blackhawk468

President of Bling
N. Texas SP
Nov 3, 2000
698
0
Yesterday I raced in the first round of the Pro Circuit Series. Since I am new to dirtbikes, riding since April, I raced in 125 beginner class. I figured I would be racing with guys at or around my riding experience, wrong. Top 10 guys were sandbagging. For 2 hours we were in staging and were talking amongst ourselves, all beginners. :silly: Well I talk to the guy next to me, he has been riding 4 years (4 years come on time to move on dude), the other guy next to me used to race novice class and was complaining about how begginers are squirly on starts (don't like squirly riders then don't race with them) funny he said that though because I was next to him on the start and i wheelied and our plastic got stuck togeather for a few seconds down to the first corner. :p Then another guy said he had been racing a year. I thought by ama rules if you had been racing a year you can't race beginner class. Well I noted their numbers in my head. Anyhow, about 15 guys in the 125 class were jumping and clearing all the jumps (triples and step-ups and everything with no problems), and a beginner that i talked to hauled through the rhythm double section on the second lap he ever had on this track ( i talked to him in staging and was behind him in practice. Now if you can do that, then your no beginner. Well when results came out, guess who were in the top 5, those guys that I talked to during staging. It just pisses me off that theses guys move down a class, just so that they can get 1st place, I mean how great is a beginner 1st place trophey to a novice rider anyways. These guys had no business being there in the beginner class. I mean a true beginner enters a race and has absolutly no chance of winning because the top guys are Novice riders. :think Just kinda puts a damper on your day knowing that you dont' even have a chance of winning. :( but i had fun anyways.
 

MRKRacing125

Member
Oct 24, 2000
507
0
Its one thing if you know the track really well and can jump everything, with jumping it only takes a few times of jumping the same ole' jump over and over untill you get the hang of it, but when no in the air you are racing! I am a 125c rider that can do the big 75ft doubles at our local track, and can go through the rhytem section pritty fast, but yet I am still a C rider, because I am slow everywhere else! Unless they let off the throttle in the 125c class then they deserve too be there:) I have only been riding for a year and half
 

Yamamoto

Uhhh...
Apr 3, 2001
349
0
Fine line

Beginners ....No double jumps ...Period!
C Class ......Double Jumps only, No Tripples
B Class .....Doubles,tripples but yet need more speed for A. 3 wins in this class and you are A.
A Class ....Super fast riders that can clear all jumps and have won the B-class 3 times.


I think this would make tracks safer for everyone, because I was a "sandbagger" at my local track as well I used to race C Class only because I figured it was safer for me, but one day I was approaching the tripple and the guy in front of me looked like he was going to nail it then all of a sudden he brakes! Once he did that I had to brake to avoid taking him off his bike, I ended up caseing it hard and after that race a track official came to me and told me that I should race in the B-Class.

My first race in the B-class was a 2nd Place, I felt better in this class because I was able to keep my speed up not have to fish around other riders that were not as skilled in berms.

I think your flame needs more attention, I have been to alot of tracks that have no controll over what class a rider chooses, give or take with the layout I feel that track owners should pay more attention to the flow of traffic.


C-Class RiderPhoto Of a C-Class rider Clearing a Tripple

N9ow I am B so do not flame me.
 

IBWFO

Member
Aug 5, 2001
367
0
I think you have a great point.
I too was there this weekend with my son, who is 15 and a 125 novice racer.
He started racing on an 80 (beginner class in May of 2000) He has since moved to the 125 class as of this May. I saw some of the beginner guys doing that triple and actually heard that #4 on a Kawi won that class.
He is a local kid that usually wins the beginner class here (dallas area).
Funny how they have a "Beginner" practice AND an advanced practice yet he is ALWAYS is in the advanced practices and clearing ALL the jumps.
This kid used to give my son a hard time when he first started on his 125, but now keeps his distance because my son can beat him.
Everyone at the local tracks calls him a sandbagger, and rightly so.
His dad is a racer and is a good guy, but I still have to wonder what he is thinking with his son in the beginner class.
Look at the top three kids in the novice 125 class? Some kid named Huddle, I hear he's been invited to the US Open? Go figure.
Next race I'm going to put a watch to some of these kids and then write some letters. I think it's bad for the sport.
Most of this is due to the PARENTS.
I talked with an AMA rep and he told me once a kid wins a major championship they have to move up.
There are exceptions, like Kerr and Kuraulsky. They were top in the 80 class and when they moved to the 125 class they moved to the int class.
According to Katt Spann of Southern Dirtbike, all you can do is keep good records (her paper is the best) and stay on your toes.
It's ashame and it's an indication of the type of family they come from.
Bottom line is, with no more regulation from the AMA this situation is just perpetuates itself.
If you don't let your voice be heard nothing will ever happen.
Regards
 
Jan 12, 2001
44
0
I agree 100%. If you consistently finish in the top 5 then it's time to move on. I consider myself a pretty good rider, and can do all of the doubles at the local tracks, but have never finished better than 2nd to last in my races. If I were one of the sandbaggers, I could not look proudly upon my trophies knowing that I was really riding in the wrong class in order to get them.:think
 

KXaggerator

~SPONSOR~
Feb 4, 2001
252
0
Let me start off by saying that I have been riding for 25 years, I am 30. The races I have done have been HS and enduro, and I have done quite well, so I decided a few years back to race a motocross for the first time. My friends and I made a pact that we would all do the race. When the race came around all of my friends dropped out when they saw that it was a supercross style track; all doubles and 3 tables tops, not my style of riding at all. I entered as a novice. May class was grouped with the intermediates due to low turn out. I was on my KX500 and I got a good start as you might imagine. In the first lap of the race race this guy kept leaning forward and roosting off of the lip of the jumps. He would purposely change his lines to move in front of me. This lead to me casing it on a double because I lost momentum and the mud had obscured my vision. I compressed my lower back and have had problems ever since. The jerks buddy had also ran me into a wall in practice. Two weeks later I went to the San Diego Supercross and I saw that same intermediate rider make the last chance qualifier in the 125 class. He finished at the back of the pack, but he was out there with the best riders in the world. If I had not been injured I would have gotten some pit justice. :think
 

XRpredator

AssClown SuperPowers
Damn Yankees
Aug 2, 2000
13,510
19
The saddest thing is these sandbaggers are doing it all for that little piece of plastic!

There is another facet to this, though. I have been riding for about 20 years, but I would still consider myself a beginner, since most people out there could whup me no matter what I was riding!:(
 

WoodsRider

Sponsoring Member<BR>Club Moderator
Damn Yankees
Oct 13, 1999
2,812
0
Some people would pimp out their own mother for a $10 plastic trophy. :scream:
 

buffmaster

Mi. Trail Riders
Member
Apr 11, 2001
559
0
Nothin', as long as the pay-off is good!;)
Seriously, there's this track by where I live that has some good rules concerning this. If anyone in the beginner class double, then they automatically get bumped to the next class. I even heard that if, in that class, you double the whoops, they stop you and talk to you. Personnaly, I don't care about winning or not(mainly b/c I'm not that good and that if I push myself to win, I'll end up in a cast in very short order), but it's nice to know that someone is looking out for the rookies.
 

XRpredator

AssClown SuperPowers
Damn Yankees
Aug 2, 2000
13,510
19
The answer . . .

More classes!

A class for every letter of the alphabet! One rider per class! Then everyone gets a trophy! If it had been like this my whole racing career, my trophies wouldn't have cost me so much! (I figger about $500 worth of entry fees for 3 pieces of shiny plastic--but they do hold a place of honor in the corner of the garage!)

We'll always have to deal with them, they'll be in every class, and that's the way it is. How do you think the NESC regulars like it when guys like Dowd and Henry show up and spank everybody? They are racing the pro class, but the local pros just can't hang.

It's all relative.
 

KawieKX125

~SPONSOR~
Oct 9, 2000
948
0
The local track has some nice rules.
1)You can "point out" of any class. This rule is obvious
2)The double jump rule is in effect in arenacrosses around here
3)There is alot of peer presser per say if you know what I mean.

I was last years C class champion, yet I jumped only about 5 out of 13 jumps on the track while the rest were jumping all of them. Jumping alone should not in any way be a measure of skill. To clear a jump is one thing, but to do it well and link it with good cornering and starts, etc and then and only then are you a B class rider.

There is a local kid who is top of the B class, but placed mid pack at lorettas in the C class. Go figure?
 

sraser

Member
May 31, 2001
33
0
Hey guys.....I know this is a little off-topic, but I was wondering how I would go about getting information about entering myself into some races. Are the Pro Circuit Races open to anyone, or do you have to know certain people to get in? Racing is something I have really wanted to get into during the last couple of years, but have been unable to have any luck. It seems like all of you have been involved in racing of some sort, and any info that you could provide me with would be very much appreciated. I am located in Santa Barbara, CA....so if anyone is from around the area who has info for this particular area, that would be great.
 

mx547

Ortho doc's wet dream
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 24, 2000
4,787
102
the track i race the most at has a couple of rules to get the beginners to move up. there is a long double on the track that the beginners are not allowed to jump. it's kinda funny because it's really easy to make. two of the girls in the womens's class are doing it, so it has to be frustrating to the guys in beginner class watching them do it. they also have a three win move up rule (beginner class only). even if they are in the midst of a series, three wins and they move up.
 

Jaybird

Apprentice Goon
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 16, 2001
6,452
0
Charlestown, IN
Sandbag away...I'm not good enough to ride top class, so I'm in it for fun. I'd much rather every rider be better than me. Much safer. :)
 

mopowa

Member
Dec 6, 2000
75
1
I got tired of the chaos in c class and moved myself up to b class and like it much better.
In fact, My first" b" race, a "c" rider who started behind us on a staggered gate caught us and passed all the "b" riders!
 

Yamamoto

Uhhh...
Apr 3, 2001
349
0
No more classes

Originally posted by XRpredator
More classes!

A class for every letter of the alphabet! One rider per class! Then everyone gets a trophy!


It sucks to wait for your class to come around, just think Hmmm 8 more classes till mine. talk about sitting on a tail gate ...

Classes are one of the reasons I do not attend many races anymore, I am here to ride not wait.

I have found a Happy middle by MXing in the woods, granted there are not many jumps, but hey I get to put alot of hours in.
 

KDXDan

Member
Oct 17, 2000
186
0
I raced at Steel City and thought the "D" class was going to be a bunch of beginners on older bikes. I was on a KDX. I thought that I would see at least one other KDX after all its a great bike no :) Anyway it looked like I was lining up with the pros! Everybike looked all tricked out. Some guy goes blowing by me (beginner class mind you) in the air over the large uphill doubles and procedes to double every double on the track. The announcer even made a joke about how the guy looks like Mike Brown. I do think they black flagged and Dq'ed the guy. What are these guys thinking?
 

rockchucker

Member
Nov 17, 1999
115
0
IBWFO - Check your Private Messages. Also I know exacly who you are talking about (#4 Kawa)-- beat him the last two races. He has a brake-checking problem.

I can't be certain but do local tracks and AMA Sanctioned events (like the Pro-Circuit Series) have the same classifications/standards for beginner, novice, intemediate, and pro riders? Just curious.

Technically speaking I'm a sandbagger. Technically speaking I've only been racing for 3 mos. I've won 3 out of 4 moto's at our local track. Does that make me a sandbagger? Only time will tell. The rulebook says you have one year to ride beginner but who really monitors these constraints? It's up to the individual racer and/or parent to make the change. I'll be moving up to Novice next month to compete against the Intermediate sandbaggers (sarcasm). Yes I hit the big stuff and I had to learn it just like anyone else but now it's time to move on. I think alot of sandbagging is perception from both sides. Some riders have more efficient learning curves and natural ability while others seem to struggle. Classes are a reflection of experience and riding skill although it appears riding experience carries more weight.
What I'm saying is until the rules change there will be sandbagging in every class and yep it sucks. Of course I ride a cheaterbike (250f) anyway so it won't matter what class I run ( :
 
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NdKxRacer

I am posting under my son's name here, but I went back to the races after an 18 year layoff. I raced the first two races in the beginner class and ended up in top 5 both times. WOW! 2 plastic trophies!! So I figured it was time to move on and let some of the other "Beginners" have a shot at those trophies. Now I have moved to the 125C class and I am riding a 1983 hondaCR125 mind you, so I am at a severe disadvantage. I have ended up about 20th out of 25 riders, but it is a heck of a lot more fun than the beginner class. I love being able to beat the teenagers on their brand new bikes. I just worry about how they ride. I think that I may go into the Vet class next year, those guys are not out for blood so much as out racing for the fun of it.
 

mx547

Ortho doc's wet dream
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 24, 2000
4,787
102
Originally posted by mx547
the track i race the most at has a couple of rules to get the beginners to move up. there is a long double on the track that the beginners are not allowed to jump.

i guess i spoke too soon. i raced there saturday nite and they had done away with the no double rule. i guess enough "beginners" cried about it.
 

agitt73

~SPONSOR~
May 11, 2000
1,078
0
there is a 16 year old kinda like that around here in the non ama races
he is in the c class (the lowest) and wins every one and in the nationals(ama)
he is in the b class and is in the five every time all he rides is a kx100
and beats most a class riders
 

YZDezertGuy

Member
Apr 18, 2001
139
0
Personally sandbaggers dont bother me at all! I'm racing 125 Novice right now and the sandbaggers in the 125 beg. class gave me something to work for. Knowing a few of them personally they have been racing for years now. Im 4 months into racing now. It was a great honor to finally beat the sandbaggers and show who was boss, then be man enough to step up to the next class and still finish decent. I just looked at how the pushed me to improve and want to be better.
 
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