In 1949, the circuit and garages were all-new and the pit marshals had their own posts, positioned every five garages along the pit lane.

Henry de Kilmaine, who later became vice-president of the ACO and president of the Sporting Commission, was one of the squad of marshals at that time.  He was assigned to Louis Rosier’s garage when the latter took victory in a Talbot in 1950. He has some very special memories of that year’s race, including the disqualification of the Delahaye driven by Charles Pozzi, who would later become the official French importer of Ferrari. The Delahaye’s engine was overheating but a neighbouring farmer came to the rescue, topping the radiator up with milk instead of water!  The car thus managed to make it back to the pits but, although darkness was falling, the ever-vigilant track marshals had witnessed the scene and duly noted it in their report. The Delahaye was immediately disqualified, a decision that provoked outrage from the crowd.

The pit marshals, who were required to demonstrate a minimum level of technical expertise, were immediately recognizable from their stance: notebook in hand, noting the times of entry and departure from the pit lane, the names of the incoming and outgoing drivers, the litres of fuel supplied, and any other work done. Once the pump attendant had done his job, the car had to wait for a marshal’s signal before returning to the track.

At this time, the pit marshals kit also contained a set of wooden wheel chocks fitted with a handle, often painted yellow and blue, the ACO’s colours. They would use the chocks to block the cars’ rear wheels before they set off or during long repair jobs, because the pit lane had a 1-2° gradient.

Other instalments in our series on the 24 Hours of Le Mans pit marshals:

Pit marshals (1) - Trail blazers

Photo : 1951 Le Mans 24 Hours: Notebook in hand, future ACO vice-president Henry de Klimaine supervises work on the Talbot