No-stop means more start
By TMX Archives on 13th Aug 09
WELL, there's no doubt that whatever your view on the matter, and some people have very strong views indeed, that no-stop observing is very much the trials topic in the news! The FIM is busily debating the subject with regard to the World Championship as is the ACU with regard to the British series and in fact the ACU has already declared that the 2010 Novogar Championship will indeed run under no-stop from 2010. The bottom line is that no-stop is being debated because the major championships have all but collapsed from a numbers point of view. Both World and British series have seen numbers as low as single figures with the fact being that both series are currently being kept alive thanks to their support classes which in the main relies on Youths and Juniors with dads footing the bills.
Also, at World Championship level it is a fact that the factories contesting the series, or wishing to contest the series in the future, are looking to cut their costs and losing a few minders along the way is one way to do this.
It is a fact that the Scottish and Scott Trials were both saved from oblivion by re-introducing no-stop and the Yorkshire centre of course curently operates under no-stop rules. This year's Lakes Two Day Trial will also run under no-stop if only to cut down on queuing at sections and to make sections quicker to negotiate. With a large entry this is a very important factor.
So far so good, but I don't think that anyone is so blinkered as to think that this is an instant cure-all fix for the sport. To start with, whatever rules trials are run under – and it is currently very confusing – how many marks a rider loses is totally at the mercy of the observer. And we all know observers that interpret the rules one way and others who look at it another way.
FOR FULL STORY SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2009