South Eastern Centre Motocross Combine Minutes Devember 1996

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SOUTH EASTERN MOTOCROSS COMBINE HELD ON WEDNESDAY 4TH DECEMBER 1996 AT BLINDLEY HEATH.

PRESENT : 16 Delegates were present representing the following clubs :- Brighton, Crawley, GEST, Greenwich, Horsham, Sidcup and Twickenham.

CHAIR : Mr Eddie Herd took the Chair.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE : There were no apologies for absence.

REVIEW OF THE MEETING : It was agreed to conduct the meeting which was originally called by the Championship co-ordinator as a Combine Meeting with the Secretary taking the Minutes.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS : It was proposed Mr K. Stiles and seconded Mr G.A. Lane that the minutes of a previous meeting on 17.1.96 be approved. Carried. It was proposed Mrs. S Simpson and seconded Mr K Stiles that the minutes of the meeting held on 19.6.96 be approved. Carried.

MATTERS ARISING THEREFROM : There was some discussion as to where we were with the resolutions regarding the riding of machines in the paddock. Mr Herd explained the omission of the rule from the handbook would be rectified in 1997 and we would have to then go from there.

MINUTES OF THE DATES MEETING : It was proposed Mr C .G.Edwards and seconded Mr G.A. Lane that the minutes of the 1997 dates meeting held in October 1996 be approved. Carried.

MATTERS ARISING THEREFROM : Mr K. Stiles wished the last paragraph which referred to the " Clarke Master Plan " to be explained to him.Mr E. Herd enlarged that it was an idea that the 3 home Southern Centre's amalgamate for riding purposes only so that the rider need only join one club. The document was being discussed by the other Centre's at moment in time and Mr brown supplied him with a copy for his perusal. The new insurance rates would be adopted from next year and include up to Regional Restricted status within normal Centre events which would help the implementation of this plan. Mr Leask asked how our Centre would be affected by the new ACU master plan and was told that it would not affect our centre as much as others as we were already within a Region as recommended by the Sports Council.

AGENDA

Point 8 : Mr Batten wanted twin points added when an allcomers race had amalgamated at a Championship Meeting.Mr P Bennett said Crawley had tried to amalgamate a race at one of their meetings and come against opposition from the riders, one being the length differences in Junior and Expert Races.Mrs S Simpson proposed and Mr M Moores seconded that in the event of a Club having to amalgamate the two classes at a meeting due to insufficient entries a compromise be reached and the time difference halved to 18 minutes plus 1 lap. Carried. A further discussion carried on and it was resolved that an allcomers race which was preplanned could not be included in the Championships in case entries became full and ,because of the amalgamation, these would be smaller than the norm and therefore would not be fair.The prize money and points would be awarded to both classes in an amalgamated race, and it was agreed to have a clause in the regs stating the races may be amalgamated due to lack of entries. There was some talk regarding the lack of expert entries and Mr C.G. Edwards said he was about to go to the Recorder's Conference where this matter was an item on the agenda.

Point 5: Proposal from Mr Batten regarding an upgraded Expert still riding in the Junior Championships. Mr Batten agreed to drop this as the way the 1997 Championship has been allocated negates the problem.This will mean that an upgraded Junior can ride in the Championship only as a Junior but not in the Expert Races on that day.

DATES : The Championship rounds had been allocated as per the enclosed chart, making 7 rounds for each class except for the Sidecar Class which would have 6. Mr F. Dixon asked that because of the leaner size of this year's Championship the rules regarding dropping the worst 2 places be deleted. Seconded Mr Batten. Carried.All rounds will now count towards the Championship.

Point 4 : It was agreed to change the points system to :- 1st : 20 points : 2nd points: 17 : 3rd 15 points : 4th 13 points : 5th : 11 points : 6th : 10 points and so on.

Point 6 : Mr L Batten said that he had 31 replies to his questionnaire regarding permanent riding numbers. There was much discussion with the lap scorers present not endorsing the idea, Mrs Clarke thought there might be a problem if those 31 had consecutive numbers they would automatically always ride against each other and it might get boring..In the end subject to the Crawley Committee discussing it further it was agreed to go ahead with the scheme for a year, Mr Batten to administer it, taking expenses out of the funds and the remainder going to the Benevolent Fund at the end of the year. 4 clubs for and 3 against.CARRIED.

Point 7 : At the present time the rules state that any late entry would not be eligible for Championship points but would be allowed prize money. Not all Clubs were adhering to this and it was proposed Mr R brown and seconded Mr C.G. Edwards that " If their name did not appear in the program they would be deemed a late entry and will not receive prize money or championship points". Carried.There then followed much discussion on Upgrading points. The Recorder, Mr C.G. Edwards said that he had been to a meeting when the Chairman of the Moto Cross Committee had stated late entries were only there for the ride and were not entitled to any points. Mr herd said we must be seen to have the same policies as the rest of the country.It was agreed therefore that all late entries would not be entitled to any Expert points be they either for upgrading purposes or staying up purposes.

Point 9 : Mr Dixon said the point regarding having a paramedic present at all meetings had been outvoted at the last general Council Meeting. Most Clubs were in favor but some were unsure whether they would be able to have one present.It was agreed to take the matter away for discussion and agreement at the next meeting.Mr Herd thought it could have serious implications on organizers and we must get it right.

Point 10 : It had been agreed at the last meeting to get tougher with the whingers. Mr P. Bennett announced a master plan to charge less for 40 volunteer riders who willingly provided a marshal and to charge the difference to the rest of the entry, thus making a profit and solving the marshal problem.Again much discussion with everyone realizing there was a problem but not knowing what the solution was. It was agreed Crawley would give their idea a try and report back.Mr Batten asked all Clubs to forward to him a list of 6 workers who if possible would be excluded from marshal balloting, He would compile the master list and circulate it to organizers.

Point 11 : There would be increases in the premiums plus the increase in IPT announced by the Chancellor in the recent budget. There was a thought that VAT might also now come into the equation.

Point 12 : The Union had sent out a directive informing Clubs their warning indemnification notices were wrong and not to use anything on admission tickets , programs and signs until the new wording had been approved.

Point 14 : Any other business : Mr A Wood [ Gazette Editor ] announced proposals to print a moto cross fixture list to hand out at meetings to spectators or competitors alike to keep interested people informed of future meetings. Agreed to be a good idea.

Date of Next Meeting ; The date of the next meeting would be after the moto cross meeting at Canada heights on APRIL 20TH