Mad With Power: A Day as a Flag Marshall

Story and Photos by Geoff Hoad
On Sunday I spent an interesting day playing at being a flag Marshall for the BMW Club at Eastern Creek, one of Sydney's best racing circuits. You know the saying, "Power Corrupts"? and the extension which says " Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" ? Yes, well that's how I felt waving the flags. :)
This meant I was positioned at the top of the straight and had panoramic views of half of the track. I could see cars coming over the hill behind me then snaking down around and turning in front of me to start down the main straight. Being on a high rise enabled me to see all the way to the Blue Mountains which you can see here in the background. Those funny structures in the background belong to a theme park.
From a photographic perspective I could only take digital shots of cars driving alone. When two or more appeared I had to get ready to furiously wave my flags.
As versatile as digital cameras are, they don't easily lend themselves to action shots. What you see here is a small sample of the many, many shots taken during the day. Some even came out, although I had a collection of empty track shots which were creative and picturesque but lacking any moving machinery! Here is the lone E34 who appeared on the day. Cosmos Black 535i and the driver gave it 100% every time I saw him. As you would expect from an E34 driver!
This is an original John Player Special 323i and therefore a very rare E21. It is absolutely immaculate inside and the engine is so clean and tidy. It has one of the best battery relocations jobs I have ever seen.
Here is the Director of Motorsport for the New South Wales Club practicing what he preaches. The 635CSI at left is a dedicated track car. This doesn't stop the owner from making it into a beautiful piece of machinery. Above, this E46 M3 looked the Duck's Guts and the sound. Just what you expect a BMW to sound like flat out.
A 3.0 CSL with an S50 engine. Did this thing fly!! Not to mention sound awesome. On the right is one of a number of Porches who came to add variety to the proceedings. Very quiet but nice sounding car. And very quick as well!
Driven by an American expatriate, this was the second quickest 318i on the track the whole day. Not bad for a second time out effort! And finally, the quickest car in the four cylinder class. A pristine Diamondschwartz E30 318is which puts out about 150 hp and just flies.