WERA will be presenting the 4td Annual Concours de Competition hosted by the Barber Museum on July 2, 2022. If you missed the previous events you should start thinking now about getting a bike ready for the 2022 event. Details will be in following posts. The trophies made by the Museum restoration shop for the "Go class" last year were mounted in pieces taken from the track! There may not be a more coveted trophy for a classic racer. Start planning and working on your bikes and exhibits. It takes a combination of on track performance, great preservation and inspiring exhibits to take top honors. The invitation process will open in late February and it requires a photo of the bike as part of the request to be accepted. So you may need to start working on the bike now to convince the Museum that you will have a worthy and running bike by the 2nd of July. We are available to answer questions now. The 2020 and 2021 events were a real challenge with the Covid summers. We are looking forward to a larger and better event in 2022.
Concours de Competition FAQ (aka Rules) When and where will the concours be presented? The event will be part of the WERA race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday July 2, 2022. How will the concours operate? There will be two concours run concurrently: a Concours de Competition (go class) for on track laps as well as display and a Concours d’ Elegance (show class) for static display. Once a participant has be accepted into the “go” classes they will also be given the opportunity to enter additional bikes in the “show” class. How will the track time on for the “go” class operate? WERA will conduct the sessions and tech inspection for the “go” class as they do for the regular vintage competition classes. Riders of the concours machines must be an AMA member and have a license with a racing organization WERA recognizes. WERA will have the final authority over issues related to safety per their technical standards, rider licenses and everything related to the on-track portion of the event. WERA will register the participants at the track, but all rider information must be submitted prior to arrival. How much track time will the “go” class have? WERA will give the concours participants 2 exclusive 15 minute “qualifying” sessions in morning and 1 six lap “racing exhibition” in early afternoon. During the exhibition, the bikes leave the grid in a single wave with the newer and faster bikes leaving first. Transponders will be used to set the grid. If you do not have one, WERA will loan the rider one for the day which may be attached to the bike or carried in a pocket. Minimum number of “at speed” laps to qualify for concours judging will be 6. What is “at speed”? This is an exhibition to show how the bike would have performed during its racing career. It is not a race. Bikes are expected to be ridden at a minimum of warm-up lap or cool down lap speed as was appropriate for it during its racing career. There is no limit on how fast it can be ridden but there is a limit on how aggressively one can pass. A 50-year-old 250 gran prix bike will be significantly slower than a 1997 superbike, but it is no less precious. When passing the faster bike must be considerate. The judges will be looking to see if the bike can still accelerate, corner and brake nearly as well as it could back in its day. How many entries will be accepted into the “go” class? 30. Entries will come from a field invited by the Museum. Where will the concours area be located? WERA will provide a dedicated area of the paddock (third tier west) for the concours. How will the machines be judged? The concours will be under the direction of the museum and the promoter. This includes establishing the rules, recruiting the participants, and judging. The museum will provide the judges. Bikes in the “go” class will be judged on the combination of how well they performed on the track, their appearance, and their exhibits in the exhibition area. Bikes in the “show” class will be judge on appearance and educational exhibits. The Museum will provide the awards and preside over the awards ceremony. What bikes are eligible for the event? Any bike which is eligible to run in WERA’s classes 250GP – 500GP or V1 – V7 can apply for an invitation. V7 class is a pre-96 class with a few like design models allowed in later years. For the Concours the actual bike enter must be at least 25 years old (1997). WERA rules found here: http://www.wera.com/rulebook/?x=1098#ch11. Where do I get more information? Information is posted on WERA’s website at wera.com (General Section of Bulletin Board) and Concours de Competition Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057216708914. What is the tentative schedule? Friday 5:00 pm Early move in and set up. Saturday 7:00 am Registration and exhibit set up. Tech inspection by WERA. 9:15 am Qualifying session 1 (15 minutes) 10:00 am Concours area open to fans 10:45 am Qualifying session 2 (15 minutes) 1:00 pm “Racing exhibition” (and last chance to qualify) (6 laps) 2:00 pm Judging begins 3:30 pm Winners will to be announced and prizes awarded. How much does it cost to enter? Entry is by invitation only. Those who are invited will not pay any entry fee. How do I get invited? Send a request to [email protected] along with a photo of the bike you wish to enter the “go” class. If you have additional bikes you would like to enter the “show” class, include that information in your request. You will be contacted to provide detailed information for the printed program and on track registration. What prizes will be awarded? The museum is manufacturing its own unique trophies. First, second and third will be awarded in each the “go” and “show” class. There will be one an additional trophy awarded for best of show and best collection. In addition, there will be a few awards for special merit that the judges can present if they feel any entries meet the criteria. Stay tuned for details of these awards as they are announced this spring. What are the rain rules? All entrants are expected to set up their bikes and exhibits under a canopy so the “show” portion should not be affected by rain. To qualify to win the awards in the "go" class, you must complete at least 6 laps at speed. Many of the bikes entered have slicks and putting rains on for an exhibition is not a reality. Some owners are rightfully reluctant to put precious old bikes on a wet track. We have a total of 3 sessions, which should all be done by 1 pm. If any session is wet the requirement for at speed laps will be reduced by 2. If all sessions are wet, the judges will only require the bikes to be started on command during their inspection and demonstrate that they have working transmissions and brakes.
Now Accepting Applications We are now accepting applications for an invitation to participate in the 2022 Concours de Competition. The following link will take you to the form to provide the museum staff with the history of the bike, owner and rider as well as a photo showing its present condition. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScnRgWhzc1COmFnGLrJnwMKtbtendinRDsRBzHpj9FRHnuamA/viewform Again this year, those invited to ride will not pay a registration fee. Last year was a struggle to put the event on during the second year of the pandemic. Notwithstanding we had 27 entries on track and expect to fill all 30 slots on the grid this year. We anticipate having more applications than we have space in the "Go" class. Applications will be open for about a month to get an adequate pool from which the Museum staff will chose. We would like to get the field set well in advance so that those invited will have time to properly prepare the bikes and exhibits. When you send in your applications for the "go" class, be sure to send in additional applications for the "show" class. We will have a new location in the paddock this year (3W) and should have room to display dozens of bikes on static display. So start sending in those "cards and letters". We look forward to seeing you in July.
