A different take on the length of the races. I put this here not to have a go at anyone, just to keep balance to the discussion.
I know we are 'not as young as we used to be', and the main reason we race is to 'have fun' and we are 'not racing for sheep stations' but this is a National Motocross Title and if there was ever an event that should try to remain an authentic Motocross event then I would have thought this would be it.
Yes I am 'not as young as I used to be' and I am in the sport to 'have fun' but I am in this sport to race Motocross and race hard, albeit with a larger margin of safety than when I was younger. I know I am not alone, the guys I race with are serious racers as well, the racing is clean but they are out there to beat me just as much as I am out there to beat them. I know they are by how aggressively they block pass me, or lean on me as we jostle for position through the first few corners of a race.
While we are not racing for sheep stations, the question is, how authentic do we want our National titles to be? To keep a Motocross race authentic, the result, especially the National Title, should not be so influenced by how good a riders start was, or how souped up his bike was to get that start. Short races bias the result too much towards the guys who got the best start and can hang on for a few laps, not the guys who are necessarily the best Motocross racers. Sure, starts are an important skill in Motocross but I have seen National Titles won by guys who got mid pack starts and fought their way to the front of the pack, I am sure you all have as well. I have also seen guys holeshot a race and then fade back through the field because they haven't prepared them self physically for the challenge. In a recent Heaven event the Heaven GP, a 15 minute plus 1 lap, our fastest guy got the holeshot then bobbled over in a slow corner allowing most of the pack to pass him. About 10 minutes into the race, he roared by me and I think by the time the race ended he was in the top 5 and still won the overall. That is authentic Motocross.
I am not saying we should not make concessions for the fact we 'are not as young as we used to be' but for a National Title, lets not make too much of a concession and make the titles a farce. If the young guys are racing 30 or 40 minutes races plus 1 for title races, sure cut our races down...by half. I know I keep harping on about this but if I read posts asking for shorter races, I think it is important that the decision makers for our sport know that there are some of us who don't believe shorter races are not ideal for this event and why.
