The Green Flag Is Up

But what about the others?

 

April is the month when the green flags go up, when many of the clubs launch their first rounds and when chomping at the bit riders get their chance to race.

Whakatane and Tokoroa are already up and running, but this weekend, there is still MX action a plenty in all directions.

Cambridge is hosting the first round of its Winter Series at the Leamington track, the Taupo MX Series gets under way at Digger McEwen and there’s the School MX event at Ardmore on Sunday and another at Huntly on Friday.

So let’s talk race track flags. Race flags give information to the riders.

Some of it is happy information.  The Green Flag for go and the White Flag for last lap (so go for it) are familiar ones and rarely misunderstood. Everyone also knows what the Chequered Flag means, each rider hoping that he or she will be the one to see it first and have the glory that comes with winning.  

But what about the other coloured flags?  - The yellow, red and black flags ones give warning information.

The Yellow Flag is a very important WARNING flag. The Yellow Flag means there has been a crash ahead.  Riders must slow down. Proceed with caution.  There is NO Jumping and NO passing until the accident area has been passed. These rules are vital for the safety of those involved in the crash, those – ambulance staff etc – dealing with the accident and also for the other riders on the track.  The No Passing rule is also for fairness. Passing and gaining a place because others are obeying the slow down rule is absolutely not acceptable.

The Red Flag indicates something serious has happened. Riders must STOP and TURN OFF their bikes.

If an individual rider is given the Black Flag with his bike number on a board, it means something is wrong with his/her bike. The rider must STOP as soon as possible and come off the track.

Make sure you obey these flags.  If you don’t, you could be disqualified, fined or worse. Hopefully, the "happy info" flags are the only ones you’ll see.

The last flag is the purple flag. The Purple Flag is the protest flag and is for Junior & Senior MX only. The clerk of the course and the steward designate an area for the placement of the purple flag and the placement is announced at riders’ briefing. A competitor who wishes to make a protest must indicate the protest to an official in the purple flag area by raising the purple flag.  This must be done after competing in a race but prior to returning to the pits. Check out section 7.1.3 of the MNZ Rulebook for details.

Full information on the flag rules is in the MNZ manual section 6.18.2

And just a note re the marshalls. The marshalls are the people with the yellow flags stationed at strategic points around the track. They have a very important part to play in the safe running of an event.   Without them, there is no event.

If a club asks you, as a spectator, parent or non-competing rider, to man a yellow flag, please do it with a smile.  The club does not want to spoil your day. It just wants to provide a safe racing environment.