Become a Motorsport Official

Your first step to becoming an official to to get your Official’s Licence.  For car racing in Australia there are several sanctioning bodies.  Motorsport Australia is the official Australian governing body accredited by the FIA; there is also AASA and RACERS who operate accreditation services that are not affiliate with the FIA.

Motorsport Australia has delegated its authority to Karting Australia for karting related events and ANDRA for drag racing.  For motorcycle sports Motorcycling Australia is the governing body.  If you’re interested in officiating at any of these events you will need to follow their processes to become an official.

No matter which events you plan to officiate at, Smarties Racing recommends you get your Motorsport Australia officials licence and then register for the other bodies.  During this process you will require a Working with Children Check unless you are in Western Australia; depending on state, this can take some time to process, so we recommend starting this first.

You’ll need to begin by registering for the Motorsport Australia portal.  This will assign you a member number which will be used to identify you at all MA sanctioned motorsport events (as an official, driver, coach or any other role).  Once you have your login you will be able to complete the General Official course in the training section of the portal before applying for a licence in the applications section of the portal.

To become an official through AASA you will need to create an account for the AASA Portal and follow their process.  At the time of writing two references are required from AASA senior officials as part of this process.

To become an official with Racers you will need to create an account on the Racers World portal and nominate your skills and venues you’d like to officiate at.  At the time of writing Michael has been signed up with Racers for approximately 2 and a half years and hasn’t found any events in Victoria.

Now you’re accredited it’s time to get trackside.

Almost every weekend there are events all across the country, unfortunately there is no single place to find all of them.  At Smarties Racing we use 4 main sources to find what events are on:

• Motorsport Australia events calendar
• AASA events calendar
• Motorsport Australia events entry system (within the MA portal)
• Racers events calendar

As well as these sources, there are many motorsport clubs and officials organisations that maintain calendars of events they run or have been invited to attend.

Remember, when starting out you don’t want to go straight to a Formula 1 or Supercars event; get some experience at the club and state level events first.

Once you’ve decided on your first event it’s time to work out what role to try.  Roles at motorsport events are incredibly diverse; from flag marshalling through recovery, from fire/rescue to supply, different roles will suit different people.  Michael was lucky when he started, he knew what role he wanted to try, if you aren’t sure then contact the event organisers and find out what roles they need filled.

If you’re in Victoria and want to get involved with circuit racing you can reach out to us and we’d love to help you get started.  From helping to find an event to how to apply and even helping with some of the gear to make you more comfortable, we’d love to help you on your journey.

After a few events and trying some different roles you’ll likely have found something you enjoy.  Most states have clubs or organisations to support marshals, we highly recommend joining one of these.

Many of these organisations provide benefits such as subsidised clothing and trackside gear, early access to event opportunities and also a network of peers with similar interests.

Once you’ve made it this far your journey has only just begun.  As you progress through your motorsport journey you’ll likely try different roles, increase your qualifications and skills in some roles and may even move into event command or administration and play a role in running some events.  Given time you’ll get opportunities at large and international events, you’ll travel to events you’d only thought about watching on TV and one day may even be involved in race control at a Formula 1 event or similar.

Although Smarties Racing is mainly focussed on circuit racing, the information here applies to almost all forms of motorsport.  Though the organisations I’ve mentioned you can get involved in circuit racing, rally, hillclimbs, dirt tracks, observed section trials and more.  If you’re into karting or motorcycles you’ll find the process is very similar.  If anyone can share some detail about drag racing officiating please let us know.

If you aren’t in Australia, you can still get involved.  Find your local FIA Sporting Member and enquire with them about how to get involved.