I've been involved in motor sports for over 30 years. I attended lots of rallies as both a driver and a navigator. When I was young, even though my car broke down, I could maintain my car because the mechanism of the car was simpler than today. It lead to saving the cost of keeping a rally car. Now, however, the mechanism of the cars has become too complicated for an amateur to repair the car. It became costly to maintain a rally car and I gave up driving it. I'm enjoying the rally as one of the enthusiastic supporters or a course marshal now.
Today one of the rallies of the Japan Championship was held near my hometown and I attended as a member of the rescue team. My task was to stay in the car called FIV - First Intervention Vehicle - at the starting point of the special stage. The regulation strictly requires that medical personnel should be ready for an emergency in FIV. Following the headquarter's instruction, I was supposed to step onto the course first prior to other cars like wrecker trucks and investigate the condition of the entrants and the course itself.
The last picture shows the rescue training. A driver played the role of a spine injured driver. The rescuers removed his helmet and HANS device. They protected the injured driver with K.E.D. The injured driver was taken out of the car and was being placed on the spine board in the picture.
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