N.S. father-daughter volunteer duo at Montreal Formula One Grand Prix

A father and daughter from Nova Scotia worked the racetrack as marshals at this year’s Formula One Grand Prix in Quebec.

This past weekend, more than 20 racers hit the tarmac at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal where Andy and Kelsey Hill volunteered to help the races go smoothly.

The pair said they’ve worked as marshals at F1 races across the world.

Marshals are volunteers who carry out a variety of roles, including moving damaged cars off the track, or using flags to give drivers important signals.

Andy Hill says becoming a marshal starts with getting experience at your local racetrack, which in Nova Scotia means Atlantic Motorsport Park, and working on building connections with other marshals there.

He said even at the highest level, marshals work to help keep drivers safe.

“[We] make it viable for them to race,” Hill said. “The FIA [Federation Internationale de l’Automobile] chap from England said ‘If a race car driver doesn’t show up, I’m sure they can get another one to do it, but if you guys don’t show up, we can’t race.’”

Hill and his daughter are part of a racing family, Kelsey Hill said.

She was introduced to the sport when she was a child and Andy raced superbikes at Atlantic Motorsport Park.

This year marks her 21st as a marshal, she added.

She said despite the sport being a male-dominated space, the marshals are fairly evenly split between men and women both at the recent F1 event and in Nova Scotia.

“The really cool thing is that we have a lot of women in prominent roles,” Kelsey Hill said. “The president of ARRCA, which is our local marshalling organization in Nova Scotia, she’s a woman. I’m the vice-president. There really is a great representation within marshalling of women.”

This past weekend in Montreal was Round 5 of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Round 6 is set for Monaco on June 7.

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