11. Driver Briefing

Before any of the competing championships are allowed to race, all of their respective drivers must complete a drivers’ briefing with a clerk of the course. Sometimes, this can be held either before or after qualifying and it is compulsory for every driver to attend. Failure to attend could result in a driver being fined and even penalized, so it’s vital you make an appearance and show up on time.

The clerk of the course conducting the briefing will go through the standard procedures of the race weekend and point out key areas for track limits, remind drivers of flag signals, penalties and entry and exit points for the assembly area and parc ferme used before and after a session respectively. You must pay full attention to this briefing, as the information contained is imperative to ensure your race weekend goes smoothly. Whether it’s the first or fiftieth time you sit in a briefing, do not take it for granted. While most of the information may be the same as any other briefing, a quick refresher on the basics is never a bad thing.

Please also use this time to ask any questions you may have. Don’t feel embarrassed or silly if you think your question or query is simple or obvious, as there’s no harm in being absolutely sure on something. Besides, someone else may have had the same query but wasn’t confident enough to raise their hand in front of everyone, so if you do so you could helping out more than just yourself!

If you or any other driver is competing at a certain circuit for the very first time, the clerk of the course will ask the question to ensure those drivers are given extra information on getting around the circuit and key corners and areas of the circuit to look out for.