How do you become a steward?

We asked a few race stewards what made them take up the role, and the answer was unanimous: a passion for racing. Which is not surprising, given that the stewards are all volunteers and significant personal investment is required for the role. Many of them are retirees and those who still work take leave from their jobs to pursue their passion.

Before becoming a fully-fledged steward, the volunteers spend a year as trainees, then take a theoretical exam. The keenest among them will then take other tests to move up to more senior positions. Sounds worse than school? Rest assured, although the stewards have a very serious job to do, they form a close-knit community where the atmosphere remains friendly and relaxed. Interested? If you have a love of motorsport and sophisticated racing cars, and come from a technical background, you sound ideal for the role!

The stewards’ job before the race

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the stewards can be seen carrying out a series of administrative and technical checks at the Scrutineering sessions, which take place in full public view in the centre of Le Mans on the Sunday and Monday before the race.

There, the stewards work in three big white tents, where the cars are weighed, have their underside inspected and their safety features checked. While the car is on the weighing platform, a laser system scans it to take some extremely precise measurements. Once that process is complete, a 3D image of the car appears on the stewards’ screen and the figures compared with those on the homologation sheet provided by the manufacturer. If the measurements comply with the data on the sheet, they are displayed in green; anomalies are shown in red.

The stewards then check and measure underneath the car. Finally, an array of safety features are inspected, such as the first extinguisher, the harness, the driver’s seat and the fuel tank, then the lighting system and electronics.

Once they have received the stewards’ rubber stamp, the competitors are ready to take part in free practice and qualifying. Other checks may be carried out between those sessions and the race itself, particularly if a car has been damaged in a spin off track during qualifying.

Tomorrow, we look at what the stewards do during the race.

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, MONDAY 9 JUNE 2019, SCRUTINEERING. The #81 and #82 BMW M8 GTEs on the platform where it is weighed and scanned.