NEWS
. . .• SACU Bulletin: 02/2005 • SACU Licence Holders
News Letter No 5 • Latest
Motocross News
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Bridgestone / Fun in the Mud Scottish Motocross Championship The 2006 Scottish open Motocross Championship will again be sponsored by BRIDGESTONE and FUN IN THE MUD Other firms have also donated money to the final prize fund and next years winner will receive £1000---2nd-£900---3rd-£800---4th- £700---5th-£600---6th-£500---7th-£400---8th-£300---9th-£200---10th-£100 Prize money for each race is to be increased by 50% but will now only be paid to 10th place, £1.50 per point starting at 30 points for the winner(£45) down to 11 points for 10th place (£16.50) We are also hoping to arrange a sponsor local to each meeting to run a holeshot competition at every round. If this can be arranged (we have 3 already) the holeshot prize for each race will be £50. If you holeshot each race and win it, and are using BRIDGESTONE tyres you could be going home with £285 plus a free rear tyre. Win all the rounds and collect an extra £1000 at the SACU awards presentation at the end of the year. You must attend the presentation to collect your cheques, no appearance means no cheque. If the sponsors make the effort to come and present the awards then it is only good manners for the recipients to be present to receive them. ______________________________ Rimor Motorhomes Scottish Adult 125 Championship The adult 125 Scottish Championship has new sponsors for 2006. Maxwell Motors (Berwick on Tweed) the only agent in Scotland for RIMOR MOTORHOMES have agreed to put up a prize fund of £1350. 1st -£350---2nd-£300---3rd-£250---4th-£200---5th-£150---6th -£100 The series will be called the Rimor Motorhomes Scottish Championship and prize winners must attend the SACU awards presentation to receive their cheques from a representative of Maxwell Motors. Robert Brownlie Breakdown and Recovery Services (Edinburgh) have agreed to sponsor a holeshot competition at every round of the Scottish adult 125's Prize money of £50 for holeshoting each race and £100 to the person who has had the most holeshots in the competition. This £100 cheque will be presented at the SACU awards presentation at the end of the season.
The 2004 National scene is now coming to an end, although most clubs are still running closed to club events. By virtue of a magnificent win at the Dunfermline clubs Championship trial held at Callander, Roger Mount from Fort William clinched the 2004 SACU Adult Championship by 40 points. Runner-up was Gary Macdonald from Kinlochleven, with Inverness rider Gary Kennedy 3rd. Gary was unable to ride all the rounds due to clashes with British and International events. I guess there just are not enough weekends in the year! Stonehavens' Murray Whittaker fitting in trials around his SuperMoto events has won the Pre 65 / Twinshock class on his gorgeous bored and stroked 250 Triumph Cub. Kevin Duke and Alastair McArthur are still slogging it out in the Over 40 class with it all to be decided in the final two rounds. All the youth classes are yet to be decided,
just one point separating Peter Carmichael and Ruaraidh MacCormack
in the 'A' class. Youth Trials – Engine Capacity Changes From 2007 all youth trials competitors will have to be mounted on machines of 125cc or less. These changes are being phased in over the next few years to fall in line with the new FIM rules. Many of our older youth competitors may compete in events using the public highway but to conform to Road Traffic Act regulations and licence requirements they will need to be restricted to smaller capacity machines to comply with the law. This will mean all 'A' class (16-17 year olds) must be on 125cc machines from 2007. However, the 'B' class (13-15 year olds) will be restricted to 125cc from 2005 meaning no change of machine when they move up to the 'A' class. To keep the progression the younger 'C' class (10-12 year olds) have until the end of 2006 to ride a 125cc when the maximum capacity will then reduce to 80cc. The ‘D' class (6-9 year olds) will have a maximum capacity of 50cc from January 2006. However, twin shock machines of up to 80cc will still be permitted. The age groups and maximum machine capacities are shown below which will help you decide which bike you can ride and enable parents to plan ahead.
Team Trial The Inter-Club Team trial was successfully run, despite the weather, by the Inverness Club at Alvie. With no Lochaber Adult team this year the Inverness ‘A’ team were overall winners.
May 2005 October 2004 Super Sport 600cc: Bob Grant Sport production: John MacDonald Sidecar: Andy Laidlow / Patrick Farrance The last round of the Scottish Championship also included the Celtic Match race, hosted this year by Scotland. This is a competition between Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Isle of Man and this time Scotland won both the Solo and Sidecar classes.
The Road Race Committee has decided that the 2005 SACU Scottish Road Race Championship will be held over 7 events at both Knockhill and East Fortune. If any Road Race enthusiasts have ever thought about becoming a Marshal then go to the ‘Marshalling’ link on the Scottish Road Race web site (www.scottishroadracing.co.uk) for contact details of the Scottish Motorcycle Marshals Association.
1. ACU REQUIREMENTS FOR SAFETY PRECAUTIONS 2. ENVIRONMENTAL SEMINARS 3. TRIALS EVENTS 4. SACU AFFILIATIONS
5. SACU COMMITTEE CO-OPTIONS 6. CHILD PROTECTION GUIDELINES 2005 7. STOLEN MOTORCYCLE 8. OFFICIALS RECOGNITION AT EVENTS 9. INSURANCE ACCIDENT REPORT FORMS
1. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2. COMMITTEE VACANCIES 3. SEMINARS
There have also been suggestions about running the Trials seminar during the week rather than at the weekend. John Davies is happy to run an evening seminar at the SACU office for central Scotland based officials. He does feel though that it should still be during the week commencing 24 January. For those of you who are located at a much greater distance from the office he is also once again prepared, as other discipline chairman are also, to travel and run seminars outwith the office. When submitting 'the seminar application forms can you confirm which arrangement would suit your officials best. 4. FIXTURES LIST 5. OFFICE CLOSURE OVER THE FESTIVE PERIOD 6. CAVITATION FEES REMINDER 7. 2004 AWARD WINNERS 8. CHANGES TO TRIALS RULES 9. INSURANCE ARRANGEMENTS 2005 10. RIDER'S NEWSLETTER
Note: the provisional fixture list and licence application forms are not included on the web site 1. FIXTURES LIST 2. CAPITATION FEES 3. LIFTING OF NATIONAL SUSPENSION 4. LICENCE APPLICATION FORMS 2005 5. RULES AND REGULATIONS 6. COMMITTEE VACANCIES 7. YOUTH QUADS 8. NEXT OF KIN DETAILS 10. ENVIRONMENTAL SEMINARS 11. STOLEN BIKE
1. DATES CALENDAR 2005 2. LICENCE FEES FOR 2005 3. AWARDS CEREMONY 5 DECEMBER 2004 4. RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR 2005 5. NATIONAL SUSPENSIONS ROAD RACE COMPETITORS 6. NEXT OF KIN DETAILS AND OTHER INFORMATION
ON ENTRY FORMS 7. SUBMISSION OF EVENT FORMS 8. MEETING OF CLUB SECRETARIESICIIAIRMEN 9. ROAD RACE SEMINAR E W JONES I. ACU RIDER LEVY 2. SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION FOR BIKERS WITH
A DISABILITY 3. MEET THE CLUBS 4. MOTOCROSS/CLASSIC SCRAMBLE MEDICAL
FACILITIES 5. TRIALS PUNCH CARDS 6. WEBSITE UPGRADE 7. QUAD INSURANCE AND LICENCES FOR YOUTH 8. ROAD RACE PRE NOVICE TRAINING E W JONES
SACU LICENCE HOLDERS NEWS LETTER No 4 ANDY RUSSELL (SACU PRESIDENT) As the newly elected President of the SACU I have asked that I may be given the opportunity of opening this newsletter and to give you my thoughts and hopes for my three-year term in office. All the facts and figures clearly demonstrate that motorcycle sport in all disciplines is enjoying a substantial increase in participation. It is my duty, along with the management and other committees of the SACU to ensure that such success continues. The portrait historically painted of the governing body of our sport was to legislate and impose a regulatory structure within the sport. This very important aspect of governance will continue however we, as managers of the sport, must also address in a more visible and encouraging manner the needs of the riders and the officials. It is therefore my intention that the decisions of the day to day management of the sport will be left in the hands of the discipline chairman and committees and thereby hopefully release the management committee to have more time to take on board the political and commercial issues which can have at times both a positive and negative consequence on our sport. Basically our off road sport depends on land access and we are being continually bombarded both politically and financially on matters where such access is either being denied or severely restricted. I need to have my management committee up to speed and to have the time to seriously evaluate the extremely complex legislative matters that now face us to enable us to table a strong defence against such pressure. The other area where we need to modernise our attitude is towards the trade and other commercial/sponsorship partners. We need to be more skilful in our requests for financial help for our sport – we are not the only ones who ask the trade for money! The motorcycle shops, clothing manufacturers and other related commercial outlets do have an impact on our sport and the governing body should be more aware of these influences and be more active in forming partnerships. We must also provide a duty of care to our officials. While it is good news to see our sport on the up, by default this does put extra pressure on our officials and we have a duty of care towards these people. To the rider the front line of the SACU are the event officials and I would hope that the riders acknowledge in a positive manner the tremendous effort that is being put in by the volunteers. The call for volunteers will also become greater due to the increased participation and the management committee will have to address how we create a sporting feeling of well being at events where we can expect volunteers to happily volunteer. If we don’t do something to encourage the officials then we will clearly have to go down the road of either contracting or employing people to man the events. There is only one solution to that and unfortunately the riders will have to pay more for the sport. We must as a combined team from management down to the individual rider do our best to ensure that we have a band of willing and enthusiastic volunteers who also get enjoyment from the sport. Please help them where you can and don’t be afraid to give them praise when due. Finally I would also like to touch on the non-competitive side. We are more and more becoming involved with the social issues of non competitive off road motorcycling and the banner of the SACU is now being waved in a very imposing way by the local authorities and the police. We have a role to play in encouraging riders to use their bikes in a sensible and non-criminal manner. There are a number of councils now looking to the SACU for our expert help and guidance. We must not forget that there are a lot of people out there who just want to ride their bikes without becoming involved in the competitive side and we need to bring them into the SACU where such organisations as the councils and the police become useful working partners with us. You will all be aware of the creation of the Centre of Excellence and one of the main driving forces behind the project is the North Lanarkshire Council – again very clear evidence that the SACU is a working partner reacting to the needs of the communities. I hope by now that you will appreciate that with the increased workload planned over the next three years it will be a particularly busy time for all the SACU committees – please be as supportive as you can towards them. For motorcycling in Scotland WE are the people. ARCHIE SHEDDEN – CHAIRMAN As Chairman of the SACU I have been asked on many occasions what does the SACU do. At a recent curling match I was asked what does the Scottish Curling Union do. Quite simply nothing different from each other apart from the fact that the curling world champions are perhaps better recognised in the sporting world than ours. We need to change that and I make no bones about it we have a major challenge ahead of us. Champions are not born they are made however we need to better recognise those riders who have such ability at as early an age as possible. It is all in the training and coaching and the SACU is embarking on a major training and coaching initiative. Let us not forget however that a youth rider on winning his class for the year is also a champion. I feel if the sport was better acknowledged in the physical and athletic sense then we would stand a chance of upping our image with the sporting world. Over the next year or two the management committee, along with the help of Bob Young, would like to have in place a realistic and challenging training commitment. It is all very well the committees considering this but we do need rider feedback as well. I am enclosing a proforma for your return with comments and which will also be subject to a lucky draw which will entitle the winner to a refund of his/her licence. Another aspect which has concerned me for a while is the age of our committees. They are all stalwart representatives of the sport and I would hear of no-one speaking against them, however there is a shortage of youngsters on our committees. I know this is a difficult problem to overcome given that the youngsters are there to ride. We have just recently integrated with the BYMX and I am hopeful under the guidance of Ross Munro, the BYMX Chairman, that we shall see some good youth policy coming through which will help all disciplines. Again do you feel we are doing enough for the youth riders? As Andy Russell has said above we are on the increase. We have had an application from a Karting Club to affiliate with us and run Supermoto events. The Scottish Speedway are talking with us on how they could be given a better Scottish identity. We have had applications for affiliation from organisations dealing with less fortunate motorcycle enthusiasts. We cannot afford to turn anyone away who wants to enjoy motorcycle sport in whatever form that may take. It is my intention therefore to gear up to these needs in a more pro-active manner after all these are Scottish needs and we are perhaps the best body to deal with the problems. Up to now the management committee have done well to represent the SACU at motorcycle shows but primarily they have been in the Central belt of Scotland. I know that there are many other motorcycle shows scattered throughout the country and to increase the awareness of the SACU it would be good if we could have a presence. Obviously the management committee could not commit themselves to such an exercise however if some of the riders, in conjunction with their clubs, were willing to take a stand at any show then please let us know. We can provide handouts etc and of course we would look favourably at any expenses incurred. I would hope that in doing so we would let the public know what we are about in a more identifiable manner. As this letter is being sent to all licence holders I hope that getting your licence has not been too much trouble this year. The office has been busier than usual with an increase in the number of applications and I am told that the pressure has now reduced to a more acceptable level. For those of you who do not know the office staff they are Eric Jones the office Manager who I am told cannot see past his Velocettes and Yvonne Kelly who is the mainstay in licence issue but do not cross swords with her as she is the proud and brave owner of an English Bull Terrier and a Staffordshire Lab Cross. My thanks to them once again. CHARLIE MACKENZIE – ENDURO CHAIRMAN Your Enduro Committee for 2005 is D Donald, C Hume, S Livingstone, I Paterson, J Patrick and myself. The Enduro competition season is now well underway in Scotland with three rounds already completed. Starting in the North with sand at Lossie and then two days of mud at Pathhead. A varied and challenging beginning to 2005. Welcome to the new riders to the sport – we hope you enjoy Enduro – but remember it is about Endurance and finishing – use your extra hour if needed – but get to the end. The different courses require varied abilities from steering a course through heavy sand or mud to blasting across open fields flat out. A lot more than just a long trail ride you can have a sense of achievement when you finish your first Enduro. With twelve rounds planned the Scottish Championship is one of the best in the UK and provides riding every month. There are some gaps but riders can then enter events in the North of England rounds – a companion to our Championship and with some very tough events. There are discussions at present about holding a British Round in 2006 – probably based in the North, it will require a lot of helpers in the run-up to the event and on the days of the race. If you would like to get involved now contact the Enduro Chairman Charlie Mackenzie at any event or via the SACU office. A chance to see the top riders competing on our courses. Training is very important to get the new riders around the course and improve our top riders. We are currently in the process of getting our trainers certified so they can take club days and organise insurance. As soon as we have this organised we will have some training for new riders to help them start the sport. Details will be posted on the SACU and Scottish Enduros websites. One plea that I have had from all the event organisers is for riders to hand back their time card at the end of each event – even if you fail to finish. This means they can account for every rider. There have been events where the marshals have been out after the event looking for riders who are already at home. It is for your safety – so hand it in. Finally – the ISDE is in the Czech Republic this year – so far we have only one person keen to ride – if your are an Expert class or top Clubman and wish to enter speak now as we need names to organise a team. Have a good season – and get to the finish ! JOHN DAVIES – TRIALS CHAIRMAN Your Trials Committee for 2005 is D Robinson, C Barrie, W Gillespie, J Reid, G Barrie, J Moffat, D Johnston, M Peden and myself. With the 2005 season now well under way little can be gauged from results so far. The new Clubmans trophy, held in conjunction with the adult rounds has generated more interest and entries are up as hoped. The ruling to allow “minders” to accompany C & D class youths around the course has proved helpful. This was suggested by one of the “dads” and actioned by the Trials Committee – just ask the question and we will see what can be done. The SACU organised youth training schools, with Saturday 23rd April at Dunfermline and Sunday 24th April at Kinlochleven. It was free to the 42 youths attending with Gary Macdonald, Kevin Dignan, Ian Shedden and Allan Adamson doing the coaching. Bill Ross and Gavin Johnston helped out at Dunfermline. Thanks guys! Many compliments were received from the youths and their parents, we will see if we can repeat it later. The Edinburgh & District Club’s Scottish Six Days and Pre 65 Two Days trials were both held in mixed weather conditions but both went off successfully. In the SSDT Gary Macdonald had a great ride all week until the Saturday when he had, for him, a disaster losing 21 marks and dropping a couple of places to 12th overall as a result. A special first and best Scot was still a pretty good ride. The current adult champion, Roger Mount, also rode well in gaining a special first and best Scottish over 250. Good to see past champion Les Winthrop back riding trials again and finishing with the best Scottish 250 award. Sean Mackay was well pleased with his best Scottish newcomer in addition to his 1st class award. The Lochaber, Dunfermline and Perth clubs all won team awards. In the Pre 65 2 day, Murray Whittaker repeated last year’s “best Scot” win on his Cub, with Gavin Johnston and Graham Miller gaining first class awards. Gavin went on to ride the 6 days where he also got a 1st class award. On a closing note the three Trials licence holders who came up trumps on getting their licence fees re-imbursed are Iain Mathieson (Dunfermline & District), James Allan (Lochaber & District) and Ross Corry (Lanarkshire). Your cheques will be with you shortly. NORRIE LAMONT – ROAD RACE CHAIRMAN Your Road Race Committee for 2005 is G Galbraith, J Melville, D Paton, H Ward, S Young, I Thomson, A Couper, A Robertson and yours truly. 106 Novice, 100 Qualifier and 153 National licences (total 357) have been issued so far which hopefully will mean we have full grids again this year. The season is now well under way and our training days have been very successful, thanks due to both the Kirkcaldy and Melville clubs for running these training events for the SACU. The Road Race Committee would also like to record their thanks to the instructors for both their time and effort assisting us. These training days will now become a regular feature for novice riders and apart from the obvious benefits to the new riders we are also taking due care in making the events a lot safer. We are always open to constructive suggestions in any way to improve the system and method of training so if you feel that something else should be done to improve the overall training package please put pen to paper and give us your suggestions. The SACU Championship standings after 4 rounds are: Rounds 5 & 6 should have been run at Knockhill on Sunday 1 May but as most of you know the event had to be cancelled at 13.00 owing to very poor weather conditions on the circuit. Kirkcaldy Club who ran the meeting have already had talks with Knockhill circuit and are pleased to say that they will re schedule this cancelled meeting on Saturday 1st October at Knockhill. On Sunday 2nd October we also have the Jock Taylor event – both days being championship events. As far as we are led to believe the 2005 Celtic Match races will be run in Ireland (north or south not yet known) and our team manager, Ian Thomson, is still working hard looking for support and FUNDING to send our 2004 winning teams to Ireland to defend our title. If you can help in any way please contact Ian (01259 760836) or any of the SACU Road Race Committee. Enjoy your racing in 2005. VIVIEN CLARKE – MOTOCROSS CHAIRMAN Your Motocross Committee this year are Rab Duncan (Vice Chairman), Morton Hannah, Alan Macdonald, Di Stuart, Jimmy Stuart, Mark Wilson, Kevin Gauld, Ronnie Weir and myself. We have been elected by you the club members and we are here to help you in any way we can. If you need help, advice or just to let of steam we can be contacted through the office. We would like to welcome the BYMX Committee to the SACU and look forward to working closely with Ross Munro and his Committee. I’m sure this will lead to a long and happy relationship between the youth and adult motocross with us all working together to raise the profile of Scottish motocross. There are six rounds of the Adult Scottish Championship which has been sponsored by Bridgestone Tyres and Fun in the Mud. Paramed One and the SACU contributed to the purchase of the front covers for the event programmes which give them more of a professional touch. Our thanks to all sponsors for their support.
Round 1 saw some exciting racing at Irvine with a full entry in the Championship races and with a lot of familiar faces on the line. Unfortunately the Championship was overshadowed by violent behaviour from riders on the track that spilled out into the paddock for all to see. This is hardly the sort of behaviour that we would wish to see at a family event. Top riders are looked upon by younger riders as something to aspire to and this is certainly not the behaviour that we want the youngsters to neither see nor imitate. Among the onlookers was one of our sponsors who voiced his disappointment at this display and intimated that they would be thinking long and hard before putting further sponsorship our way. Rab Duncan put a lot of work into securing the deal and it would be a shame to see his efforts wasted. While I’m on about bad behaviour I would like to remind everyone that all clubs are run by volunteers who are all tired of being the subject of abuse. So when you are asked to do something please do it, everyone has to work together if the events are to be safe and successful then everyone is a winner!
Looking at the results the Championship could hold some surprises for us all. It is still early days and everything to go for. Best of luck to you all.
SACU LICENCE HOLDERS NEWS LETTER No 4 A J SHEDDEN (SACU CHAIRMAN) Another busy season is drawing to a close and it has certainly been interesting and very exciting. The office is very busy preparing for the 2004 Championship presentation on Sunday 5th December where we will be having Arthur Mac Donald from Bridgestone Tyres to present his companies Sponsorship cheques for the Moto X Championship along with funds kindly donated by Andy Russell from “Fun in the Mud”. This sponsorship certainly raised the standard of Moto X events in Scotland - a very much-needed boost. George Anderson, Vice president and Life Member will be our Guest of Honour at the presentation. The Centre of Excellence at Forrestburn is moving ahead with the plans now lodged with the Scottish Executive, and the post of a Projects Manager has been advertised. The S.A.C.U. has put some money towards this appointment and it is hoped that we will through time, get real benefits from the work and funds that this person will generate. I have been down to the A.C.U. in Rugby several times this year with Eric Jones at Secretaries and Chairmen’s meetings and National Council meetings. I also went down with Bob Reid of North Lanarkshire to a seminar with Local Councils and Police Chiefs from England and Wales, where we were able to highlight our successes in Scotland in the combat of illegal off road riding of Quads and Motorcycles. The discipline Chairmen and myself have undertaken a number of seminars this year where over 120 officials were given SACU accreditation. I was appointed as the Referee at the International Supercross A.C.U. Maxxis Championship at the S.E.C C in Glasgow 29/30th October. The first time this type of event has ever been run in Scotland. We also held our own Chairman and Secretaries meeting at North Queensferry on 23rd October although not fully attended by all the Clubs it proved to be a very productive meeting, with Environmental/ Risk Assessment, Child Protection and Safeguarding your Club issues all being explained. We also had an update from Bob Reid on the North Lanarkshire Project. We will be meeting with our Insurers very soon to formulate cover for leisure off road tracks and we shall also be looking at a standardised form of coaching. I also went to Edzell recently to meet the Bon Accord Club regarding their proposed Centre of Excellence. There is now a clear need for the SACU to become more actively involved in non competitive off road motorcycle activities and it is my intention to further our involvement in that area of the sport in 2005. With all the other S.A.C.U. commitments the year has just flown in and already my diary for 2005 looks equally busy. At this time of the year we are pressing ahead with the arrangements for our AGM in February. Part of that process requires the clubs to nominate and vote on membership of the various discipline committees. If any of you fancy a go at helping out on an SACU committee please get in touch with your club secretary. Finally can I take this opportunity to remind you that the SACU will again be having a stand at next year’s Motorcycle show at Ingliston so please come along and have a chat with the guys that are manning the stand. We are also about to finalise the Fixtures list for next year and it should be posted to our website sometime in December. We have professionally upgraded our website this year (www.sacu.co.uk) where you will hopefully find all the information you require to plan your year ahead. I wish you all the compliments of the season and hope you have a very successful 2005. TRIALS CHAIRMAN – JOHN DAVIES I am pleased to report that the SACU management have now agreed to have an additional Championship class for Trials to be introduced for the 2005 season. Following a suggestion from the Inverness club at the recent Chairmen / Secretaries meeting, we now have a Clubman Championship Trophy for those adult riders who have never achieved expert status. Thus everyone has a Championship to aim for. This class will be held at the adult Championship events and will hopefully bolster the entry. The Trials Chairman, yours truly, has supplied the Trophy. Additionally I must thank Willie Gillespie of Off-road Motorcycles + who is kindly donating a rear tyre to the winners of both the Adult and Clubman Championships. Next there is a last minute change to the Youth B class Championships. Due to a reported shortage of 125s, riders may still use 250s next year. However, only those using 125s will be eligible for the Championship; it is required that these riders register with the SACU. In 2006 ALL Youth B riders must be on 125s. Finally, there are changes to the upgrading rules, caused by the introduction of dual routes. (i) ‘Best Novice’ awards may be given for riders on both routes, subject to a minimum of three riders. It’s up to the clubs to set the supplementary rules. (ii) Upgrading from non-expert to expert will only occur when the riders have been on the ‘A’ route, again subject to a minimum of three riders in that event. Two successful events have been held recently. The Inter Club Team Trial at Alvie was won by the Inverness team, with Dunfermline runner-up; Dunfermline won the over 40s; and the Inverness youth team completed a great day for that club. Lochaber ran the last round of the British Championships at Kinlochleven and it proved even better than last years’ event. Well done Arthur and Sandra Macdonald, the Clerk of the Course and Secretary of the meeting; and their many helpers. Offspring Gary did not bad either with 6th spot in the main class! Congratulations to Gary Macdonald who has also been assessed by the ACU as competent to become a registered trials coach. It is now planned to have a core of qualified club coaches around Scotland by next year; anyone interested let the Office or your club know and we will give details. All the Championship rounds have now been completed and completed successfully albeit the adverse weather did have an impact at certain events - thanks to all those clubs that held them. Congratulations to Roger Mount, Kevin Duke, Murray Whittaker, Peter Carmichael & Ruaraidh MacCormack (shared Youth A class), Darren MacRae and Alan McMaster. Once again for 2005 we are giving away three free trials licences to those riders who have submitted their licence application in by 30 April 2005. Get your applications in as soon as possible! Unfortunately Pat Ingram has informed the office about a bike which was stolen on 26 October. It is a blue Sherco 03 with blue Renthal handlebars with the grips cut a bit short and silver bar ends. If anyone is offered a cheap deal would they take the frame number and inform the Northern Constabulary on 01463 71555. ENDURO CHAIRMAN – CHARLES MACKENZIE In an effort to combat the problem of motorcycle theft, entry forms for Enduro/Hare and Hounds events will now require details of engine and frame numbers to be stated. I would like to start by thanking all the clubs for their hard work during 2004 in producing one of the best Enduro Championships in the UK. Riders had to compete over 10 rounds from Dumfries to Elgin and Aberdeen in a wide variety of conditions. Considering that the British Championship is only 4 rounds long with 3 to count our events fully test the riders and have produced some very fine Champions this year. Special mention must go to the Melville Club and in particular Kenny Donaldson and his team for running 5 rounds this year. A great effort and some fantastic courses. All the other clubs continue to produce very testing events each year with only a few volunteers – we do need more helpers – so chat to the organisers at each round and help to make us the Premier series in the UK. We have 2 new Champions this year. Crawford Carrick-Anderson won the Expert class in dominant style with some very fast and stylish riding. He has now won Scottish Championships on mountain bikes, trials bikes and now Enduro. But his year was not without some very close battles from the other Experts. Make one mistake and they are all there. Murray Thomson often pushing Crawford to the line in each event. Richard Hay made a welcome return from World rounds to take several events but found the new riders pretty fast in the woods. In the Clubman class young Paul Chatham become one of our youngest ever Champions winning his title while still only 16. He has developed over the course of the year and looks very confident leading from the front. He now moves up to the Experts where he looks forward to the challenge. Pushing hard all year was Scott Maxwell who recorded several wins over the year and is another very promising rider. Andrew Flockhart became the first rider to retain the Over 40 Championship – but he had to fight right down to the last round at Stonehaven to get it. Ian Paterson kept hounding Andy all year and won one round at Little Clyde. Graeme Naismith was the only other rider to win a round – but managed to win the British over 40 title. In the British Enduro Championship we ended the year with 2 Champions. Richard Hay retained his over 450 crown and Graeme Naismith won the Veterans title. Ricky Mair had an eventful year but ended up in second place in the 125 class. There were quite a few Scots in the BEC in 2004 and all placed well up the field. As has been said several times – if you can ride in Scotland you can ride anywhere. At the end of the year the ISDE was held in Poland and we had Chris Hay riding for the Trophy team. A mechanical problem lost him time at the start of the week so he was off Gold pace. He did have some very fast tests and a very good showing in the final MX. Next year has 11 events scheduled – so even more riding for you! The clubs are also looking to get Trail riders involved so look out for a Trail event during the year. The Enduro committee hopes you all had a good season – and looks forward to 2005 – where we hope to see even more riders. ADULT MOTOCROSS CHAIRMAN – DI STUART The season saw the start of the new look Scottish Championship and it seems to have worked well. Thank you all who supported us. If you have any comments myself and any member of the Motocross Committee would like to hear from you. There will be a couple of amendments to the rules and regulations for next year so look out for them in the yellow sheet which is issued with your licence. Congratulations to Scott Murray for winning this year’s championship with Bobby Gold runner up and Jamie Duncan third. We seem to have a new star in the making in Shaun Simpson who has been doing extremely well in Scotland and South of the Border. I remember when his dad Willy started racing and I’m sure under his guidance Shaun will do great things. Unfortunately I have not managed to get “down the road” for any meetings this year so I have missed a few of the old faces. We are kept busy with the meetings up north and in particular with the busy Bon Accord Club. (Jim is in his 45th year of racing and with 2 grandsons the racing up north is not so far to travel). We could still do with a few more clubs and a few more tracks which would ease the load for the handful of clubs running meetings. The Buchan Off Road Club has recently affiliated to the SACU and will be running events in the Peterhead area so hopefully you will support them in their first season. Over the past year Elaine Campbell, the Motocross results recorder, has found it increasingly difficult to do her job properly. For 2005 riders MUST wear their licence number allocated to them with their SACU licence. I wish all the motocross fraternity a safe and enjoyable 2005. YOUTH MOTOCROSS SECRETARY – DIANA MCCLUCKIE The BYMX Scottish Committee held their AGM recently and Ross Munro, who is also the Chairman for Glenrothes Youth M/X Club, was elected as the Chairman BYMX. Rab Duncan is Vice Chairman and I am continuing as the secretary and also the points recorder for the BYMX Scottish Championship. The other members of the committees are Keith Jarmann – Chairman for Scottish Youth, Angela Ross – Secretary for Scottish Youth and the Child Protection Officer for both the BYMX and SACU, David MacArthur - youth representative for the Irvine M/X Club, and Alan Macdonald – Secretary of the Highland M/X Club. GLENROTHES YOUTH. This club has been running very successfully for over 25 years and is growing in strength each year. In 2005 they will be hosting another round of the BYMX THOR British Championship at their track at Comerton Farm, Leuchars. As usual the Club Championship will be held over 6 rounds. The first two races count towards the championship then you can drop either your worst two races or a non -attendance for the overall position at the end of the year. As in previous years you must be a club member to drop a non attendance ie; if you do not join until the second round you cannot use the first round as a dropper. They have hosted 2 exciting rounds so far in the winter series. The prize money for the club’s rounds will be dramatically increased for next year. It will be published in the Trials and Motocross news and in our programmes shortly. Lesley Simpson is the contact for this club on 01333 340391 SCOTTISH YOUTH. Their club championship runs the same as Glenrothes youth. The track committee have been working flat out revamping the track at Shiplaw near Peebles so it will be well worth a visit next season. They have a new competition secretary for next season – Wenda Bryce. IRVINE M/X CLUB. The format for their championship is all races to count (this is subject to confirmation) and details will be forwarded as soon as possible before the season starts. Again like Scottish Youth this track is being worked on so a visit to Drumclog will be well worth it. David and Joyce Macarthur are the youth representatives on this committee so give them a phone if you want any information about the track. HIGHLAND M/X CLUB. They are hosting a possible 7 round club championship next year. Alan MacDonald is the guy to contact about the track at Ardersier. Alan can also be contacted regarding any issues in the BYMX Scotland Scottish Championship. As always all the clubs look forward to a successful season in 2005 and a wee reminder to all riders and parents that ALL these officials at race meetings are parents too and they do this unpaid and often unthanked. So if you are asked to do a duty on the day do so without fuss, we are all there to watch our kids race. No abuse will be tolerated to any official at any race meeting by anyone. Remember that all clubs have a Child Protection Officer present at every race meeting. Have a safe and successful 2005, all the very best for Christmas and the New Year. ROAD RACE CHAIRMAN (INCL SUPERMOTO) – NORRIE LAMONT Another season at an end. The 2004 Scottish Championship went to the last round to get the result. The Sports Production class being won by John Macdonald from 2nd Magnus Houston and 3rd Donald MacFadyen. I must thank Roger Bennett for donating the new Ronald Bennett Trophy for the Sports Production class. The Supersport 600cc class was won by Bob Grant from 2nd Torquil Paterson and 3rd Jason Mitchell. The sidecar class was won by Andy Laidlow/Patrick Farrance and in 2nd place Phil Bell/Mike Bell and 3rd Gordon Shand/Pete Hill. At the last meeting at Knockhill on 2/3 October we were hosts to the Celtic Match races involving teams from the Isle of Man, Wales, Ireland and ourselves. The Scottish teams in both solo and sidecar won both events. We must thank Ian Thomson, our team manager, for all his hard work organising the teams, the results being:
Well done lads – roll on next year races in Ireland. I am including a report of the Match races from Ian Thomson at the end. Next year’s Scottish Championship will be over 7 rounds with 2 rounds returning to East Fortune with the same format as 2004. Supermoto has also been doing well this past year with meetings at Edzell & East Fortune. The Bon Accord Club are hopeful of developing Edzell even further, all to the good of our sport in Scotland. For next year new novice competitors will have to sit a written test and undergo training before a competition licence is issued. Details will be available soon through the road race committee and the office. CELTIC MATCH RACES KNOCKHILL CIRCUIT 2/3 OCTOBER 2004 I am sure that you will all now be aware that we had what can only be described as a tremendous result at this years Celtic Match Races, when we won both the solo and sidecar events. The first time as far as I can determine that this has been achieved since sidecars were introduced to the series. It also means that we have won the sidecar event two years in a row. The double win was not easily obtained and not without its troubles. In the first sidecar leg although we had a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 9th places, Dave Annan had to nurse a misfiring motor for the first three laps of the race to get his 9th place finish, helping us to a twenty point lead which we were to need come the second leg. We were in trouble before we got to the starting line for the second leg when Stuart Muldoon’s motor gave trouble that could not be remedied in time to allow him to start. However a quick reshuffle of our positions on the grid to keep advantage of our front row starting position helped us secure a win and fourth and fifth positions, which were sufficient to give us overall victory by twenty-nine points. After the first leg of the solo event we trailed Ireland by nineteen points, which was no mean feat considering that we had only six finishers from a possible eight starters. Magnus Houston was a non-starter due to insufficient time being available to him to repair damage to his machine before the assembly area gate was closed to him and Scott Shand retired with a brake problem two laps from the end of the race. However, with a full complement finishing strongly in race two we were able to make up the deficit and finish with an overall advantage of thirty-two points over Ireland who finished second. To our sponsors and those who helped in many ways behind the scene to ease the load our heartfelt thanks. Your contributions were much appreciated. For my own part; a big thank you to a team that made all the preparation work worthwhile, A historic home win on home ground in front of your own crowd is not something that comes anybody’s way very often. A highly satisfactory result from a team that rode and worked well together and are to be highly commended for their joint efforts and one that I personally am proud to have been associated with. Next year the series moves on to Ireland at a venue yet to be advised to us by the M.C.U.I. and when I know where it is I will let you know. Safe racing and happy miles to everyone.
SACU LICENCE HOLDERS NEWS LETTER No 3 A J SHEDDEN (SACU CHAIRMAN) For this the third rider newsletter we have to thank our sponsors Moggstar Holdings Ltd who have given a substantial contribution to the postage costs of this newsletter. Enclosed is a flyer from Moggstar advertising their range of clothing. We continually hear of the theft of off road motorcycles and I would like to take this opportunity to advise you all about the official registration, through the DVLA, for off road motorcycles. I am therefore enclosing a letter received from the DVLA which gives further information on registration and a copy of the supporting declaration form. We are also in the process of offering a much enhanced website which will now be updated with results on a more regular basis. The website address remains the same www.sacu.co.uk. You are all now in receipt of the ACU handbook and you will see that the cost of the handbooks has risen from £5 to £8. The SACU decided that for this year we would not pass this increase on to the riders. I am pleased to report that the Centre of Excellence initiative is moving ahead quickly - thanks in the main to the Councillors and Officials for North Lanarkshire Council and of course not forgetting Big Andy Russell who has, since the inception of the project, been a tremendous help to both the Local Authority and the SACU. The project is now at the planning stage however with such projects it is a requirement that the papers are submitted for approval through the appropriate department in the Scottish Executive. It is hoped that approval will be granted by the end of the summer. Meanwhile we are, in consultation with our partners, commencing the paperwork to create a charitable Trust which will have the responsibility of managing the Centre of Excellence. Similar exercises are also being played out by the ACU and it is becoming clear that both Governing Bodies must now give more importance to the non competitive side of our sport and we shall be working more with the Local Councils to promote a greater awareness of the social needs of our sport within the community. I hope you all have a successful and enjoyable year. TRIALS CHAIRMAN - JOHN DAVIES We intimated in the last newsletter that there would be a prize draw for the refund of 3 Trials licences. The lucky winners were Steven Duffy from Lochgelly, Jonathan Mullan from Elgin and Arthur Rennie from Hawick. Well here we are, a third the way through the 2004 season already. The Championship is in full swing with both adult and youth events enjoying great trials and brilliant entries. Stand by for a flood of Adult Championship events in June. We don't plan it that way but that's the dates the various clubs have applied for! Leading positions to date are: Adult - 1. Roger Mount 34pts: Kevin Dignan
22pts: Gavin Johnston 2lpts: The Edinburgh & District Clubs' Scottish Six Days and Pre 65 Two days Trials were an outstanding success as usual. Gary Macdonald broke a bone in his right hand prior to the SSDT and his ride was in doubt until the last minute. The pain proved too much, however, and he had to pack in after just two days. This left the door open for old favourite Gavin Johnston to claim best Scot yet again. Duncan MacDonald got best 250 and Roger Mount took best over 250. A great result was 19 year old Donald McPhie from the Isle of Skye winning best Scottish newcomer. All riders from the North of Scotland you will note: they are winning everything these days! In the Pre 65 Murray Whittaker was best Scot and finished well up the leader board, gaining a first class award. He rides a cracking bored and stroked 250cc Tiger Cub which is a credit to the family engineering business. Well deserved as he rides it most weekends, if more did likewise perhaps we can 're-invent' the Pre 65 class in Scotland? A growing problem with both these events is the number of non-competitors following the course (and far worse going the 'wrong' way) on their off-road bikes. They are not included in the event insurance, so any serious accident could well mean the end of the Trial. If you know any of these characters please try to persuade them to do the sport a good turn and leave their bikes at home. ENDURO CHAIRMAN - CHARLES MACKENZIE The Enduro season has begun in earnest with 3 events already past. This looks like being a closely fought Championship with a large entry of experts including several riders from the North of England. Enduro sport is gaining more riders each year-a lot of them new to off road. In an effort to make sure these new riders are equipped for competition the SACU has appointed a new training co-ordinator - Douglas Maclean. He has already had several training days this year and more are planned. These introduce you to the rules and regulations for competition and also how to ride off road. Contact the office - who will pass your details onto the Training Co-ordinator. Clubs are always looking for new helpers and officials to set up and run events. This is a good way to get involved in the sport and learn about the rules. Setting up courses gets you around the track - help out before you start racing and learn what the sport is about The recent Melville Enduro at Pathhead was the first 2-day event since the World Round in 1998. This was the first time many riders had done 2 days and proved a very tough event. The Saturday was dry' and fairly fast with the riders new to the course. Sunday was a complete change with the course run in reverse and heavy overnight rain. Finishing tired on the Saturday riders had to attack the course again on Sunday and this is when the full impact of a 2-day event became clear. Most of the riders were well up to the challenge and are looking forward to the next 2-day event at Selkirk. Several Scottish riders are competing in the British Championships and Fast Eddy Series. Chris Hay. Richard Hay. Kevin Murray and Ricky Mair are all doing well in their classes and we are hoping for a repeat of 2003 when we had Champions in each class. But there is still a long way to go and some hard riding ahead. The SACU is aware of the need to get ground for riding on and supports all clubs in their efforts. Discussions have been held with Scottish Forestry and new ground is being looked at. II legal riding does not help our case and riders are discouraged from riding where they know it is illegal. Several Local Authorities are now looking very favourably on motorcycling as a form of social inclusion and looking to set up practice areas. We are ensuring that Enduros are catered for and will hopefully lead to more ground rather than less in the next few years. Welcome to all the riders new to the sport - we hope you enjoy it - and remember -the most important thing is to finish. Once you finish you can then go for the win. ADULT MOTOCROSS CHAIRMAN - Dl STUART With two rounds of the 'New Look' Scottish Championship already run and the Adult entry at the highest it has been for a number of years, I would be interested in hearing what you think. Where were you all last year when clubs struggled for entries? That was really the main reason for bringing in the schoolboy support. I doubt if you are aware but the prize money on the day is around about £600.00 plus the cost of Trophies and the rising costs of the Medical cover means that the clubs running the championship meetings last year just about broke even, if that. There seems to be some confusion over entry fees. It is clearly stated on the yellow sheet you get with your licence. If you enter a championship meeting and do not pay and do not turn up without letting the organisers know you will be charged double entry fee at the next round. You could be doing a Rider out of an entry. Some of you may think it is a long day, but personally l am pleased to see the Adults and school persons together. Since the loss of Nether Wyndings and the Forfar Club's Track, Motocross appears to be a North/South divide. Hopefully in the next year we may be able to get a Track somewhere in the middle. There is an enthusiastic band of Quad Riders who are desperate to get Quad Racing going in Scotland. With the help of existing clubs they are running a Quad championship. They are hoping to have their own Club formed by the end of the year, to run a Scottish championship next year. We are in negotiations with the Insurers regarding School persons Quads, as at present there are no School persons Quads in the ACU or SACU Regulations. We have also been fortunate to agree with the Insurers for a reduction in classic scramble insurance premiums. Your Motocross Committee is here to answer any queries or 'moans' you may have. Our next meeting is 17th July so if you have anything to say or suggest, just write to us c/o SACU Office and we will do our best to address any issues you have. We are here to help the sport in any way we can. YOUTH MOTOCROSS - DIANA MCCLUCKIIE A BYMX (Scotland) Committee has now been formed from representatives from each club. The Chairman is Rab Duncan and Vice Chair Angela Ross (Scottish Youth). The secretary is Diana McLuckie and the rest of the committee are Keith Jarman (Scottish Youth), David McArthur (Irvine MIX), Alan Macdonald (Highland M/X). Ross Munro (Glenrothes Youth) and Mike Askins the BYMX representative from the ACU. The format for the 2004 Championship is 18 races over 6 rounds dropping your worst 2 races (or a non attendance which will be 3 races). Diana McLuckie is the points recorder for the Scottish Championship and any queries should be directed to her in the first instance (01620 824970). Should anyone require any further information please contact Alan Macdonald on 01667 453043. The points system will be as always 1st 45, 2nd 42. 3rd 40, 4th 38, 5th 36, 6th 35 and so on down to 40th place with 1 point. No one is guaranteed a place in either a club meeting or a Scottish Championship meeting. You MUST phone BEFORE each round to secure your entry. (Glenrothes Youth -Lesley Simpson 01333 340391, Scottish Youth - Susan Craig 0131 440 2274, Irvine MIX - Joyce MacArthur 01355 303279, Highland M/X - Alan Macdonald 01667 453043). Please be kind to these people and ensure that calls are made before 9.3Opm.The winner from each class, with the exception of the automatic class which is not included in the Scottish Championship will receive a goodie bag from Silkolene. Entry fee for Scottish Championship - youths £22, adults £32. GLENROTHES YOUTH held another very successful round of the Thor BYMX National at Comerton Farm. The number of entrants for each round is growing with the result that classes get full quickly and full gates are now being reported for each youth class. Glenrothes Youth are also renowned for their famous "Fun Weekend" which will be held this year on 7th & 8th August at Leuchars. The Saturday will be the 4th round of the Club Championship and the 6th and final round of the Scottish Championship. (We will need to get Rab Duncan to order the good weather for us - it's his specialty). We look forward to seeing you all then. Scottish Championship points are posted on the GYMC website (www.gymcc.co.uk) fairly soon after each meeting. A final reminder - strictly no pit bikes/quads allowed either in the pits or surrounding area especially the beach area - you are warned. SCOTTISH YOUTH's track at Shiplaw near Peebles is looking great. The committee have worked flat out preparing the track, adding units for the First Aid and sign on. Shiplaw will hold the fourth round of the Bridgestone Adult Scottish Championship on 27th June. The Scottish Youth Fun Weekend is 12th & 13th June. The Scottish Championship will be held on the Saturday and the Club Championship will be on the Sunday. HIGHLAND M/X hosted the first round of the Bridgestone Adult Scottish Championship at their superb track at the Carse, Ardersier. The club put on a brilliant day for the riders and had mill youth support. They intend having a Fun Day on Saturday 3rd July before the Scottish Championship meeting on Sunday 4th July. IRVINE M/X has held some good meetings this year especially the last round which was the 2nd round of the Bridgestone Adult Scottish Championship. A few extra helpers would be very much appreciated by the club. Anyone interested please contact either David or Joyce Macarthur. On a general note l would like to remind all that dogs must be kept on a leash and under control at all times. Litter is still a problem at every race meeting. PLEASE put your liner in the bins provided or take it home with you. Bin bags can be obtained at sign on if required. Licences must be produced at sign on. Please remember that all committee members are volunteers and they are there to watch the racing as well so if you are asked to undertake a duty such as marshalling for ½ day please don't make excuses. Every rider MUST be able to supply one at every meeting. On behalf of the committee we wish everyone a safe and successful 2004 season. ROAD RACE CHAIRMAN (INCL SUPERMOTO) - NORRIE LAMONT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
