ATTENTION IN THE HADDOCK! - FAX RACE DISCONTINUED FOR 2009 SEASON!

[Johnny B]

Note: Your Rider Rep over here is Mike Martire.

Hey all.... as you are aware I am not a regular "poster" here, but I
wanted to get the word out about a few things. You can then direct all
of your fire mail at rider rep and NEAR regular BJ Worsham....he can
handle it.....

Classes:
Ultra Lightweight Classes - no SV's or similar allowed (CCS is doing
this elsewhere in the nation)
(New) MW Production Twins Class. 650cc water cooled, 750cc Air Cooled
Desmo, 883 Air Cooled push-rod. Same rules structure as PTwins (no
engine mods, stock pipes, etc...). This is meant to be a low cost
class. Ducati is posting contingency for the new 696, and is excluding
anyone with an AMA pro license from getting paid in this class.

Entries/Gridding:
Lots of work went into this and input was taken from a lot of people.
In the end the 15 person commitee unanimously agreed on the solution
outlined below. The biggest (great) news is that there is no more fax
race for grid spots.
Pre-Entries for Weekend 1 open March 26. Gridding for Pre Entries for
event 1 is by OVERALL 2008 points (all classes combined). April 16
(the day after weekend 1 entries close) will open pre entries for the
remainder of the season. Gridding for the remainder of the year will
be by OVERALL 2009 points (all classes combined). This system
accomplished many of the goals that were set out at the meeting: (1) to
relieve the stress of having to race to the fax machines 8 times to get
your grid spots (which was the plan in place prior to this meeting) (2)
to start the racers who score the most points near the front of the
grid (3) to reward those riders who support the club with a lot of
entries with favorable grid spots (4) to have a grid system that is
clear and manageable for the staff of LRRS.

Points:
The points system is being worked on right now. It will be similar to
what is in place now, a sliding scale that gives more points for more
entries. The new system will pay points deeper into the pack - the
concept is that every finisher will score at least 1 point. The double
points system for the last weekend has been changed back to single
points, and riders are still allowed to drop 1 weekend.

The spec fuel program will remain as it was in 2008 - VP is back. The
track is also working on a program to actively promote LRRS. We will be
looking for volunteers with industry connections (dealership
employment, industry businesses or just someone who knows influential
people) to help distribute and place LRRS promotional material in key
places throughout New England (dealerships, public places, high traffic
areas). Interested parties can contact either me or Cathy Curtain to
be put on a list of willing volunteers. There has been little done in
the area in years past and we are confident that in spite of the
current economic climate that we can do a lot to raise public awareness
of what we do and continue to grow this sport we all love.

We're all looking forward to a great season - see you at the track.

Eric Wood

[Pittenger5]

Sweet, points gridding, thats kind fun

[eboos]

Not too fun if you are only entered in 2 classes. Although with our grid sizes, it won't really matter.

[Kurlon]

MWPT... should be interesting, guess that shoves Shity-Mcbikefest one more rung down the ladder?

Eligible 2009 machines:
- Kawi
Ninja 650R
ER-6N
Versys

- Suzuki
SV650
SV650SF
Gladius
V-Strom 650

- Honda
Silverwing (Scooter)

- Yamaha
No legal machines in 09

- Aprilia
SVX 4.5
SVX 5.5

- Ducati
Monster 696

- Hyosung / United Motors / etc
GT650
GT650S
GT650R

- Buell
No eligible machines in 09

- HD
Sportster 883

So, this class basically gives stock SVs a place to start, assuming their exhaust hasn't been changed, and the M696 a place to run. The M695 from prior years as well, but it doesn't get contingency, nor does it have any cornering clearance with the factory exhaust... I think I still liked the idea of letting the M696 in with PTwins as is, I don't see this class doing much. If I were to try and game it, I think I'd go for a 'priller SVX 5.5, or get the 4.5 and try and dominate both PTwins and MWPTwins.

On the other hand, it does give PTwins machines a bump option that isn't just extended track time?

Does it count as the 'factory' exhaust if I order it from the dealer with it? Maybe the Sporty could be a weapon?

[KB]

Not to fun if you never have raced the class before. I like the old fax away method.

KB

[union]

How are they going to handle first time racers? I guess I have a few points at least so I wont be gridded at the back.

[eboos]

I would like to meet whatever sadist that will try to race a stock Sportster 883 (about 550lbs and not exactly well setup for aggressive riding) vs. a SV650, a Monster 696 or any of the Aprilia motards. Seriously, they should allow Buell XB9 models at least.

[a13x]

Not to fun if you never have raced the class before. I like the old fax away method.

KB

You would!

New way far better (least IMO)


For the most part the people that should be up front on the grid will be and the people that shouldn't will be further back. Might be some weird instances here and there but it'll be far far far better than the old way.

[brewmaster]

I'm all for the new way of griding and pre-reg. Makes much more sense.

[eboos]

It's the overall points thing, not just points in that class that makes it seem effed up to me. It's as though even if you are successful in the classes you are running, you are penalized for not running in more.

[Doc]

The new griding will benefit those that race more.

I think it should be point in class, not overall. But I think it is a good step.

[Johnny B]

I think it should be point in class, not overall. But I think it is a good step.

Overall is the lessor of two evils. What if Scotty Greenwood decided to run a new class and they put him to the back of the grid because of no points? Would people be discouraged from trying a new class if they were gridded at the back? And don't forget that pre entries will get preference over post entries.
We're going with this now because keeping it in committee while we fine tune it to perfection would probably mean that it would never happen. Let's get it rolling and fine tune it as we go along.
Other stuff is under discussion that I think will bring positive results, but we're not ready to announce.
All-in-all, probably the most productive meeting I've ever been in.

[lrrs313]

Johnny B -- any of those other changes involve not running PTwins in the same race as Super Singles and 125 GP? I emailed Jerry about it after the end of the season.

[OreoGaborio]

What if Scotty Greenwood decided to run a new class and they put him to the back of the grid because of no points?

Is that a trick question? I'm sure he'd still win



I'd also be more in favor of the points in class system instead of overall points... This is the kind of rule that can take championships away from the "class specialists" that only race 1 or 2 classes. It favors the guys with $$$ that can afford to do 6-8 races in a weekend.

[Johnny B]

Johnny B -- any of those other changes involve not running PTwins in the same race as Super Singles and 125 GP? I emailed Jerry about it after the end of the season.

Not that I know of. Just a minor tweaking of the weekend race schedule because the Novice races were too bunched up together.

[lrrs313]

Not that I know of. Just a minor tweaking of the weekend race schedule because the Novice races were too bunched up together.

Damn. Oh well.

[Johnny B]

Is that a trick question? I'm sure he'd still win.

That's a fact! But the main issue that concerns us has to do with the initial charge into Turn 1 after the race starts.
Believe me, we ran a bunch of questions amonst ourselves on this whole deal, and we feel that this is what will work the best.
And it's a damn sight better that racing the fax machine, or actually standing in line at the Registration Building at 8 AM on April 1.

[Pittenger5]

Johnny B -- any of those other changes involve not running PTwins in the same race as Super Singles and 125 GP? I emailed Jerry about it after the end of the season.

That race is just friggin PACKED, and others are lucky to have 10 bikes in it.
(Plus I wouldnt mind running PTwins AND supersingles )

[a13x]

I'd also be more in favor of the points in class system instead of overall points... This is the kind of rule that can take championships away from the "class specialists" that only race 1 or 2 classes. It favors the guys with $$$ that can afford to do 6-8 races in a weekend.

Yea dude really. This is splitting hairs here.

At WORST you'll be like 1 row behind a guy you MAYBE should be barely in front of. It's going to be way way better than the old way where you were mostly likely 5 rows back on the grid behind 4 rows of guys that are doing shitty laptimes.

If a guy is running THAT many more classes than you a weekend, chances are he's a pretty fair rider and isn't going to be a huge issue anyway. Again, far better than old system.



This is better. I normally do 3 races (Supersingles, Ultralight, Lightweight Sportsman) on my motard. I didn't do the Motard race last year. If I decided to do the motard race halfway thru the season thou I'm gridded somewhere up on the first 3 rows probably (due to my points and where I tend to finish) as opposed to the last fucking row. Ditto with a monster class like GTL.


On top of nice things like 'oh this is easier and makes more sense' it's also SAFER. Puts the fast guys up front and the slow guys in the back (for the majority of the instances) and will cut down (but of course never eliminate) crazy T1, T2, T3 and T6 bonzai moves on the first lap to try to stick with the leaders (because they are all on the front 3 rows and you are on row 9). ASK ME HOW I KNOW.... *grumble*

[lrrs313]

That race is just friggin PACKED, and others are lucky to have 10 bikes in it.
(Plus I wouldnt mind running PTwins AND supersingles )

Yup. Not to mention that the AM guys are only getting 7 laps (top expert SS guys are in T9 or 10 when we get the green flag). Makes for some interesting times running up on EX PTwins guys mid-corner too.

[GixerJockey]

So, how do I contact Eric or Cathy as an interested, dealership managing, volunteer?

[Awesome]

So we're still faxing the pre-entries same as before we're just not being gridded by them?

[Johnny B]

So, how do I contact Eric or Cathy as an interested, dealership managing, volunteer?

I'll get back to you with contact info. Cathy is in Indy for a week right now.

[GixerJockey]

I'll get back to you with contact info. Cathy is in Indy for a week right now.

PM it to me. I can probably involve most of the other Ct. Suzuki and Yamaha dealers since I have contacts in each one.

[Johnny B]

So we're still faxing the pre-entries same as before we're just not being gridded by them?

Exactly, Jay. They are working on setting up some sort of e-fax machine. It won't be the same #, so stay tuned. Eric will sent info to Steve Aspland for the website and to me for the NEAR List. I will, in turn, keep the NESR folks in the loop.