When to bump up from Novice???

Here's the scenario...

Local racing org for years had a policy of 6 finished "heats" along with volunteer work like corner working before Novice's would get bumped. When a Novice was ready, they notify their Mentor and Race Director, they keep a close eye on them in the next "heat" and then if all goes well - you get your graduated Novice certification and race with the Expert grids.

This year, that's changed to 10 completed races (no longer called heats!) along with the other previous requirements. Along with that, some companies like Dunlop now recognize Novice's as racers and therefor pay out contingency money.

Question for you is - is it acceptable to stay in Novice as long as you want and stand on top of the box and collect Dunlop cash? We have no set rules in place for pushing us little birdies out of the nest so as long as we want to, we can cherry pick the contingency and feel like rock stars on the podium.

Thoughts? Get out ASAP? Stay and feel like a hero???

 

come race in WERA !!!!

 

Yes....come to WERA

 

Coming from a guy who needs white plates.

 

Next year...next year. The only reason that I would have had any reason to be bumped was a 2nd at the GNF in Clubman. That was kind of a fluke. I raced 9 different bikes in competition last year trying to figure out what would help me as a rider. I didnt have points for shit... I found what worked for me. Its my second full season and first season dedicated to a single bike. That sounds average to me.

 

Winning in Novice is like being the best at masturbating.

 

Not when you're a novice it isn't

Younglion, if you feel like you're stomping the grid it's time to move up. There's no challenge in cherrypicking.

 

If you think that's going to be allowed, you're sorely mistaken.

Down to the brass tacks of the conversation. It depends what your goals are Lionel.

Do you want to brag about finishing on the box in Novice or do you want to get faster? Is there really all that much glamour in cherry picking?

If you wanna go faster, graduate and come race w/the big boys. You'll definitely learn to go faster that way. Right now you'd be towards the back of the pack but you'll pick up speed as you start racing against faster bikes.

Personally, I think you should go with the latter.

 

No.

 

I was wondering about that.
WERA already has a cherry-picking rule... if money is on the line, then WMRRA should too. Everyone's so afraid to move up to Expert - I really don't see why. You WILL go faster from racing against faster riders.

 

I agree. I was refering to the people who try to stay in Novice just to stand on the podium and win money instead of progressing.

 

LOL... It's been happening for the last 3-4 rounds!!!

I'm not referring to myself Nico but if you look back, a certain other Novice has won the last 7 races in a row by large margins (20 seconds and 7 seconds last round) and the first 2 rounds with OMRRA while lapping the field.

I brought it up to my mentor and was told there's no rule in place so he can stay as long as he wants.

I asked because a discussion with other Novices showed that there were comments like "We're all racing for second place anyway". This Novice has triple the required races completed to graduate yet hasn't moved on....

Each to their own, the guy is a great dude and great racer so if there's no rule in place and he is almost guaranteed to take home $250/weekend of Dunlop's money, why not is his opinion I guess.

I personally plan to leave as soon as my requirements are met then I'll be glad to be a backmarker with the big boys but I'll be challenged every race and my learning curve won't be stagnant thats for sure.

My thoughts in asking this for WERA racers was for some sort of comparison to see what other org's do as I think that there should be some sort of plan in place that obviously we don't. Mentors don't track Novice progression so in theory we can stay there forever as it stands now.

 

it ain't doing him any good to stay a novice, but his times at PIR (which is the only track i know out there) put him DFL in his "expert" class. i'd move up, and if i were OMRRA and WMRRA i'd strongly suggest that to him as well. but i can see a point to trying to find a couple of seconds before making the jump...

 

According to mylaps, he would have been 14th out of 24 riders in the expert class unless I'm looking at the wrong grouping and of course based solely on best lap times. 1:15 flats were his time's I believe.

Once again though, this isn't so much about that specific rider, more the general policy of the Club and or other clubs regarding this rule or lack there of.

 

+1

I petitioned and moved up this year. Novice ranks are just a filter to see who's going to stick with it. If you stay Nov long enough, everyone gets thier chance to shine cuz all the fast people who beat you move on.

 

I will be doing the same after my next round I think - only a couple races short of the requirement but hopefully consistently fast and safe enough to get bumped up with the big boys.