Matt Neal's comments in MN

[ADnet]

Indeed, there have been a lot of good points made here regarding the marshalls doing their job properly, and that yes infact the Neal's are infact moaners. And i totally agree.

The marshalls do an excellent job, and just because one silly little school boy spits his dummy out, doesn't mean anytrhing to me, if the car needs moving, you move it, and to a degree, regardless of any more slight damage that may be caused.

Marshalls, Big Thumbs up, keep up the awesome work!

Matt Neal, please, shut up and let people get on with their jobs, we don't tell you how to drive, so just get on with it.

[BeansBeansBeans]

Matt Neal seems a decent guy, but he does have a petulant streak which rears it's ugly head whenever he ends up on the wrong end of an incident. TD were genuine 'People's Champions' in 2005, but the comments being made by Neals Jr and Sr are slowly turning public opinion against them. Criticising marshals in this way is beyond the pale.

[BDunnell]

I for one hope that someone representing the marshals at Rockingham or more generally has a letter published in the next Motoring News refuting the remarks.

[Bezza]

I didn't say they should be pushed out, just have a squad of elite marshalls that covers BTCC, or at least works with the existing marshalls on every post around the circuit.

Not even F1 has something like this. The marshals are awesome and at each track in the country do their job effectively and safely. THEY know the best way to do things, not Big Time Charlie and Son. If I was a marshal and was told by Neal to "F*** off" then I would have clobbered him. There is just no need for that.

Neal should be looking more at why he felt the need to try to drive Turks off the road. Still thinks he's driving a tank.

[Sheila M]

I for one hope that someone representing the marshals at Rockingham or more generally has a letter published in the next Motoring News refuting the remarks.

The last I heard was that this matter was still under investigation. Therefore it will be treated as sub judice. Basically, it means that until the results of the investigation are known, the BMMC is unable to defend itself in the public domain.

What I fail to understand is why MN published the comments in the first place. Only a couple of weeks or so ago they did a four page spread about marshalling and how to get involved and how wonderful the marshals were!

[Sheila M]

If I was a marshal and was told by Neal to "F*** off" then I would have clobbered him.

I think you'll find that the marshal concerned DID "clobber" him - not physically, but in a report to the Clerk of the Course.

Can I add a big THANK YOU on behalf of all marshals everywhere for the support from some of the posters here.

[seatfan]

I am with thew marshalls on this. without them, there would be no racing, so Mr Neal really should be a little bit more careful - next time they might take soooo long to get his car out that it won't be ready for the next race.

[Robinho]

No Marshals = No racing

No TD = no big deal right now to be honest. if their toys are that precious maybe they should pack them back in the pram and lock them away in a garage somewhere

Maybe the Neal's need a little persepective. anything less than a public apology is not enough.

i can accept that anyone can lose their temper, especially after a fairly big shunt, and that those nearest wil bear the brunt, unfortunately this is often the marshalls, and i would presume part of what they are trained to deal with is irate drivers, but to carry on after the event is unacceptable

[unsung hero]

you'd get the wrong people to start with those who want breaks and things plus the only 2 circuits in the country that have live snatch licences are silverstone and donny all the rest have to do it under saftey cars but half the problem of this lies in t.v they don't think of marshals saftey on touring car weekends i've asked many a time for red flags at toca meetings so cars on first lap shunts can be removed properly and all you get is a saftey car but that still dosen't slow down and then you have the odd car that goes in the pits and goes round the track at full race speed to catch up the pack so if you took away t.v we could clear incidents alot better and safer us marshals are all profesional there are many grades and it takes years to reach fire grade or fire tender snatch grade and sometimes under pressure i.e t.v you have to rush thats when cars get damaged even by recovery units on full lifts and when they tow cars back to the paddock and alot of recovery drivers are paid help

[MadCat]

In my opinion marshalls are the unsung heroes of motorsport in general. I think people like the Neal's would soon be quick enough to complain (not that they dont anyway) when a race they're in is cancelled due to lack of marshals.

I marshal regularly on rallies and the amount of abuse (used loosely) we receive from a small minority of crews is unacceptable .. considering we have the power to report them straight to the CoC or event official as soon as we like. I hope both Matt and Steve Neal apologise to the marshal (or marshals) he told to f*** off publicly as behaviour like this puts marshalls off, i've heard of a few marshalls who now refuse to marshal through abusive behaviour!