SMX show the handicap way!
By John Dickinson on 4th Nov 11
Editor JD investigates a proven way to get uncompetitive old bikes back on the MX track - then goes off kart racing
A couple of weeks ago this column commented on the steadily rising level of interest in the Twin-shock MX scene and its even more rapidly rising EVO sibling. Both classes of course are based on the Nostalgia theme where the majority of enthusiasts and participants are re-living their glory years which they quite rightly revere. They are, as I said at the time, the natural progression from the Pre-65 Classic era where the original protaganists tend to be getting on a bit these days!
The bit that I struggled with was exactly how to stage the races so that one particular make of machine doesn't dominate. A quick recap is that if you do the obvious and set a year, Pre 1972, ‘74, 78, ‘83 or whatever, the only make of machine in demand is the one that was most successful on December 31 of that particular year. Thus the dominant marques, as you all well know, is Bultaco, CZ, Maico etc and I leave you to fill in the exact years. This has been a ‘problem' for many years and the sad bit is it tends to leave many ‘uncompetitive' machines rusting away quietly in sheds when they could be galloping around fields doing what they were designed for.
Even if you were to run races just for one particular marque (a CCM race for example) you still have the same problem, the most competitive machines are still the later ones, unless you can mount a particularly skilled rider on an early machine.
However, as he so often does, Tony Ford, or ORPA and Southern Motocross (SMX) fame has pulled me up and pointed me in the right direction - at least in Tony's right direction - and shown his alternative. All you SMX regulars will of course by now be nodding your collective heads sagely, and quite rightly, as us dumb northerners continue to miss out on a trick.
The secret to the SMX is really quite simple. Tony runs his race meetings on a handicap principle. The first race is run straight. The next race is age related handicap followed by an ability rated handicap. Tony takes personal charge of the handicapping and he is not daft, he knows is someone is sandbagging in the opener!
I've seen people do that before, one well-known northern centre rider (and this I admit is back in the day) used to weigh-up exactly where he was in a race and if he was in sixth place and in line for £3 prize money he would then drift downfield, out of the cash - and take his chance at winning a fiver in the end of day none-prize winners race! Now that, in my book, is what being Totally Professional is all about..!
Back to SMX. The point with the SMX system is that once the straight race is out of the way you are then, regardless of what you are riding, in with a much better chance of success once the handicap kicks-in. True, the level of competitiveness is dependant on a clued-up handicapper but it does at least mean that you can enter on a (f'rinstance) Greeves Griffon and be in with a chance of beating all the Bultacos home on the handicap. Ditto for each and every class. Job done.
Now, Tony Ford and his SMX crew have ploughed something of a lone - but successful - furrow for many years now so they must be doing something right. Whether other organisations see the handicap route as the way to go in order to get more marques or less competitive models back out there on the track we'll have to wait and see...
THE old competitive spirit was dusted-off last weekend when I was sportingly invited along to be willing cannon-fodder for the local young guns in a Karting evening. Either that or they were simply one body short of making up the minimum number for the discount group rate! Either way my money was in and it was a belting way of spending Saturday evening - and 22 mainly off-road contenders was a pretty impressive turnout. What we basically had was a northern centre trials and enduro mob (including past and present generations) switching from two wheels to four - and judging by the instant pace of certain individuals they had done this before!
Not surprisingly, despite much spirited pressing by the Vets, headed by Mike and Chris Myers, it was the young guns who bagged the silverware with Jimmy and Dave Wood and Sam Myers packing the podium. The karts were a bit of a lottery
including a couple of flyers and a couple of dogs. I only copped a flying machine once and managed to win my semi, with carnage going on behind that resulted in a welter of black flags - Formula 1 pussies had nothing on this lot.
Thanks to David Myers for organising the bash - and I'm already in secret training for are-match, got my time down by two seconds over the evening - just another one and a half to go and those kids are in trouble!
If your club/ group/ friends etc happen to be looking for a competitive - and I mean competitive, complete with family feuds to liven up the usual peer pressure - social activity for one of these dark and wintry nights I give karting a full five stars..!
