Why would you do this to the rules? British F1

[steve-e]

4. COMPETITORS ELIGIBILITY.
Any driver who has been classified in the first three of the final drivers’ points’ standings
in the FIM Sidecar World Championship between 2009 – 2013 is not eligible for full series
registration to the Championship. At the Promoters exclusive discretion “wild card”
drivers may be accepted for events. Wild Card drivers are not eligible to score points or
receive prize money.

Makes no sense to me. If the Series was a progression to the worlds then yes but the depth of field is better than at world level.

[mum e]

Maybe the person or persons who made the rule can say Why,

[Richard Rollings]

Nearly 120 replies, 75 likes and 14 shares to Tim's post relating to this issue on Facebook

[Simon Smith]

It seems mad to me but I would like to know why. There must be a justification that we are not aware of.

In a reply to Tim's post someone has suggested that several world championship teams were thinking of racing in the British series this year. Is it to stop the demise of the world championship?

[steve-e]

Only the top 3 would be affected though and we've had two of them in championship already, so really it's only stopping one extra team joining. Any other teams would still be free to join, seems an ineffective way if that was the target. I'd be interested to know how it was arrived at.

[David Stewart]

It looks as though it is specifically designed to exclude certain teams and of course that is the perogative of the Championship Rights owner.

Be interesting to know what those teams have done to provoke that reaction. Have they done something to bring the championship into disrepute, or just offended the organisers in some other way?

[Bob B]

Simple answer, I believe, is not only politics but vested interests as well. By eliminating the two top teams it theoretically raises other teams results by two places - yes, I know that is stating the obvious but means can sometimes justify the ends to some. Next step will be to ban anyone who in their first season finishes in the top, let's say, six places because thay are potential race winners.

[SlowPhil]

Is this cos of the snet thing?

[steve-e]

I've had this sent to me.. another view

My personal opinion is for the next year or two this will benefit our team, without the top world teams in the mix we should receive more tv coverage for our sponsors, there are probably now 6/7 teams who will regularly fighting for podiums and getting additional coverage for their sponsors and an increase in prize money. It will also mean that the world championship should receive better attendance from the top teams rather than them racing in the British (attracted by the prize money) so in a couple of years if we move onto worlds there should still be a championship there. So it's got to be good for all the other teams hasn't it??

That is at least if you do not consider the other factors,

Why do we go racing?

Our team goes racing to go as fast as we can and try to win races, with the ultimate goal being to progress to world level, the only we can do that is to race and learn from the best.
Tim and Ben bring a wealth of both speed and experience to the championship which almost every team in the paddock regularly taps into and learns from. The world teams also attract a lot of attention and publicity from around the world which raises the profile of the British championship.
I'm sure in the long term our team would benefit from racing the world guys on a regular basis.

I personally believe the world teams should be welcomed to the championship (there was a time when world class riders would be given start money to attract them to national events)

I'm sure the organisers have a rationale for making is decision and hopefully they will release a statement to explain the decision

[oldbelly]

The Reeves total domination of last years British Championship has without doubt resulted in them being booted out of this seasons Championship. The past great World Champions from the U.K. have always been allowed, (encouraged) to race in the domestic series if they wanted to. This is how the British teams have developed into such a force at World level. How can anyone say they are a British Champion if they have not beaten the best British teams over a full season. Vested interests at play ?

[Bob B]

Total agreement Geoff. Vested interests eh? Echoing my very thoughts ...

[smiffy]

Is Alex Lowes British Champion ? Did he beat Cal Crutchlow or Tom Sykes ?

After Leon Camier blitzed the British Championship in 2009 , MSV changed the rules to make it harder for one rider to dominate the championship and win it before the end of the season. I would suspect this was because his dominance made it boring for spectators and MSV were worried that this may affect interest in the championship.

I don't know, but I would hazard a guess that RKBF1 have the same concerns. Do they have a vested interest ? I would have thought so after the money they have invested over the last couple of years. Are they looking at the bigger picture and the appeal to spectators and the show they put on ?

I loved watching Mick Doohan race back in the 90's , but by god MotoGP got boring when he was in it at the end as it became too predictable , we can all say it doesn't matter how much he won by and its the spectacle of watching a master at work , but if we are totally honest its not as good as watching a close race.

I've got no issue at all with Tim , in fact he is always one of the most helpful in the paddock , ask anybody racing in the the British F1 and they will all say they wish Tim was in the championship as they want to race against the best ... what they really think in private is a different matter !!

[steve-e]

So then it should be the RKB championship not British? Should the fastest Brit be British Champion ? Watching the video of the first 50 years of Bemsee it was interesting to see a foreign guy racing it even though he couldn't be British Champion.

[flexford]

Is Alex Lowes British Champion ? Did he beat Cal Crutchlow or Tom Sykes ?

After Leon Camier blitzed the British Championship in 2009 , MSV changed the rules to make it harder for one rider to dominate the championship and win it before the end of the season. I would suspect this was because his dominance made it boring for spectators and MSV were worried that this may affect interest in the championship.

I don't know, but I would hazard a guess that RKBF1 have the same concerns. Do they have a vested interest ? I would have thought so after the money they have invested over the last couple of years. Are they looking at the bigger picture and the appeal to spectators and the show they put on ?

I loved watching Mick Doohan race back in the 90's , but by god MotoGP got boring when he was in it at the end as it became too predictable , we can all say it doesn't matter how much he won by and its the spectacle of watching a master at work , but if we are totally honest its not as good as watching a close race.

I've got no issue at all with Tim , in fact he is always one of the most helpful in the paddock , ask anybody racing in the the British F1 and they will all say they wish Tim was in the championship as they want to race against the best ... what they really think in private is a different matter !!

I would think Gary you have probably hit the nail firmly on the head .... I am very fond of Tim and I think he is a great ambassador for the sport but as yourself and Geoff mention last year was pretty much a one team show. What we need is more speedway/BTCC style racing where the whole field can be covered by a blanket because it is that close - the whole pack needs to be tightened right up to get all teams battling.

I have never mentioned this to anybody until now but I might as well throw it out there - I would like to see a parallel Pro/Am championship run in both the F1's and F2's where each of the top teams are paired with a lower ranked team and the combined results go towards the Pro/Am championship standings .... the idea behind this would be that the higher ranked team would act as a mentor to their lower ranked partner, giving technical advice and support, with the ultimate goal to get the lower placed teams competing closer to the front - in my opinion racing is about one thing - a good fair scrap, scrapping from the minute the lights go out to the wave of the chequered flag and for the best man to win ... the most memorable wins are the ones you have had to graft your ar$e of for

If this rule is kept in place I feel sorry for the likes of Tony Brown who has worked his nuts off to get a competitive bike and package plus now with a little bit of support but now he's going in to 2014 hoping to hunt down Tim and the Birchalls and they're not allowed to compete (for the whole series)..... I think he must be gutted

I appreciate RKBF1 have got a real dilemma as they need to make sure they get good close racing, but I don't think banning the big boys is the way to do it

Just my opinion

Best wishes


Kelly

[smiffy]

Watching the video of the first 50 years of Bemsee it was interesting to see a foreign guy racing it even though he couldn't be British Champion.

Do you think that means that any of the top 3 from the worlds from 2009 to present will enter even though they can't be champion and get prize money ???

So then it should be the RKB championship not British? Should the fastest Brit be British Champion ?

BSB - Troy Bayliss - Gregorio Lavilla - Ryuichi Kiyonari ??
AMA - Reg Pridmore - Miguel Duhamel - Mat Mladin ??