TMX says: It should all be so simple
By TMX Archives on 18th Nov 15
Apparently theres a bit of debate going on over at the ACU this week as they try and interpret their own rulebook to decide who this years British Enduro Champion should be Steve Holcombe or Jamie McCanney. Personally I dont see what all the fuss is about and after reading the rules its clear in my mind.
The ACU rulebook states... ‘At the conclusion of the series the points scored by each rider in all days held less two (which do not have to be from the same event) will be added together and the rider with the highest number of points who is a British Citizen will be awarded the title of ‘British Solo Enduro Champion'.
‘Ties will be decided by a) Most days wins b) Most day second places c) Most day third places etc down to 15th. If a tie still exists, best position in the final round either finishes will decide the tie.'
When you dissect Steve and Jamie's scores for the year you see that after dropping their two worst scores they both have five wins, three seconds and one third apiece – ending up tied with 166 points.
According to the rules if a ‘tie still exists, best position in the final round either finishes will decide the tie'.
Since both riders finished the final round my interpretation would suggest that McCanney – who won last Sunday's Muntjac Enduro ahead of Holcombe by less than a second – would take the title.
But it's actually not that simple and to reach that conclusion I've had to make an assumption. I've assumed that only the results from the rounds that initially counted towards the final championship total (we've already dropped two to create the tie in the first place) should be included when calculating ‘the most day wins, most second places and so on' tie-breaker.
While that might be what's implied it's not explicitly stated which leaves the rules open to interpretation.
With that in mind I can understand why the Holcombe camp reckon that all results should count for the tie-breaker which would give him one more third than Jamie and make the title Steve's. On the flipside the McCanney crew share my opinion that the title should be his based on the fact that he came out on top in the final round after the initial tie-breaker failed to work out.
Either way – and no matter what decision the ACU ultimately make – there'll always be an air of controversy surrounding this year's series. Considering it's all over some ambiguity in how the rulebook can be read is really disappointing...
Much less disappointing was Shaun Simpson's appearance at the Lille SX. Claimed by some media channels to be his supercross debut – we're ignoring the other times he's raced indoors then are we? – Woody actually rode really well and for a moment or two was actually leading Saturday night's final.
Okay, the second day didn't end quite so well but anyone who jumps into a trackside FMX ramp and walks away unaided still gets my vote! Well done Shaun...
