Expert Class

[john collins]

The drawing up of the list of " priority" riders - and then the B & C list is no easy task - and to be honest I am not convinced we are doing it accurately enough.

The problem usually arises when trying to compare the results of different riders - in different events

For example - How does a 12th place in a particular National - compare with 12th place in another. Views on performance in Scottish and Scott - tend to vary greatly.

It gets even worse when you try to compare the results in various Centre Championships - and although riders quite rightly wish their accompishments noted - the variance in Centres is huge - a rider who beats another in a Centre Champ - believes he should be in front of that rider in Brit Champ list - even if the first rider competes in lots of other Nationals etc etc.

It is far from an exact science - in fact it is miles from any sort of science - but what is the option ? Just throw it open - first come first served? Sec examines post box each morning ? Which letter fell through box first ? as entries get full - then wait for complaining phone calls - sorry -(been there done that )- and have sympathy for Scottish sec and Secs at most proper Enduro's now.

I should also mention - that whilst at the outset of the year many are dissapointed at not getting priority entry - each and every year there are events without full adult entry - and so those lowere down the list have opportunity to ride and show thier performance for following year?

This year also of course - with the Masters class now dropped - those riders whose names were on it - now appear in the Expert Class - and whilst they are certainly good riders - and would be high on the list - as I have previously explained - we are sure that many of them only intend to perhaps ride once or twice - and that is why they put names forward.

With this in mind - each year - after both the first & second rounds - the list is re- done - and this usually eliminates the non-attenders and those whose intentions do not always match their ability so to speak.( been there and done that)

Now - to Waynes point - It does look to me that there are a few mistakes - or certainly inaccuracies present - this will be looked at in next few days.

Also - please note that it should say somewhere - Draft 1 - which means exactly that - and allows for errors/changes / wrong inf given to us etc to be ironed out for Draft 2 - and if req draft 3,4 ,5 and so on.

Now - to the future - I have already stated the difficulty in doing it

( it may be a good exercise if we have the time to try to do it as a post on this site - and see if we arrive at so me sort of concencous - or as I suspect we land up in controversy - but I will leave that for now)

- We acept it needs more accuracy

So - intention is for 2006 in first instance will be

Results obviiously taken from any FIM/UEM events

Then - performance in British Champ, Novogar, Youth, and then the diffrence wil be - " a named list of Nationals" - so every rider will know these are to be looked at - as a sort of Qualifying event - and the performance in these events can be more fairly equate I cannot promise it will be 100% straight off - but it would seem a better direction to go in.

The list of these Nationals that will count toward 2006 will be announced very shortly ( will obviously not be able to include those already gone this year or about to run)

We must assume of course with the above that the format for Brit Champ remains basically the same - or else the above idea will not really mean a lot.

This brings me on to Ishy's point - that I must say is often made - if we have all these riders wishing to ride in the Champ - why not just open it up and take huge entries - and let everyone ride? - another topic for debate perhaps? - but it probably needs a new post - however I will say - that Ishys idea that these trials would be great - and the top riders would just have to put up with the easy sections - and like it - is not necessarily so - and in my experience the trials soon tend to cater for the top 10 -15 and within a matter of months the events are exceptionally hard for most riders outside top 40.

We already have the Novogar - which works well for the large number - the Brit Champ is there to cater in a smal number of events for the best 55 riders. ( and allows the topm 5 Youth a chance to compete on the same stage) Sure it can be regarded as a circus by some, - it is certainly not perfect and can be looked at - but I believe that the present Brit Champ actually protects the large, enjoyable Nationals as the C/Course can mark easier enjoyable sections - and swiftly tell any top riders " you have the Brit Champ - if these are too easy for you" ??

I will refrain at this point of mentioning the early Novogar rounds - as it will be interesting to see if the few top names that rode had any influence on severity?

[timp]

Good post explaining how it all works. Nice to know that a lot of thought goes into the selection process.

I had wondered if some form of prepayment system could be used.

Eg;

1. Pay entry fee to the ACU for all rounds in one go and you get priority entry to the events so anyone wanting to do the whole series can.

2. Pay when regs come out for each round and take your chance at getting a ride.

Might not be perfect but you would end up with riders who want to do all the championship getting preference.

Mark T

[boydw]

John, i can appreciate the hassle's you will have choosing the list, but should all the riders with a guaranteed entry, enter, then there will be an overlap of two riders. I know in principle this should never happen, but it might.

Also i have looked carefully at the criteria for selection next year, BC, Novogar, Scott, and a selection of excellent events including Manx Two day etc.

I can potentially see some flaws in the selection criteria

For example a problem may lie in -

Joe Bloggs, has X amount of funding for the year and competes in all the selected trials, having reasonable success, However Jim Bloggs, rides in a few, but beats Joe - Where do you draw the line? with choice of who gets priority. As overall Joe has has good results in all events, but by virtue has the money to compete in all of the events, whereas Jim, can beat Joe, but has not met all the criteria! - (Hypothetically of course)

For the last few years, if you score points from the previous year or get a ride and score points you automatically get a ride in future events. This years list of riders has completely varying levels of riders, some are capable of european championship points, and others in the priority list are still only Novices, and not proven adult riders yet.

This will cause more controversy as some lads (such as myself) will really have to up there game, in order to score BC points - which is all fair and what the series is all about, but myself and other riders do not have the financial support to compete in all the events listed within your set criteria, to be able to make the grade, should we not score the points

I know that i sound like i'm having a whinge - But i have been in the position where i was unable to get a ride in the BC trials- (a few years ago,) after supporting BC events when the BC was struggling to get full entries.

Week in week out i could beat riders who were guaranteed an entry, but could not get an entry in the BC events.

At times it makes you question, whether the practise, time and expense is all worth it, when all you want to do is compete with your friends!

It just seems as though, the interest to ride in the BC is really high, with over 100 riders throughout, the full list. The ACU may want to invest some more time, into the whole series - as the demand for entries is there - Just the supply of rides needs addressing!!

Enough of my whinging - Ta ra