Marshal Drill™

Marshal Drill study guide

Everything the practice rounds and exams test, from setting up a stage to closing it. ARA's rulebook covers what competitors must do. Stage setup and marshal duties come from each event's ARA-approved safety plan and marshal instructions, so those are cited too. Reading it takes about 20 minutes. It isn't required, but it covers every answer the exams look for.

Words you'll hear

1. Your job, in one line

• Stage marshal: close your road or post, keep the public off the stage, signal the course cars, and report anything that happens.
• Spectator marshal: keep the public in safe, taped areas, move them out of danger politely, and report problems early.
• Drivers and co-drivers must follow marshals' instructions (RCR 4.1.7), and ignoring them is an infraction (6.4.8). Even so, you don't direct the race. Tell drivers and co-drivers what's happening, and leave decisions to Net Control and officials.
• You have no power to arrest anyone. Your tools are courtesy, a clear explanation, and your radio.

2. Before the stage

• The stage road closes to non-rally traffic about an hour before the first car, or whenever your safety plan says. Every access is blocked with a vehicle or barrier.
• Park across the side road you're blocking, far enough back that a car missing the turn can't hit it. ARA's blocker guide says to take the distance you think is safe and double it, and to leave an escape route for a car that misses the turn (parking on the inside of a corner is a good start). Stay clear of thrown rocks, and expect Course Opening to reposition you if needed. Then watch from a safe spot, not beside your car.
• Put any downed banner tape back up first. Where it's likely to be broken, add a second row, and reset broken tape as soon as it's safe. Wear your vest.
• Both ends of the stage get a physical block too. The finish exit matters most: a vehicle that gets in there meets the rally cars head-on.
• Never move or remove stage arrows and caution signs, and keep people from standing in front of them.
• Bring food, water, warm clothes, a flashlight and batteries, and a full tank. Leave the alcohol at home. FRS radios and scanners are welcome.
• Be in position before spectators arrive, and stage-ready before the course cars.

3. Danger zones and safe places

• No-go: the outside of corners, straight ahead at junctions and hairpins, escape roads and run-offs, jump landings, ditches and anywhere below road level, and right at the road edge.
• Also avoid: log piles, walls and fences near the road, and banks on the outside of a corner that slope up and could launch a car.
• Safer: high ground well back from the road, ideally behind a tree line or something solid, and well back on the inside of a bend.
• Never assume drivers can see you. Drivers "can and will leave the road with no notice."
• The LSPR handbook's setbacks: at least 150 ft at intersections and 500 ft straight-on, always leaving a path for run-off.

4. Spectator areas

• At ARA events, yellow banner tape usually marks the spectator area (stand behind it), and red tape marks no-go areas. Your safety plan sets the colors and distances, often with a diagram for each area.
• Each area has taped viewing spots, a radio operator, a medic, marshals and controlled parking that keeps ambulance access open. Parking goes on one side only.
• Spread marshals across the area, with at least one at each end, all in safe spots.
• Crossing points are marshaled on both sides. Under the LSPR handbook, spectators may cross only before the 000 car, and then they stay in place until the green light.
• The start and the space from the flying finish to the stop control stay free of spectators. ARA's sign setup puts the yellow flying finish warning 100 to 200 m before the red flying finish board, usually 200 to 500 m from the flying finish to STOP with stopping forbidden in between, and the end-of-control sign 25 to 50 m after STOP. The finish is never on a corner.
• Never move the tape closer to the road. If an area is full, send people to the overflow spot or another published area.

5. Course cars and your signals

• Thumbs up: all is well at my post. Crossed arms in an X: there's a problem, so stop.
• Marshals don't use the SOS or OK signs. Those belong to the drivers and co-drivers (RCR 5.15).
• If 00 doesn't stop for your X, signal the 0 car the same way. If you have no radio, the course cars are your link to the stage captain and Net Control.
• Only the Clerk of the Course can let anyone onto the stage once it's closed, and no one goes in after 00.

6. When something happens

• Driver and co-driver signals: the OK sign or a thumb up means no medical help is needed. The SOS sign or crossed arms above the head means they need help (RCR 5.15.2, 5.15.4, 5.15.8).
• Car off, driver and co-driver OK: note the car number, time and place, and pass it to radio.
• SOS: get it to radio immediately. Following cars stop: the first gives aid and the second reports at the next radio point (5.15.9).
• Reporting: say where (stage, mileage or route book instruction), the car number (no names on the air), the time, and whether there are injuries or medical help is needed. On the air, say only "Driver and co-driver OK" or "Injuries are being reported and medical help is being requested."
• Keep blocking your road, but be ready to move aside for emergency vehicles. Don't pull an injured person from a car unless there's fire or another immediate danger, and don't move a car with someone inside. Help only to the limit of your training.
• Triangle out: a stopped car is ahead, so following cars slow down. Drivers and co-drivers collect their triangle before moving on (5.15.1, 5.15.7).
• On the emergency list: injuries, uncontrolled fire, a breach of stage security (a civilian car or people on the road) and a completely blocked road (5.13.2, 5.13.3, 5.15.2).
• Don't help, or let spectators help, a car in a ditch. Fight a fire only while it's safe.
• Stopping a competitor is a last resort: someone on the road who won't move, or a civilian vehicle on the stage. Use crossed arms in an X, big and moving, from a safe spot with a long sight line. Tell the driver and co-driver what's happening, give no other instructions unless officials direct you, and report it.
• Stopping, re-pacing or cancelling the stage is decided by officials through Net Control (RCR 5.14).

7. Talking to the public

• Be tactful, patient and courteous. Explain why, and show people where they can watch instead.
• Keep children supervised and dogs on a leash. Use camera flash only once the car is alongside.
• At a spot that isn't a published spectator area, explain that it's restricted for their safety, point people to the nearest published area, and tell them the stage may be cancelled if they stay.
• If people still won't move, tell radio or the next course car. Warn them politely that the stage may be cancelled. Course cars can and will cancel a stage over unsafe spectators.
• Report anyone hiding stage-side outside the taped areas. Don't walk down a stage to move them.
• Never threaten arrest. Keep the road permits handy if someone challenges the closure.

8. After the stage

• Never assume the stage is finished because no car has come for a while. Gaps mean stoppages or holds.
• If the stage runs again, stay for the next run. Leave with your captain so everyone is accounted for.
• Nothing comes down until the green light on the stage's last run. Then take down the banner tape and signs at your location, return signage to your captain, take your trash, and encourage spectators to take theirs.

Where the rules come from

Your event's safety plan, briefing and stage captain take priority over this guide. Times and distances vary by event. Rules are paraphrased, and the 2026 RCR on the ARA's Sportity board is the authority.