The following was submitted by FTR member Larry Kuhn
The time has come for us to, as Randy says, "think outside the box". This proposal seeks to answer some of the discontent present with the current schedule of events that we have followed for many years.
Saturday | |
8:30-9:30 a.m. | Practice |
10:00 a.m. | Rider's meeting |
10:30 a.m. | Mini A, B, C, 65 |
12:30 a.m. | COpen, C250 |
C200, C 4 Stroke | |
Super Vintage | |
Vintage | |
Beginner | |
3:00 p.m. | Quads |
4:00 p.m. | Pee Wee |
Sunday | |
8-9:00 a.m. | Practice |
9:30 a.m. | Rider's meeting |
10:00 a.m. | Age and gender defined classes |
12:30 p.m. | AA, A, B classes |
Saturday morning starts 30 minutes earlier than it has in the past. Yes, you will have to leave home earlier to get there for practice. As a result of moving practice earlier, the Minis will consequently start earlier but will still have 2 hours before the next race starts.
The beginner race now starts earlier by 30 minutes. In addition, the C class has moved from late Sunday when the course is bad to Saturday where they should have a smoother course. We have also given a full 2 ½ hours to this race. Options for actual running of this time slot will be for the Vintage and Beginners to race 1-1 ½ hours and for the C and Super Vintage studs to race 1 ½- 2 hours (i.e., the Beginners and Vintage guys will be pulled off the course earlier than the C s and the Super Vintage guys).
Quads remain on Saturday afternoon and can run a full race since the following race (Pee Wees) will not be on the same course.
The Sunday schedule has more freedom with the movement of the C class to Saturday afternoon. The 10 am race is unchanged but now has 2 1/2 hours before the really fast young dudes race at 12:30 pm. These new times will allow for a full GNCC style of racing without cramping the local clubs and their responsibilities.
Objections?
Starts too early on Saturday. Three solutions: camp Friday night, get up early Saturday morning, or skip the practice lap (the practice lap is not mandatory, it is optional).
Too many people riding late on Sunday. Hey, we all (us old guys) have to work on Monday. In order for everyone to get in the amount of riding time they want, we are going to have to stretch our limits. Everybody should be off the course by around 2:30 pm (later if clubs decide to race longer), scores and protest period over by 3:15 and trophies done by 3:45 (We dont have to hand out trophies single file with applause for every participant.) Efficiency will be the key. Everyone should be out the door by 4:00 and most folks home before Monday morning.
Course Marshalls. The last race of the day will be the main event. There will be officials all over the course. The C guys and the A guys will have more officials than they care to see.
Quads and whoops. No change in the race time for the quads. Should be little change in venue.
Still not enough time to ride. Well, this is a preliminary proposal presented as a stimulus for thinking. It is open to change. You guys who want more need to sit down and think through this whole venue. Make changes. Provide suggestions to modify it so it works. Times can change. It would not be difficult to move the late Sunday race back to 1 pm so everybody has 3 hours between races. Hey, think about it: almost 2 ½ hours of racing? Wow! Now check this out, leave the 12:30 race at 12:30 and the AA guys could race nearly 3 hours. Insane!
Larry Kuhn, DMD, MD