Tiny Racer with a big, big heart

Taws takes the time to thank volunteers

NIKA ROLCZEWSKI SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Track Workers often unappreciated

Last year, after competing in her Barbie-sponsored Formula 1600 race car at Montreal's Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve on Grand Prix weekend, Ashley Taws was ready to pack up for the day when her father, Peter, told her she had one more obligation to fulfill.

Taws was to visit the volunteer track workers' party and thank them in person for the work they do. Taws was reluctant at first: "Why would they want to see me?" she thought.

In fact, the volunteers not only wanted to see her, they were thrilled that she had found the time to come over and sign autographs and didn't want to let her leave. What her father had promised would take only 20 minutes actually lasted more than an hour. Her team had to finally go and get her.

Taws' display of goodwill and camaraderie toward the volunteer track workers is a rarity in the world of motorsports, where the hard-core racing fans who willingly give up their time and energy for the sport they love rarely get a such heartfelt personal thanks from the professional drivers they serve.

And those volunteers play an essential role. At the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal this year, there were about 750 volunteers, performing flagging duties around the track and also acting as safety crew members, spotting potential track hazards.

"We have flaggers come from all over the world, such as Belgium, Germany, France and England just to work for this event," says Claude Giroux, managing director of the volunteers in Montreal (or the "secretary of the meeting" as the F1 governing body, FIA, would have it).

Josée Riopel has been flagging for 13 years at various race tracks and competitions, and met Ashley at the Mont-Tremblant track last year. Seeing Taws show support for her and the other volunteers on Grand Prix weekend in Montreal means a lot to her.

When she heard that Taws had been involved in a car crash last December while driving on the road, Riopel had the whole regional club sign her get-well card. "Not many drivers take the time to come over to say thank you," says Riopel. "We remember her."

Carolyn Paquet, a fellow marshal, was similarly grateful. "Seeing Ashley here is my pay for the weekend," she says.

After all, a track volunteer's job is not an easy one. When a race car stops on the track or crashes into a barrier, it's the safety team that goes to work. When there's an engine fire, drivers run away from the car and the workers run toward it.

It can also be dangerous. Marshals rely on a buddy system of each watching the other's back in case of oncoming danger — but even that may not be enough. The death of track worker Gary Avrin, who was struck by Jeff Krosnoff's disintegrating car at the Molson Indy in Toronto in 1996, remains a painful reminder of the potential hazards that track marshals face.

What makes these men and women use up a weekend to volunteer for this? Is it the opportunity to meet some of the Formula One drivers?

Not really, according to Patrick Larré, an eight-year veteran from France. Most F1 drivers are unapproachable anyway. "It's a closed area where we rarely get to see them, unless of course there is an incident on the track," says Larré. "I know they appreciate what we do — they wave."

He does not remember a Formula One driver ever showing up to the volunteers' annual barbecue in Montreal.

So what's the attraction, then? "It's the people here, the camaraderie, the family we become," says Larré. "It is dangerous, but you trust the people you work with to help you in a risky situation."

At this year's Montreal Grand Prix, Ashley Taws and her father had 1,000 patches made with a Barbie design on them to give to the workers, who decorate their outfits with patches from racing events they work at.

Why the special token of appreciation this year? "Because many of the e-mails, notes, cards and flowers Ashley received after her car accident last December were from these people," explains her father. Many of the volunteer workers at Montreal have become friends with the Taws Racing family and regularly stop by for a chat.

Their appreciation for her appearance at their get-together is apparent from the roar of the crowd when Taws arrives.

An hour later, she's just a tiny figure still surrounded by burly workers asking for an autograph or picture. Her father looks forward to this event all weekend. His daughter may be just a Formula 1600 driver but she has Formula One plans in her future.

Will they remember her? Of course they will. How could they forget?