South Eastern Centre Motocross Combine Minutes June 1999

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SOUTH EASTERN MOTO CROSS COMBINE HELD ON WEDNESDAY 9TH JUNE 1999 AT BLINDLEY HEATH.

PRESENT : 18 Delegates were present representing the following Clubs :- Brighton, Crawley, GEST, Greenwich, Horsham, Sidcup & Twickenham.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE : Apologies for absence were received from Mrs. Slight [ Crawley ] and Mr. Wood [South Eastern Marshals & gazette Editor]

CHAIR : Mr. Eddie Herd took the Chair.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING : It was proposed Mr. Lane and seconded Mr. Moores that the minutes of the meeting held on 16th February 1999 and circulated were a true and accurate record. Carried.

MATTERS ARISING :

Marshals : Mr. Lane said the GEST Marshals had been used by the Road Racing Combine at Snetterton and they had been impressed with their services but he did think they were expensive. Mrs. Hayden said Horsham had also used them and the costs were £10 a marshal plus £100 for them to hire a mini bus , this totalled £230 and was a bit expensive. Mr. Brown thought they must be worthwhile if they saved all the aggro which prevailed at the signing on desk when trying to get balloted marshals to take up their positions. Mr.Herd said they were all in contact with each other via radios and he felt that was an added bonus for the Clerk of the Course as he could virtually get in touch with anywhere around the course imediately. There was some discussion as to the dangers of relying on them too much when riders were now used to supplying marshals and could very quickly get out of the habit.

Subs : The Secretary said the only outstanding subs were Crawley and Brighton. Mr. Brown Immediately paid on behalf of Brighton and Mr. Bennett [ Crawley] said he would look into the matter.

RAISING THE PROFILE OF THE CENTRE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Mr. Wood was not in attendance but it was felt that the coloured programme covers gave a good image to the Championships, some Clubs experienced initial delays but that now seemed to be sorted. Mrs. Clarke said that all the advertisers had paid except for CG Coachworks and she had sent them a red statement. There was some discussion as to what should be done now that the Club did not have to fund the cost of the covers, Mr. Dixon had suggested a prize fund. Most Clubs voiced unease at this and Mr. Brown said that Brighton were not in agreement with the extra expence and it agreed upon they might decide not to run any more rounds. It was therefore proposed Mr. Brown and seconded Mr. Lane that for 1999 there would be no levy towards a prize fund but that it would be reviewed again next year. Unanimous. Mrs. Clarke said that Mr. Wood had experimented with the logos around the regulation page in the gazette, it was agreed that the first effort with the logo around the top of the page was better. The Secretary was instructed to write to Mr. Wood. Mrs. Simpson said that she felt the profile had not been raised as their Caterham meeting the previous Sunday , only had 13 Experts entered and one group of Juniors. Mrs. Clarke thought it was because the meeting clashed with the British Championships at Halstead but Mr. Dixon said this would not make much difference .Mr. Brown thought the entries would benefit if they had someone solely to look after the class rather like the Ace series has Sue and Liz who furnish them with entry forms and a news letter. There was much discussion which included perhaps more publicity in Trials & Moto Cross News and the regulations being printed in neighbouring Centre's gazettes. Mrs. Clarke wondered if the adult class at the nearby East Kent Schoolboy Meeting took any entries away but Mr. Horton said it would have done as the meeting was a Semi-Finals. Mr. Brown wondered if the Championships should be a one meeting only affair, Mr. Herd thought this would be unfair to the other Clubs who would not be involved. It was resolved to review the matter again at the next meeting and the Secretary was instructed to make a note for the Agenda.

REPORT ON THE FOUR CENTRES EXPERIMENT: Mr. Brown said that at a previous NMC meeting it had been agreed to extend the original agreement from 4 to 5 Centre / Non territorial Clubs as long as they were contiguous . This would mean that members of the Sidecar Association would be able to enter without having to join a centre affiliated Club. Mrs. Clarke said she felt we must push the fact that all members must have membership cards as some Clubs do not issue them. Mr. Brown said there might not be a need in the future because the working party on National membership were working towards unification. They had voiced a scheme of £5 affiliation fees to the ACU with £2 being returned to the centre. Mrs. Clarke asked where they had got their figures from as she thought the trial fraternity would view that as expensive as the majority of them did not belong to more than one Club. Mr. Brown was not sure but said Mr. Wilson was securing "deals" for the membership which would have brought the price down. Mrs. Clarke questioned whether these deals were what the membership really wanted or what Mr. Wilson perceived they would want. Mr. Brown said these were definite money earning ventures for the ACU and membership costs would therefore reduce. Mrs. Clarke wondered if entries were down because, for example they told all their out of centre riders not to re new their subs and so a generation of riders might not now be receiving their gazettes. Mr. Herd said that Mr. Wood had not mention sales were down and that he publishes what is on in other gazettes and tells them what regulations are going to be in ours. Regulations can be put in the other gazettes but the clubs will have to pay for these.

ACU MOTO CROSS COMMITTEE MINUTES : The secretary read highlighted points from the minutes of the meetings held in February, March, April and May for discussion.

INTER CENTRE TEAM MOTO CROSS : Mrs. Clarke read an extract regarding difficulties with the organising Frome Club and Mr. Herd said that at today's meeting at Rugby it had been agreed that the event would run on the scheduled date of September 12th but at Matchams and the format would not include Youths but be as per Moto Cross des Nations style. The Secretary was instructed to write to Mr. Pringle the Team Manager.

ACU HANDBOOK : I] The Chief Executive has recently circulated event paperwork to all ACU Clubs and organisers. The document referring to officials age limits indicates that any minor [person under 18 years ] signing on as an official must submit a letter of agreement from Parent/Guardian. The Moto Cross Committee wish to stipulate the minimum age for an official is 16 years[advise would be sort from Bradstocks for clarification] Ii] National management Council have asked the Moto Cross Committee to review the ruling regarding Doctors/ Paramedics at Moto Cross events. The current rule states " For National Moto Cross events a doctor or paramedic is strongly recommended. The Chairman felt that every event permitted by the ACU/Centre should have a doctor/paramedic in attendance. Mr. Fisk disagreed and asked if any risk assessments have been carried out to indicate the need for this rule to be altered. Bradstocks have offered to do risk assessments on all tracks and new tracks and the Committee will be asking to start these assessments as soon as possible. However it was agreed as from 1.1.2000 at all Moto Cross events including official practice, Doctor or Paramedic MUST be in attendance. Clubs organising events up to January 2000 must attempt to reach this requirement. Iii] New Rule to be included in the Moto Cross Safety precautions : " For opposing traffic the track must be 9.1.44 metres [30ft] apart if chestnut paling fencing is not available. When using chestnut paling fencing, posts must be each side of the paling at 3.048m[10ft] centres with wrecking fence as a safety zone of 1 metre each side of the paling fence". Mrs. Clarke said she had not received any paperwork from Mr. Wilson and other clubs confirmed they had not either Mr. Dixon said the opposing traffic rule was not new but it had been found to be omitted from the current handbook and was going back in.

BRITISH SIDECAR 4 STROKE AND UNDER 21 CHAMPIONSHIP : Due to the increased numbers of riders participating on 4 stroke machine and the increased interest in the Championship the Moto Cross Committee are considering running qualifiers for the Championship in the year 2000. The Secretary was asked to contact the final three Qualifying Championship organisers to ascertain if they can accommodate 4 stroke races within these events. Mr. Dixon confirmed that no organisers could accommodate extra races but that the problem had now decreased as riders fell by the wayside during the year.

ACU HANDBOOK - SAFETY : The Secretary was asked to advise Centres to instruct their Track Inspectors to pay particular attention to marshal points in blind areas on tracks and, on jumps, it would be recommended to have two marshals. Mr. Bussell confirmed that National management Council had confirmed the following with reference to age of officials, " Senior Officials ie Clerk of the Course, Assistant Clerk of the Course, Chief Marshal, Chief Scrutineer must be aged 18 years minimum. No one under the age of 16 years may act as an ACU Official. Officials aged 16-18 years require parental agreement". Mr. Herd further explained the 2 marshal rule. On a blind jump like a table top the marshal with the yellow flag quite often has to stand past the take off point thus the rider has no chance to alter his line, in future another marshal with a flag will be required further up the track to warn riders of an incident in a blind area. Mr. Brown referred to his NMC minutes and said immediate trackside marshals had to be over 16. Mrs. Clarke just re iterated that all minors doing permitted jobs must have a parental agreement form signed and the responsible adult on the day to sign the Officials signing on sheet as well as the minor.

2000 DATES : BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS AND QUALIFIERS: Mrs. Clarke said she had the list of dates if any clubs wish to apply.

FOX HELMETS : Recently a Moto Cross helmet under the trade name of FOX, of a type approved to ECE 22-04 standard has been used at British Championship events. Mr. Smith asked if the Technical Committee had given any advice to scrutineers relating to the use of this helmet at ACU events. Mr. Dixon asked Mr Moram, Chairman of the Technical Committee for clarification prior to the next round of the British Championships. Mr. Dixon explained the helmet was used in GP's by Mark Eastwood and had been allowed because different standards applied. But for British events it was not of type approval because it was of lightweight construction. Mr. Horton said it was probably a mountain bike helmet.

INSURANCE : Mr. Bartlett and Mr. Bellars have been invited to the meeting to discuss Moto Cross Insurance with the Committee. Mr. Bellars reported that the highest number of claims was with Moto Cross and that it may be time to make some changes to reduce the number of claims, if claims continue to be high this would eventually put pressure on the insurers to increase the premiums. Several different ideas were discussed these being : Grading of circuits [ ie variances in degree of severity], increased marshal training, general fire safety increased both on circuit and in the paddock, an independent risk assessment on circuit safety. [ Circuit and Paddock safety] There was much discussion on insurance in general with most voicing their doubts about the integrity of the new deal for insurance. Mr. Dixon said that it could not really be viable to grade tracks in accordance with the skills of the riders as the track can change from the start to the end of the day and weather also plays a big part in offroad sport. The Brighton Club offered Clubs a cheap deal on fire extinguishers and there was a general discussion on fire hazards in the paddock.

BYMX AFFILIATIONS : Mr. Horton said that he had just found out that £2 from every BYMX licence goes to the ACU in affiliations fees but he still has to pay £2 to affiliate all of his Youth members because he is an ACU Club. Mr. Brown confirmed he, as Centre Treasurer, had received a cheque from the ACU which consisted of a £1 rebate for all licence holders within our postcode area. This amounted to £90 which bore no relation to the £400 odd pounds paid by GEST to the ACU. Mr. brown said the matter had been discussed at NMC but rather put on hold because of the temporary nature of the BYMX set up. Mr. Horton said that his members had got out of the new set up was an increase from $15 to £22 for their licences they had nothing else to show for it. There was some discussion as to how GEST could overcome this and it was proposed Mr. Brown and seconded Mr. Horton that the Secretary writes to the Centre Management Committee and officially ask for re-imbursement of the funds and for them to take the matter up on GEST's behalf at the ACU. Carried.

TACTICAL VOTING AT CENTRE BOARD MEETINGS : Mr. Horton [GEST] said that their trials members had asked them to bring this matter up . Mrs. Clarke read out a motion to be placed on the next Centre Board Agenda from the Trials Combine "In future the subject of proxy voting be controlled in the following manner. Proxy voting at any Centre Board Meeting or AGM must be in writing, on Club headed notepaper, signed by the Club Secretary and have been lodged on Club headed notepaper, signed by the Club Secretary and have been lodged with the Centre Secretary at least 24 hrs before the meeting in question. Each item listed on the Agenda that the proxy vote relates to must be specifically identified and no transfer of authority be permitted. Only after the attending delegates votes have been cast and counted can the centre Secretary announce the number of proxy votes cast, and for whom, or which Agenda item they can be awarded". There was general agreement with this motion and it was proposed Mr. Brown and seconded Mr. Edwards that we endorse the trials motion. Carried unanimously. Mr. Horton told of an "experience" they had at a Board meeting when someone from the Trials side of the Club had allowed another Club to use their votes, when he arrived at the meeting he found his votes had already been taken. Mr. Batten said the danger here was when voting slips were given out no confirmation was asked for from which Club you were representing, he pointed out when one went to vote they did not accept your word you had to produce a polling card, this was thought to be a good idea and the secretary was instructed to forward another motion " With the notification of a Centre Board Meeting or AGM , when voting will be required by delegates, the Centre Secretary will forward a "polling card" to the Club Secretary which will identify the representative at the meeting to be a bon i fide representative of the Club, proof of membership of that Club on the night by means of a named Club membership card would alleviate any "proxy vote" suggestions." Carried.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS : Mrs. Clarke said she had heard a rumour that the GEST Twin Shock round might be changing, Mr. Horton said they had been given to understand that the Twin Shockers were not happy with the date of their round but that he had put it in the regulations for the meeting and if they did not get enough entries they would cancel the Class. Mrs. Clarke said she was disappointed that all her efforts in trying to get the Class off the ground were proving fruitless. Mr. Brown asked Mr. Dixon[ Crawley] if the articles in the National press regarding the loss of planning permission for a housing estate with regards to the extra runway at Gatwick related to Tinsley Green. Mr. Dixon confirmed this but said the site had been altered beyond recognition because of squatters fears and it would not be possible to use it again. Mr. Horton asked Mr.. Dixon to confirm rumours he had heard about changes to class sizes in Youth Moto Cross.. Mr. Dixon confirmed this and said there would be a leeway to allow for changes to existing bikes. Mr. Batten said he had reason to recently berate someone at his meeting at Rusper about riding in the paddock and was informed why if it was allowed at British Championship Events was it not allowed at centre level, he asked for confirmation this was not true. Mr. Herd confirmed this but Mr. Brown said at the recent Broadhembury British Championship the Kawasaki Team were doing practice starts at the back of the paddock without helmets on! Date and place of next meeting. It was agreed the next meeting could be when we would be meeting to fix our year 2000 Dates. Mrs. Clarke to find out from Mr. Burrell when that would be.

There being nothing further to discuss the meeting closed at 10.15.