We are getting to the point in the year where the season is almost upon us, we endured the hard winter and soon we will be rewarded with the smell of burning rubber, petrol fumes and Proban. Yet, it seems so far away, with every passing second it seems like it’s getting further away. We’re like a racing car with a puncture limping back to the pits, we can only be getting closer, but it seems ages before we can get back racing.
Patiently waiting for the marshalling season to start like my 17-year-old self.
On these rare weekends when there is no track action we try and occupy ourselves with one thing or another. There is always the option of doing a rally which I tried out last weekend, and you can read about in my last blog. However, rallying isn’t for everyone so we try and ease the pain of no marshalling.
Last weekend, there was no form of Motorsport for me at all, instead I was focused on the other sport that has shaped my life; Rugby! Whilst it may not have an engine, or four wheels, I do believe that having a hobby outside of Motorsport will always help ease the pain of not having the racing at the weekends.
My weekend of Rugby started with some journalism work at the Leigh Centurions Vs Leeds Rhino’s game, Super League returning to the town near Wigan for the first time in 12 years. There were plenty of fireworks at the game, but when the smoke cleared I realised there wasn’t a car in the gravel trap and it didn’t quite cut it for me.
A rare photo that I do stuff outside of marshalling. (Photo Credit – Orrell Penguin)
Another day dawned and it was my turn to lace up my boots and grace the grass with a game of Rugby. Playing for my boyhood team, Orrell Rugby Union against Preston Grasshoppers, it was a good 41-3 victory and I even bagged myself a try. Yet, there was still something missing. I couldn’t decide whether it was a gravel trap I was missing or the different colours of flags?
Whilst the Rugby was a good distraction and seeing some marshalling friends there helped even more, a trip to Nando’s with some very good company helped to remove all thoughts of how far away the season is, to more positive thoughts that the training day is only 16 days away and that’s the true start of the season. To be fair the company became that good it removed all thoughts of anything but the here and now.
The final part of my non-marshalling weekend involved yet more rugby, a spine tingling, hair raising 80 minutes of World Club Challenge Rugby League, which saw the Wigan Warriors beat Cronulla Sharks and bring the title back to England for the first time in five years.
FULL TIME IT'S ALL OVER AND WE ARE WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONS FOR A RECORD FOURTH TIME!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ pic.twitter.com/UVui9S83Jk — Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) February 19, 2017
With the game over my attention turned to marshalling once again and I realised that it was another day closer to the training days. But before that I have a trip to the North West Stages in Blackpool to look forward too first, but this time for a slightly more talkative reason. Something to read about next week maybe.
Written By – Robert Lee (@RobLee559 – Instagram/Twitter)
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