NSW MOTOTRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP. Is 7 counting rounds to many.

[Steve Holzhauser]

The proposed NSW Titles that are to be run this year is a big ask for most riders if the whole seven rounds are to be counting rounds.

Is there any other NSW riders that have concerns of such a high number all counting round series.

Over the last couple of seasons Queensland had held a series of up to 10 events that have six best counting rounds. This has attracted a great field at most of the events, and has provided a window of opportunity for the riders to select which rounds they can fulfil to stay alive in such a long series.

Would a format like Queenslands be more appealling, with say four or a maximum of five events being counting rounds from the seven events proposed. This leaves a window for riders to select events that most suit them.

With the riders that are not centered around Sydney and Canberra the programme is a challenge to travel the vast distance to stay in contention.

The other obstacles that come to mind are unforseen injury or sickness.
My other major concern is with the date of the Coffs Harbour round clashing with the long weekend Queensland Championships.
I have discused this clash of dates with other riders that wish to be involved in our home State Series and participate in the Queensland Titles. All are very disappointed at the clash of dates.
From the Northern end of NSW a large group of affiliated riders are regular entrants in Queensland events, and find that a NSW round so close to them so very welcome as it is a long time since this has occured.With both events falling on the same weekend it will either eliminate them from competing at the QLD Championships or it will eliminate them from staying live in their home State series.

What are your thoughts, would a four or five counting rounds out of the seven proposed rounds be more appealing / practical / desirable?

Steve.

[Stu]

Steve what is the proposal for the Coffs harbour round? I'm trying to get my work roster sorted so I can ride as many Trials this year and the Coffs round is ideal for me as it is.

[David Lahey]

Stu don't forget the Coffs Harbour round of the NSW titles is on the same weekend as the Denman 2-day.

[Tony C]

Steve,
your points are quite valid & we acknowledge your concern, from the riders point of view.
For the last few years trials in NSW has been in decline so after much discussion the current Committee decided to go all out to promote the sport & try encourage new riders to participate & hopefully stop other riders from retiring.
A number of issues have been resolved but there are still others to sort out.
It was decided for 09, with the help of the promoting Clubs, to hold the 7 NSW Title events as well as 1 non Title Open (Womens Cup) as well as the Aust Titles.
We did consider your concern of not all Opens being a Title event however decided against this.
One predominant reason was that it would be unfair on the promoting Clubs if riders were to pick & choose the events they wanted to ride. The Clubs need to be able to locally promote the events in an effort to entice spectators & hopefully gain new riders.
Also, two of the events are in regional centres where rider participation is of high importance.
Riders are still able to decline an event but this will obviously mean a loss of Title points.
For the past few years there have only been 4 active Open promoting Clubs in NSW.
Coffs Harbour have decided to join us this year, their Open to be on the June long weekend & the Committee will all be working hard to ensure this event is successful & run in future years.
There will always be a clash of events between States but as a Committee we must put our own riders first, as I'm sure Qld & Vic do. Luckily this issue does not come up all that often.
We do take NSW riders & the other States into account. In NSW we never run an event at Easter. This leaves the way open for any riders to compete at Glenmaggie or in Qld. Being a long weekend we could easily select this weekend to run an event but choose not too.
We are proposing further minor changes in an affort to promote trials in NSW & to make it more accessable to new riders.
At the end of 09 the Committee will assess all issues & if need be scrap, modify or re-address certain issues.
There is no short term fix, we can only conduct any assessment on a seasonal basis.
I hope this covers some of the concerns by yourself & others.

Regarding Denman running an event on the June long weekend, at the time of the NSW calender being fianlised for 09 Denman had not submitted their dates.
An unfortunate clash however Title events will always be given priority.

Tony Coomer
on behalf of
MNSW Trials Comittee.

[PA]

Counting all rounds may mean a rider who rides all trials will be crowned as state champion even though that rider may not be the the states best rider of that grade.

I know this happens when all rounds are counted because I won a South Australian title some years ago under the same circumstances. We had 4 rounds and all counted. The rider who had won three rounds of my grade was unable to compete at one event which I claimed points and won the title. The other rider deserved to win but was cheated by the system.

The downside for the promoting clubs is that if a rider knows they cannot compete for all rounds they may choose to miss other events. If you could only ride 5 events would you bother to drive to some of the events that maybe a long way from home when you can't win the title anyway?

If the state committee want's to ensure that the riders support the certain trials then make that a trial that cannot be dropped or double points are allocated.

I would suggest the riders best 5 results from 7 trials as a good level to crown a worthy champion.

Peter Arnold

[Steve Holzhauser]

Tony, thanks for your prompt reply.
Unfortunately I still think you have not given the riders a fair program.
To base your desicion for not giving riders a choice of not participating in such a long progam it unfair to them.
As you point out the decline over the last few years has been very obvious and a turnaround would be good to see.
I would have hoped the committee had taken into account the riders that have been riding and supporting the trials scene through the down turn,and maybe ask is the full blast direction you have choosen fair to them.
All the promotion you talk of is not going to do any good if you loose existing support as a consequence of the format you have initiated.

A point that is bought up by the Sydney based riders is they need the long weekend for the extra distance to travel to Coffs Harbour. It is not until its is pointed out to them we up North have to negotiate the trip SIX times without any long weekends and an extra two to three hours travel past Coffs Harbour that the 7 rounds can be seen as a huge ask.

You mention promotion of Trials in regional centres. Last season both Kyogle and Coffs Harbour were scheduelled to hold a round each in the Queensland Moto Trials Series under the permits of two different affiliated Queensland clubs. At the very last minute both these centres cancelled thier participation for a number of EPA reasons that were issued to them by new local government council requirements. I hope these requirements can be fulfilled so the same cancellation is avoided.

Without a doubt you must put your State riders first, but look at the benefits you are loosing by your choice of dates.

Queensland have held their State Championships on the June long weekend since forever.
You mention you take this into consideration when doing your event program, which makes your selection even more questionable when this venue is so close to a multitude of Queensland riders. Your decision to hold an event on that date negates there potential involvement.
Certainly your aim is to attract not only a large field but a quality field at these regional centres. Participation by many of the top Queensland riders being available on a more suitable date would have to draw more interest and meet the goals of bringing more spectators and future potential riders to the event surely !

To add to the dilema of the date in question, the Denman Twinshock clash will also prove to be very unfortunate.
As you mention this was not of your making but the fact is, this is an event that has a very strong following and will undoubtably see a loss of twinshock entrants making the trek up to Coffs Harbour.

With these points in mind, could it be reveiwed by NSW Trials Committee to at least look at this years proposed program to see if better format could be achieved.

Steve.

[Windy]

The Denman crowd never come to the Opens anyway, except for Chappy, and possibly a few others if we are very lucky. Love to see more of them , but that's not a reality until the sections are backed off to Denman twin shock levels, and that's not going to happen any time soon. Their Expert level is B Grade.
Maybe NSW should wait until all the other states have done their calendars and then pick up the scraps Steve? There is going to be clashes. So be it. Should NSW plan their calendar so the guys on the North Coast can run QLD and NSW, or should they build it for the ACT and South Coast riders so they can do the VIC's and the NSW Rounds. There is always going to be something. This Year it's Coffs. And whoa TOO MANY EVENTS. Wasn't it not enough events a minute ago....... As the saying goes, cant please everybody all the time!
There is a lot of great things to the Coff's long weekend as far as I can see. Great time of the year - it's warmer than Sydney or further south. Extra day for travel. Accomodation should not be too much of an issue. And it's a great time for the Coff's club to promote the event locally. It is the first year for the Coff's event so all power too it.
From the DVD's I've seen it looks like a blast. Heaps of Indoor style sections, all man made stuff and lots of fun.
I think Tony is correct, if we keep doing the same old thing pandering to the old school, and keeping the Status Quo Trials in NSW will keep going backwards.
So the guy who is the most dedicated, gives up the most weekends , and rides all the events is the Champion. And the guy who only does 75% is not. What's unfair about that. Have a look at some of the other Motorcycle disciplines and see how much travelling they have to do. Whewww we got it easy.
I think the committee should be congratulated for having a go at expanding the number of events and their locations around the state. Most people won't do all of them. But the guys who do deserve the tin ware at the end of the season.
Windy

[Stu]

David,
I wasnt aware of the Denman Twin shock trial was on that weekend. I have promised myself to do that trial someday. If the sections are as described by Windy at Coffs, then Denman gets my nod. Besides the Demnan mob are a great to drink, er ride with!

It is very unfortunate that we have too many trials allocated this year. i know from years past that there were only 4 State Rounds and the Nationals in the 1 year. Doesnt the MA have draft calendars out to them before they are posted on the web? It would have been a sensible thing to do. That way the dates could be lined up to show what is where and when. What is the problem of picking and choosing the trials we have now? It's up to the rider where he/she is going to ride. Or so I thought.

[David Lahey]

The Denman crowd never come to the Opens anyway, except for Chappy, and possibly a few others if we are very lucky. Love to see more of them , but that's not a reality until the sections are backed off to Denman twin shock levels, and that's not going to happen any time soon. Their Expert level is B Grade.

Why on earth would you need to change section severity at Open events to match what the Denman MCC do with rider grading at their twinshock-only trials? Twinshock class at open events is a class, not a rider grade. If you run a twinshock class at an open event, it is usually run on a single line, either Clubperson line or C Grade line and this will cater well for 90% of twinshock riders. The top riders like Mal are a very small percentage of the twinshock fraternity and will usually want to ride in B or C grade against modern bikes anyway.

I've just read that the Denman MCC won't be able to run their twinshock-only event anyway because MA won't issue a permit for them for the same weekend as Coffs Harbour. Someone please tell me this is all just a bad dream.

[Stu]

David, I hope this is a bad dream. I can't miss out on the trial 2 years in a row!
What's the problem with the MA, don't they want to promote Trials at all? I guess that we don't bring in the money that SX/MX does. Is that it?