RACEGUY Reviews

Where Were You?

Let me start by saying, I’ll keep this short in order to get it up on-line a little more expediently (that means fast, I think). I’ll just try to summarize a bit and fill in the fine points once I get a look at Tammy Devlin’s notes. Believe me, I will leave a lot of blanks that need filling, and you may have questions I have to chase down answers for. Don’t forget, you can leave your thoughts and questions at “comments” at the bottom of this column.

I will also quickly apologize for the odd “tint” the photos appear to have. I hate being intrusive, so I set the camera for very low light so the flash would not be going off in people’s faces and causing a distraction. I’m also a crappy photographer.

I’m not sure why it should matter a damn to me, but it does, so I’d like to extend a thanks on behalf of the motocross community to everyone who took a couple of hours out of their Saturday to listen and speak on behalf of just over 450 license holders here in the region. The people in that room this morning deserve a round of applause.

Turnout for your AGM may have been up slightly, but I am still resentful of those who passed on this opportunity and will now start questioning and, yes, complaining. My best guess would put a total of somewhere near 60 participants in the room when the group was at its maximum. This might sound halfway reasonable until we deduct the promoters, competition committee, rider reps, etc. Those people alone account for 18 or more of our number today, or almost a third if you’re doing the math.

We should also factor in the number of non-voting hands in the room. I am not a license-holder, I do not vote. Riders’ girlfriends, boyfriends, multiple family members, and hairdressers do not get a vote. One license, one hand in the air. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of hands to represent the entire motocross community here in the region, but that, apparently, is how the majority want it.

The region again owes a debt of gratitude to Larry Northrup for taking on the thankless role of facilitator for the AGM. With barely three hours in which to cram all the questions and discussion, it’s a monumental task to keep this type of meeting on agenda.

Once again, it all began with a blank sheet, and the floor was thrown wide open for questions that would be addressed. One page led to a second, and finally a single, lonely item for page-three. Once again, I will try to be brief and focus on the changes. The fine details will be fodder for another day.

Top of the deck were two items that certainly belonged under the heading “Hot Topics”. As it is at tracks all over North America, “flaggers” or martials were a major concern, but while the issue was initiated from the floor, there were no prospective solutions offered. While we are all in agreement that there is lot of room for improvement, the fact that flagging crews are seldom the same at any two races at the same track, makes any formal training virtually impossible.

One practice that will end immediately is the use of mobile phones and/or the presence of “friends” on the track during the race. Promotors are encouraged to try and find a few stable individuals to act as key people on the flagging team, and the idea of having a “chief martial”, as is the case at Riverglade, is also a suggestion we would like to see taken seriously.

It was also suggested that over the winter, everyone, including potential flag personnel, would have an outstanding opportunity to watch the DVD from the Brett Downey Foundation. I very highly recommend EVERYONE in the sport track down a copy and watch it a time or two before next season. You can get your own personal copy by clicking here - BRETT DOWNEY FOUNDATION While it’s a $10 donation that goes directly to the foundation, I hope you will send them a little something extra for the amazing work they are doing in our sport.

One additional safety concern was the positioning of a region radio at totally blind sections of all circuits. This has been too long coming, and must be an absolute going forward.

I, personally, would rather stick sharp objects in my eyeball than score laps at a motorsport event. I have done it. I’d rather not have to do it ever again. There is no amount of appreciation sufficient for what these people do. Scoring was again called into question. Why stop now? It’s only been going on for over a hundred years.

While I believe it IS the case at every track in the region, it was made clear that a minimum of two scoring teams are a requirement. It was pointed out that no form of motorsport ever challenges a result in which two scoring teams produce identical sheets.

This, of course, brought us to the topic of transponders. Without getting into all the back and forth, it was agreed that the region would revisit feasibility of an electronic scoring system that would travel with the series. I will point out that how these costs would be borne were not a subject of discussion. It must be remembered that these expensive systems do not eliminate the cost of human scoring teams which will make costs for promoters higher, while also increasing the costs coming out of the meager money going through the region, and adding to costs for riders who would be required to rent or purchase a transponder. Enough said on that topic. We will discuss this further once Larry Northrup has an opportunity to do a little costing and cost/benefit analysis. You will be advised.

While it took up a little space on the “hot list”, nothing will change regarding qualified riders borrowing motorcycles to complete their day should the bike they started with suffer a failure once the rider had taken a start in his first moto. It was emphasized, though, that wherever possible, numbers should be changed over (which is easy for riders borrowing the same brand of bike), and more importantly, scoring cannot be guaranteed if race officials are not made aware of the change going to the line. This will be another area where greatly enhanced responsibilities for the staging official will be put into play.

I should point out that while we have allowed this practice in the past, it is a deviation on the CMRC rule book. Today’s decision was to entrench it as a regional amendment to the rules as published. Not a lot changes for us, aside from a greater emphasis on the riders’ responsibility to inform all appropriate race officials. I will make the personal comment, though, that I completely sympathize with the point made by David Estabrooks that this rule affects Pro riders in a significantly different way than any other class. Maybe a meeting between the Pro riders and teams could result in an agreement across the board that, at that level, you must finish the day on the chassis you started the day with. That would be a great compromise on behalf of the riders and let their true Pro attributes shine through.

No matter which track, or region, or country, you will always have the greatest passion expressed amongst the 50cc families. It was very quickly discovered that no one disagreed that safety is paramount above all. The overriding concern appeared to be the blending of the two age groups, even though a two gate drop start has been the norm when the groups are combined, there are still vocal opponents to the practice.

At the end of the “give and take”, it was determined that officials would guarantee separate motos so long as the class gated a minimum of a mere five riders. By way of background, championship points are not issued to classes of less than five riders according to the rule-book, so this is a reasonable threshold for the separate moto concern. I will point out that this region DID generously award points to 50cc riders even when there were less than five, which happened on at least eight occasions this past season.

It happened almost too fast and too smoothly for an issue as loaded as the Veteran class situation, but quicker than a John Force ¼ mile pass, the Vets had agreed to a MAJOR shift in the way the Vet Jt./Vet Master classes will race in 2012.

The initial question revolved around advancing Juniors based on the current 18 point upgrade system used in non age-class divisions. It was made clear that another regional amendment to the rule book could easily put upgrade points in effect. Another suggestion was made, especially considering the hit and miss turnouts in the Master’s class this past year, that the two classes be amalgamated into a single Vet GP class. To my amazement, this was overwhelmingly well received by the Vets in the room and now become a reality, at least for a one year trial in 2012. To the riders, I say BRAVO!

It’s obvious the pro class needs a little energy transfusion. Aside from promises of a healthy number of riders making the jump to Pro for next season, the promoters agreed to discuss implementing one of two options in the coming year. One would see Pro riders exempted from class registration fees and maintaining the “payback” structure currently in place. The other would leave the sign-in fees as is, but offer a guaranteed purse for the class at each track. We’ll see what transpires and how the Pros and the pro-motors do at arriving at a compromise that best for all.

Radios made the agenda this year, but, hopefully, the recommendations made will be put into play for next year. One is the aforementioned positioning of a radio and responsible person at totally blind areas of all tracks on the circuit. The second is the assignment of radios to critical individuals uniformly at every facility to ensure both smooth raceday operations and a higher level of safety for everyone at the track.

The suggestion of track entry/exit lanes (such as you find at Strangs) led back to the topic of pushing bikes to and from the gate. While every promoter will be encouraged to develop dedicated, enclosed transit lanes, a long discussion eventually led to track owners relenting and offering to allow riders the opportunity to ride to staging as directed in the rule-book, which is 1^st gear and no faster than walking speed. In exchange, competitors must accept that ANY violation will result in disqualification and loss of points for the day, and the possibility of a fine in addition should the incident be deemed serious enough. Track officials, rider reps, and members of the competition committee have full authority to enforce this rule. This is a zero-tolerance situation.

Before 2012 dawns, there will be a written procedure in place to be distributed at all races regarding the process of questions, appeals, and protests. By the time we line up for the first moto of next season, everyone will have a clear direction for who to see when things don’t seem quite right. Seems like a simple, elegant solution to me. The same raceday handout will also clearly indicate who your rider reps are and their role as advocates for any rider issues.

Watering during motos was also easily dealt with. This practice will NOT be allowed going forward. Watering for critical dust control situations will take place only between motos and during breaks. Wish everything was that simple.

The remaining items on the flip chart will get a brief mention here. First, the sensitivity of race officials to the “consumers” they serve was a topic of discussion, and it was agreed that a little more thought given to responses and a little more working together would go a long way to remove an imaginary line that sometimes makes it an “us against them” situation. Empathy from both sides is needed but hard to legislate. It was a point well taken, and hopefully it will lead to smoother relations between competitors and organizers.

A youth ATV class was discussed, but at this point, there has been no market and no serious request for such an offering. The industry seems disinterested in making the appropriate equipment or promoting racing at this level, and the participants in the sport haven’t shown much interest, so it is off the table for the time being.

Emergency personnel and equipment made the empassioned discussion list again this year, and there is no question everyone in that room shared equal concerns. This is another outcome that will need a bit more study before any major decisions are made. Promotors were to add to their agenda to discuss what they do and don’t have access to reasonably. Provincial laws will be looked at to see how to best replicate the best teams at each track equally. The Pleasant Valley model of having one of the medic crew call all the shots from the tower was discussed and will hopefully be considered by all operators. Finally, my own personal hope is that we can all put our heads together and agree to nominate a volunteer safety committee to steer these issues and ensure compliance.

Last item on the last page was simple. Do we relocate the ATV motos to different positions on the schedule, for a variety of reasons. Thankfully, it was agreed that the current scheduling was very good for the quad guys as they get to wrap their day before the end of the first set of motos, which just happens to make the track much more user friendly for the 50cc kids who benefit from the flatter smoother track profile left by the quads. From the standpoint of everyone in the room, this was a no-brainer. It ain’t broke, so don’t fix it.

There are a number of other points I like to make, but I promised to drop by the banquet before everyone ran out of steam. Thanks to every single person who participated this morning. I’ll be back to fill in some blanks very soon, and the next column will cover the promoters meeting and 2012 schedule, so don’t go too far away.

Congrats to tonight’s podium people. Thanks to today’s participants. I’ll be back at this page in no time. Spread the word so everybody has an idea how hard we all worked for them today. I hope to see your questions and comments posted on this page. Just scroll down a tiny bit, and click “comments”.

ERRATUM

(That’s latin for

Stuff I forgot)

Well, I made it to the banquet briefly, so I obviously didn’t have time to do a lot of updating here. So, I’d like to apologize to everyone who read this item shortly after it was written, as I now offer new bits and pieces and have forced you to find your way back to the bottom of this (now quite lengthy) page. If you’re wading through this for the first time, please pardon the structure in this segment. The next few paragraphs are things that have come to me after writing the first posted version of this little ramble.

Frank Percey Wilkins photo

There was a significant amount of discussion regarding number plates and rider numbers, (again, as there always is), but the room was in agreement that 2012 is the year the “number frustration”, that also often causes scoring problems, comes to an end. A lot has been said but next to nothing done in the past. The group agreed that the rules needed to be given teeth, and those teeth need to be applied whenever necessary. That means investing your money on bling like anodized plugs and hub-stickers had better not take priority over proper, legible numbers. It would be a costly choice.

Again, a stepped-up role for the staging official, combined with instant communication between staging, registration, and referees, will police problems with improperly numbered riders/bikes. It’s time to read your CMRC rule book very carefully before marrying numbers with plates. A rider with an improper number will get a written warning only once. If a rider shows up at ANY event after that warning, without the number problem corrected, they will be disqualified for the day and will not be returned the entry fee for the day.

ATV riders need to read the rule book VERY carefully and comply fully. Pros are reminded they are also required to have a properly numbered jersey and chest protector.

One more quick item on numbers; (I love great suggestions from the folks on the floor) 50cc teams are all encouraged to apply for two-digit numbers as they are much easier to read and deal with in general. By the way, the time to deal with number issues, no matter who you are, is right now. It gives us all a whole off-season to get things dealt with at CMRC.

Another issue absolutely everybody, and I mean riders, their handlers, moms, dads, aunties and uncles, cousins twice removed, first grade teacher, and EVERYBODY who may have an effect on your life…MUST KNOW. Registration will officially close at 8am on race mornings. That means, you WILL be at riders’ meeting because you have no reason to be anywhere else. Registration will be closed, so you won’t be hanging around there. Even when you bring your best puppy-dog eyed excuse, ANY attempt to register after 8am will AUTOMATICALLY come with a late registration fee. There will be no exceptions. There is no excuse for anyone not having that little task completed before 8am, at which time, you should all be at the aforementioned riders’ meeting and ready to go to the line. For those who will try to test this rule, be fully prepared to pay a premium of $10 per class. We are now aware of this rule over six months from the time it goes into effect. There is no excuse. Come up with a way to get it done by 8am on raceday, or come up with the extra cash. Sounds pretty darn simple to me.

In discussing the flagging and radio situations, I neglected another great idea that we will employ in 2012 and has proven itself all over the world. Track personnel, particularly at more critical points, will be issued VERY LOUD whistles. It’s been proven that the whistles, when properly employed, get the attention of all nearby track people, the medical team, and even some of the riders. It’s a no-brainer…and it’s ingenious. Thanks for that simple, potentially lifesaving change. Now, if I could just convince everyone to adopt the “blocked track” flag. They’re also still working on the “wheels-on-the-ground” flag at tracks around the world.

Frank Percey Wilkins photo

There were a couple of minor changes within the competition committee and the rider reps, including the addition of extra representation for racers. I’ll be posting the details on both very important parts of the organization soon, possibly at the “Breaking News” page. Watch for it.

OK, now that I’ve put the fear of God into everyone, I’d like to go work on a little something regarding the banquet I didn’t go to, and the promotors’s meeting I’m glad I didn’t go to. In case you’re wondering about the schedule for 2012, it looks like we’ll have to wait until the end of November.

In the meantime, you have a whole off-season to get ready for a very promising and exciting new year in 1012. Now, go look after those numbers.