Some more ideas on growing the Nationals

[James Deuce]

It's all good stuff, purely from a competitors point of view though.

The future of the sport rests entirely on people wanting to watch you guys race.

Yes you need competitors, and you need a constant stream of new blood, but I got into motorsport as a wee lad because my God Father worked for Firestone and took me to Puke to watch an F5000 race meeting in about 1975. I suck as a competitor, because I run out of money after crashing my way through a meeting. Drew's (the old Drew anyway) an angel compared to what I can do to a car or a bike.

The internecine warfare that's going on between the organising body and the people involved in competing in motorcycle racing is invisible to the rest of the country. Having spectators at the meetings, in hospitable conditions that encourage family outings (look at the street races guys - people make an event of it and the family participants who aren't fans can go and do other stuff if they get bored) will grow a following that will encourage sponsors and ratings controllers alike.

For the sport to have a future, more people need to actually know about it. I only know that there's been a race meeting when the lads start posting their race reports. I realise that the events are advertised, but it's always in targeted media to a limited audience.

[Rcktfsh]

Re No Friday practice; A good point to consider though for riders who aim to make a future out of roadracing, getting lots of track time is a good place to start. I kind of agree with Jay, it is optional and if it wasn't available then we'd probably need to make a special trip some other time to get everything dialed in.
Speaking of practice. I'd be in favour of combining more classes together so everyone gets more time on the track. Especially as everyone doesn't turns up Friday I don't see a problem combining Superbikes with 600's, giving the option of being able to go out in 6 season's in the day rather than 3. It's common around the world to see 40 bikes on a track at the same time. It's not that scary - can even be fun if you ask me. -( not that the total combined 600's & S/B's even reach 40) If the FIM see it safe to run 600's & Superbikes together with full grids in the World Endurance races then, it should be ok for our practices.
Also if this could work for Saturday's practice then riders who miss Friday could still get a good amount of track time on Saturday. This would provide 4 practice seasons before qualifying. Qualifying could still be separate so you get some clear laps in.
( At Puke practice days we all go out together - a sesson for bikes and a sesson for cars!) If other classes did the same whenever practical, (e.g. F3 & 125's) then there could be enough track time on Saturday to not feel too disadvantaged by missing Friday.
If people want to save a nights accommodation and a day off work then not having a prize giving on Sunday night could often achieve that. It's a good social event but maybe sometimes it would be better to have it on the Saturday night of the following meeting when everyone is there anyway. Or else squeeze it in during the day like they do everywhere else in the world where I've raced. - You'd want a good one at the end of the season though aye.
Re number of Championship rounds, I still agree that at least 5 rounds is good though I wouldn't be surprised if more would compete if there were 3 rounds in the North Island and two in the South.

Online at 7.28 on a monday morning?????? haven't you got kids to get off to school.

[Rcktfsh]

[QUOTE=cowpoos;1129216127]well teretonga is a bloody long way to go!! we have the streets!!! you be at wanga's this year?[/QUOT

Bringing street races into the nats would be a huge backward step as far as rider safety is concerned.

[scrivy]

Online at 7.28 on a monday morning?????? haven't you got kids to get off to school.

Mate, that's exactly what I was thinking!!!
Poor Karyn!!! Slaving away again......

[White trash]

[QUOTE=Rcktfsh;1129217106]

well teretonga is a bloody long way to go!! we have the streets!!! you be at wanga's this year?[/QUOT

Bringing street races into the nats would be a huge backward step as far as rider safety is concerned.

I aggree completely. My favorite races are the street meetings but it should not be compulsory to race them for championship points.

It's for that very reason the IOM was excluded from GPs and rightly so.

[wharfy]

[QUOTE=Rcktfsh;1129217106]

well teretonga is a bloody long way to go!! we have the streets!!! you be at wanga's this year?[/QUOT

Bringing street races into the nats would be a huge backward step as far as rider safety is concerned.

Do you have any statistics to back that up ?
It is not a rhetorical question I would really like to know.
I would like to see a comparison between bike races at Pukekohe and bike races at Whanganui - deaths/serious injury.

[White trash]

[QUOTE=wharfy;1129217369]

Do you have any statistics to back that up ?
It is not a rhetorical question I would really like to know.
I would like to see a comparison between bike races at Pukekohe and bike races at Whanganui - deaths/serious injury.

Ask JAred Love, Pete McDonald, Lance Lowe how safe they think street racing is.

Answer. Not very.

[Shaun P]

It's all good stuff, purely from a competitors point of view though.

The future of the sport rests entirely on people wanting to watch you guys race.

Yes you need competitors, and you need a constant stream of new blood, but I got into motorsport as a wee lad because my God Father worked for Firestone and took me to Puke to watch an F5000 race meeting in about 1975. I suck as a competitor, because I run out of money after crashing my way through a meeting. Drew's (the old Drew anyway) an angel compared to what I can do to a car or a bike.

The internecine warfare that's going on between the organising body and the people involved in competing in motorcycle racing is invisible to the rest of the country. Having spectators at the meetings, in hospitable conditions that encourage family outings (look at the street races guys - people make an event of it and the family participants who aren't fans can go and do other stuff if they get bored) will grow a following that will encourage sponsors and ratings controllers alike.

For the sport to have a future, more people need to actually know about it. I only know that there's been a race meeting when the lads start posting their race reports. I realise that the events are advertised, but it's always in targeted media to a limited audience.

Like this in Aus?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTJ4F-oymcY

[Shaun P]

Re No Friday practice; A good point to consider though for riders who aim to make a future out of roadracing, getting lots of track time is a good place to start. I kind of agree with Jay, it is optional and if it wasn't available then we'd probably need to make a special trip some other time to get everything dialed in.
Speaking of practice. I'd be in favour of combining more classes together so everyone gets more time on the track. Especially as everyone doesn't turns up Friday I don't see a problem combining Superbikes with 600's, giving the option of being able to go out in 6 season's in the day rather than 3. It's common around the world to see 40 bikes on a track at the same time. It's not that scary - can even be fun if you ask me. -( not that the total combined 600's & S/B's even reach 40) If the FIM see it safe to run 600's & Superbikes together with full grids in the World Endurance races then, it should be ok for our practices.
Also if this could work for Saturday's practice then riders who miss Friday could still get a good amount of track time on Saturday. This would provide 4 practice seasons before qualifying. Qualifying could still be separate so you get some clear laps in.
( At Puke practice days we all go out together - a sesson for bikes and a sesson for cars!) If other classes did the same whenever practical, (e.g. F3 & 125's) then there could be enough track time on Saturday to not feel too disadvantaged by missing Friday.
If people want to save a nights accommodation and a day off work then not having a prize giving on Sunday night could often achieve that. It's a good social event but maybe sometimes it would be better to have it on the Saturday night of the following meeting when everyone is there anyway. Or else squeeze it in during the day like they do everywhere else in the world where I've raced. - You'd want a good one at the end of the season though aye.
Re number of Championship rounds, I still agree that at least 5 rounds is good though I wouldn't be surprised if more would compete if there were 3 rounds in the North Island and two in the South.

Hampton downs double header?

[k14]

Re No Friday practice; A good point to consider though for riders who aim to make a future out of roadracing, getting lots of track time is a good place to start. I kind of agree with Jay, it is optional and if it wasn't available then we'd probably need to make a special trip some other time to get everything dialed in.
Speaking of practice. I'd be in favour of combining more classes together so everyone gets more time on the track. Especially as everyone doesn't turns up Friday I don't see a problem combining Superbikes with 600's, giving the option of being able to go out in 6 season's in the day rather than 3. It's common around the world to see 40 bikes on a track at the same time. It's not that scary - can even be fun if you ask me. -( not that the total combined 600's & S/B's even reach 40) If the FIM see it safe to run 600's & Superbikes together with full grids in the World Endurance races then, it should be ok for our practices.
Also if this could work for Saturday's practice then riders who miss Friday could still get a good amount of track time on Saturday. This would provide 4 practice seasons before qualifying. Qualifying could still be separate so you get some clear laps in.
( At Puke practice days we all go out together - a sesson for bikes and a sesson for cars!) If other classes did the same whenever practical, (e.g. F3 & 125's) then there could be enough track time on Saturday to not feel too disadvantaged by missing Friday.
If people want to save a nights accommodation and a day off work then not having a prize giving on Sunday night could often achieve that. It's a good social event but maybe sometimes it would be better to have it on the Saturday night of the following meeting when everyone is there anyway. Or else squeeze it in during the day like they do everywhere else in the world where I've raced. - You'd want a good one at the end of the season though aye.
Re number of Championship rounds, I still agree that at least 5 rounds is good though I wouldn't be surprised if more would compete if there were 3 rounds in the North Island and two in the South.

Yeah on reading the other arguments the running of friday is most likely necessary and could just prove more expensive if they are canned.

I like very much the idea of prize giving being right after the meeting (like they did at Manfeild this year). If you are planning on driving home (much like me having a 2-5 hour drive after most rounds) then it makes it a nightmare to try and stay behind for the prize giving. Yeah it needs to be something special but the extra 2-4 hours after a hard weekend racing is very difficult at the best of times.

[Rcktfsh]

[QUOTE=wharfy;1129217369]

Do you have any statistics to back that up ?
It is not a rhetorical question I would really like to know.
I would like to see a comparison between bike races at Pukekohe and bike races at Whanganui - deaths/serious injury.

Lies, damned lies and statistics as somebody famous may or may not have said. Simple death/serious injury comparisions between wanganui/paeroa v pukee would look great for the streets circs but then you may want to look at number of competitors using pukee v once a year numbers at wanganui/paeroa. Personally i'd suggest their is a fairly relevant reason racetracks don't have safety features such as no run off, lamposts, pot hole covers and zebra crossings to name some of the features of street circuits built into their design.
ps. pukee has also long passed it's useby date as a national track hopefully to be replaced by hampton downs for 2010.

[Robert Taylor]

I totally disagree James. We dont actually do enough testing in this country and dropping Fridays makes an assumption that most racers are turning up with bikes well sorted for the individual circuit.

Let me expand on that a little further as too many assumptions have been made.

1) Quite contrary to pr hype and what some in high places have deluded themselves into thinking production bikes ( with emphasis on PRODUCTION bikes ) are not ready to race ''out of the crate''. Its about as big a lie as ''I knew nothing about the Watergate break in''

2) Every year theres at least one new model with a new rear link ratio, new swingarm, revised weight distribution,new issues. Then there are new tyre compounds etc. It requires testing time to get it right! When the K7 GSXR1000s were released we struggled for a few days until we got a direction.

3) A setting that works well on one track can be absolutely horrible on another.

4) Change brands of tyre and that changes required suspension settings.

5) Even the top distributor teams dont find the budget to test during the off season at such demographically dispositioned circuits as Teretonga. With circuits such as that one requiring a particular setup Friday testing ( and even Thursday ) is very valuable for everyone

6) Throw in the mix production cup bikes with ( god forbid ) suspension that is only allowed spring changes and the setup issues and tyre problems are going to magnify.

7) Heck there is one high profile team thats notorious for doing virtually no pre-season testing, and equally notorious for grizzling about struggling with setup.

8) Non distributor riders / privateers are not so disadvantaged as has been made out. For anyone that asks we will steer such riders in the right direction with the benefit of what we have learned with the distributor teams. This is trickle down that occurs reasonably quickly.

Its also important that final testing is done close to the events at the same ambient temperatures/ track conditions. A shift in temp of only a few degrees can impact not insignificantly on spring choice, damping settings and tyre choice. That is why winter setup is so different to Nationals setup.

ETC ETC.

If you remove the engineering element too much it takes away a not inconsiderable chunk of what the sport is about.

[racer40]

come on guys, i thought we are trying to get serious on cost reduction. I agree with kickaha, & we shouldnt be allowed on the track for the whole precceding week, &then its the same for everyone. It may be ok for all of us who race at national level now, but we are trying to attract more to the series.

[Two Smoker]

I dont believe that friday practice should be banned. They are great for set up. For instance, I need a friday practice on the SI track, because it is very rare for me to ride on them except for the nationals. Its a choice thing anyway. You dont HAVE to practice on the friday.

[Kickaha]

come on guys, i thought we are trying to get serious on cost reduction. I agree with kickaha, & we shouldnt be allowed on the track for the whole precceding week, &then its the same for everyone. It may be ok for all of us who race at national level now, but we are trying to attract more to the series.

I'm still not sure that would help though, it would just mean those that could afford it would go and do club rounds at different tracks during the year to do their testing and get setup info