2013 Classic MX Championships Cancelled

[John Orchard]

I use to think that also but I have since found out that is not the case.  I have just spoken to one of the top guys at AASA (Adam Ronke), legally MA cannot stop you from riding at a AASA event, he was saying that CAMS tried to call their bluff a couple of years ago, they went to court and AASA won.  CAMS or MA cannot restrict riders in what correctly organized & insured events that riders want to compete at.

Plus, to black-ban any riders would be to lose thousands of dollars from entries & licences, so they may try and call your bluff but no way would they shrink an already dwindling rider base.

Adam also advised that he is very happy to run a vintage event at Winton on November 2 & 3 and that he will allow Winton Motocross Club to control it and he will supply the insurance via AASA.  He said that just as per the Formula Extreme roadrace championship events, riders are cool to ride with their MA licence.

Winton have a huge car event coming up in two weeks, I will sit down with Heath the President of Winton MX Club and we will put together guidelines for the Nov 2/3 event then sit down with Adam after his big car event.

I will start a new thread for this event for everyone to be able to see how it's coming together.

[Simo63]

Awesome, thanks for the comprehensive response John   

[GMC]

MA used to frown upon outside organizations running events and used to threaten banning riders but I’m pretty sure restriction of trade practices stops them doing it these days. (I guess John just confirmed that)

Things to consider…
It was an official Australian title event that just got canned.
WA have good large meetings & Qld. has just had the Conondale Classic but they are not something that inspire people to travel, mostly due to cost & time off work.
NSW seems to have trouble with entrants for their Mr VMX meetings

Anyone can put an event on and it will most likely be a good event but will interstaters travel for a non title meeting? (assuming AASA can’t give official status to the event??)
May as well call it a world title like the US does with their events.

[Simo63]

May as well call it a world title like the US does with their events.

Agreed, even though we won't invite the rest of the world to play, we should definately call it the world title

[John Orchard]

If nobody else runs a 2013 Australian Classic Motocross Championship and the event is called the '2013 Australian Classic Motocross Championship' ..... it is the 2013 Australian Classic Motocross Championship.

Of course MA will frown on it, it's taking a slice of their small miss-managed pie.

[Shaun G]

Sorry but it would not be the official Australian Classic Motocross Championship.

The last thing I would like to see is our section of the sport split in two as has happened with Road Race and Sidecars. It ultimately will make VMX weaker.

Go ahead and run your AASA event but please don't try and pass it off as an Aussie title meeting.

I actually like the idea of calling it the World Championship of VMX. The rest of the world can be invited it is up to them to show up 

Cheers
Shaun

[John Orchard]

It will not be the official MA Championship, it will be the official AASA Championship.  It is a one-off event, I do not see a split of riders, I just see one event filling-in for one that got cancelled.

And it's not my AASA event, I'll probably be too busy working to ride it, I am working for this event for you guys.

[TM BILL]

Excellent work John , your passion and drive are amazing . Wishing you every sucsess with this venture regardless of what you call it . If there is no alternative event i cant see why you cant call it the Australian classic motocross championships .

I can see Shauns point but the MA way doesnt seem to be to user or club friendly and i dont imagine MA have a patent on the name .

The world champs sounds great too , i would imagine you would get a few from this side of the water if we dont have to jump through the MA / MNZ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ trap 

[John Orchard]

I'll put it to all involved, if we call it the World Classic Champs, we might no get anyone from OS for this year but if they run another next year it could be fun.

[Shaun G]

It will not be the official MA Championship, it will be the official AASA Championship.  It is a one-off event, I do not see a split of riders, I just see one event filling-in for one that got cancelled.

That's why you might as well call it the world championship. As it would not be recognised by any governing body as a title event it doesn't really matter what you call it. I am not trying to have a go at you just trying to add a bit of perspective.

As Firko has said the original nats was a big club day and was a great success. I personally can't see the problem with reverting to that format. And I also want to add my congratulations on your commitment to get something done for the good of our sport.

Cheers
Shaun

[albrid-3]

Thanks for everyone's input.  I know Ross Martin, he is a nice guy and fair but he is still part of MA, I think anyone from the MA side of things (state bodies) will be totally against any of this, I think they do not have any legal way of stopping this snowball effect but they will see their danger in losing control & money and would try and discredit us and use scare tactics.

I do not want to hurt MA or any of the state bodies, I just want justice for riders everywhere.  I have tried going down the correct channels but what is needed is solidarity from all members, maybe it might be easier now with improved communication via email, Facebook & forums?

I will get legal advise and as much information as I can find to be sure we are doing the right thing.
[/quote]
Hi John, Ross Martin has retired from MA mate, he just the Secretary for the CSC. so he is worth a call we are also looking into new insurance for the club and memebers. cheers dave.[/color]

[firko]

Sorry but it would not be the official Australian Classic Motocross Championship.

The last thing I would like to see is our section of the sport split in two as has happened with Road Race and Sidecars. It ultimately will make VMX weaker.

Go ahead and run your AASA event but please don't try and pass it off as an Aussie title meeting.

I actually like the idea of calling it the World Championship of VMX. The rest of the world can be invited it is up to them to show up 
 

The very first Nats at Dargle in 1992 was run as a big Penrith Club day and that meeting is looked upon by those who raced as being the first Australian Classic Motocross Championships. The same thing occurred a few years later with the West Wyalong Classic Dirt Track Aussie Championships, it wasn't ratified by MA as a championship but nobody gave a toss. History still accepts that event as the first one, just like its motocross brother at Dargle. That's why we named the first event the Vintage Motocross Nationals or Vintage Nats....as opposed to the Classic Motocross Australian Championships. The generic Vintage Nats name has stuck as an unofficial alternative name for 20 years.

I think that if the Winton meeting comes off most of those who race there will regard the event as a proper title even if it is by proxy. Peer respect is way more important to most riders than their name on a list at MA HQ but I accept that there are those who feel that official MA status is important. The worry I have with all of this is any threat of repercussions from MA preventing racers from entering and the West Aussie contingent losing interest because some among them may balk at the costs and effort involved to race an unofficial title. 

[bazza]

If MA don't have name patented you can call it what you like.Has any one asked MA for answers,seen balance sheet to see where money is spent? Checked the constitution?

[KTM47]

Sorry but it would not be the official Australian Classic Motocross Championship.

The last thing I would like to see is our section of the sport split in two as has happened with Road Race and Sidecars. It ultimately will make VMX weaker.

Go ahead and run your AASA event but please don't try and pass it off as an Aussie title meeting.

I actually like the idea of calling it the World Championship of VMX. The rest of the world can be invited it is up to them to show up 
 

The very first Nats at Dargle in 1992 was run as a big Penrith Club day and that meeting is looked upon by those who raced as being the first Australian Classic Motocross Championships. The same thing occurred a few years later with the West Wyalong Classic Dirt Track Aussie Championships, it wasn't ratified by MA as a championship but nobody gave a toss. History still accepts that event as the first one, just like its motocross brother at Dargle. That's why we named the first event the Vintage Motocross Nationals or Vintage Nats....as opposed to the Classic Motocross Australian Championships. The generic Vintage Nats name has stuck as an unofficial alternative name for 20 years.

I think that if the Winton meeting comes off most of those who race there will regard the event as a proper title even if it is by proxy. Peer respect is way more important to most riders than their name on a list at MA HQ but I accept that there are those who feel that official MA status is important. The worry I have with all of this is any threat of repercussions from MA preventing racers from entering and the West Aussie contingent losing interest because some among them may balk at the costs and effort involved to race an unofficial title.

Why not just call it the Universe Classic Motocross Championships, it would have just as much significants. By continuing down this track all that it means is if someone is still trying to get the official Australian Classic Motocross Championships up and running again they may now decided otherwise.  Why can't it be run at Winton under MA sanctioning. And please don't tell me that can't occur. The V8s are running there very soon and that isn't a AASA meeting.

[firko]

I've been out in the shed working on my bikes and giving this as lot of thought. As much as I want to see the 2013 Championship happen, I now think that the Winton option comes loaded with too many negatives. The first and what I consider the most important is the potential to divide our sport into pro and anti MA factions that can only cause problems down the line. In my earlier post I stated that the Winton idea was sound but that was the little man in me crying out for something-anything to happen. The other little man in me is wary of the AASA, probably with no good reason, but whether I'm right or wrong the doubt is there and I wonder how many others harbour those same doubts. Another thing that's been bothering me is the West Aussies coming all this way for a meeting without 'proper' championship status. OK, while the first Nats in both VMX and VDT were both big club day unofficial meetings, they were still MA sanctioned events which added a lot of brownie points as far as "championship" status. The Western Australians deserve some respect by presenting them with a Championship that comes with official MA status. I know that some of you are thinking "why go to so much effort just for a few entries from the other side of the island"? but those of you who've witnessed how much they've contributed to this meeting over the last couple of decades will know that the meeting's very success hangs off their being in attendance....it's that important. This event needs every bloody entry it can scrape up and it's a sad fact that a fair percentage of riders won't support the event because of its non MA status.

So, as much as I admire the Johnny O's rabid enthusiasm and ability to get things moving, I think the move to an AASA event at Winton is destined to fail which is detrimental to the sport and unfair on John for the work that he'd no doubt put into it. I personally think the best option is to do whatever needs to be done to use the main track at Canberra whether it be convincing the ACT club to run it or what I think is a better option, another club hiring the track and working in with MA over a reduced licence fee....seeing that they've kept a portion of the ACT fee.