At the risk of being accused of being a negative old curmudgeon again. I've got a few more random thoughts on the TRI Series.
*As much as I'm a stalwart for the pre '75 movement, I reckon the Tri Series should be limited to Evo/Pre 85/pre 90. Most of the behind the scenes lobbyists for the series are gung ho Pre 90 guys so I'd let them run loose with their dream without the restriction of having to deal with a division of the sport that (
as I've been continually told) is dying. Let the success or failure of the series be totally down to their vision of the future of VMX.
*Because the pre 90 movement has more in common with modern motocross than with traditional vintage motocross, I think the Tri Series should join with a modern series, in a similar way to the old twin shock class was tied in with the ThumperNats a decade ago. That may draw more new racers out of the modern movement, eager for another ride and would then flow on to them becoming a part of the regular pre 90 "vintage" scene.
*I know I'm repeating myself here but nobody seems to have a serious answer to the problem. The vintage movement is essentially a self funded, working class sport. Most of the competitors are average guys with average jobs and the usual mortgages, car payments, school fees and myriad of outgoing expences to deal with. Most of those guys have normal jobs that require you to be there a minimum of 5 days a week. For a Victorian to travel 1500km to the series would require two days minimum away from work in addition to the two day weekend=4 days, and spend up to 3k on fuel for the round trip, not counting accomodation, food and drink, and the many incidentals like bike preparation, car wear and tear etc. This could bring the outlay up to $4000 for just one round of the series. Halve it for the Sydney round and add the usual expences for the local round and you have around $7000 outlay to cover the series. Of course some could do it cheaper and others would spend more but my point is that for the average racer from the pre 90 class demographic who lives in Victoria or Queensland is up for some serious expenditure that needs to be justified. Those living in NSW, the 'middle' state don't have quite the travel expenditure but $5000 would be a fair guess for their outlay. Of course trailer and car pooling greatly reduces those costs but in the end they're still substantial.
* Now, presuming the Tri Series takes off and they are inundated with entries, the money tree must surely run out of fruit and something will suffer. I doubt that many would be dumb enough to bypass their mortgage or family expenditure for something like a motorcycle series so something else must miss out. To me that would be one or both of the existing blue ribbon events, the Nationals and Classic Dirt. I'd be very surprised to see too many Vics at Classic Dirt or Queenslanders at the Nats if they'd committed their funds to the Tri Series so my point to this is.......
*There is no room on the vintage motocross calendar for yet another grab on the purse strings. We saw this year that Victorians were unwilling to attend both Classic Dirt and the Nats due to financial constraints. They either attended CD6 or the Nats, very few did both and the majority did neither. This in itself should set off a few alarm bells that by adding yet another cash outlay to the already tight system the calendar is being overloaded. The lack of a serious entry roll up for the Dirt Track Nats is yet another example of the limited funds out there in VMXland. While trying to drum up some extra entries for the Dirt Track Nats I recieved the "I've used up all of my racing and travel funds (
and home brownie points!) on the Nats and CD6" reply more often than I'd even expected. I'm a self funded retiree who got out on a pretty good government superannuation yet I've still got to seriously watch my pennies. I was once one of the the pre 90 demographic of the "thirty something" with a mortgage, working wife, school age kids and a lot of debt and know I would have battled to get to just two of these events let alone all of them.
*I'm being accused of being negative towards the Tri Series idea and to some eyes that's probably right. However, I ask those who've called me negative if they will be seriously committing themselves to a three round series, The Nats and CD7 in 2010? I doubt it, something has to give. To my way of thinking the Tri Series is a good idea thats time hasn't come yet. Our sport can't handle yet another big event in the current structure and world financial situation. I'm not negative, I've been positive about this sport for far longer than anyone. What I am however is a realist who doesn't want to see anything detrimental happen to a sport that's just getting back on its feet after 10 years in the doldrums. I've seen a lot of dream weavers come along with the latest "great idea" and nearly all of them have failed because the proposers didn't look hard enough at the big picture. The best thing we can do for VMX right now is to perfect the classing systems we've already got in place, demystify the rulebook, improve participation in the events already on the calendar and keep the progress steady rather than jumping ahead with too many "wouldn't it be a good idea if" brain flashes.
I'll now open a James Squire Amber Ale, go sit on the porch and spoke a rear wheel for my Cheney confident that some will still totally miss my point and accuse me of being negative. C'est la vie
