems. These kind of stages are very challenging especially regarding high speeds which are reached. We are aware that in terms of safety, such stages contain more risks than technical stages. New stages are always challenging just because they are new and our experience with them is still minimal. In terms of general safety and organization issues we are well prepared and ready for the rally.
Are night stages more difficult in terms of organization and safety than day stages?
The main challenge in night stages is visibility. Marshals find it more difficult to control the areas assigned to them. Visibility issues include trespassing inside the rally path and cars entering the stage without marshals ‘notice. Its mainly a visibility challenge no more.
For more info on safety please visit:
http://www.rallyoflebanon.com/
