[Jolley]

Originally Posted by bradders

I was surprised by the comment TBH, I would have expected it from Ron but not Phil.

seems winning a few trophies changes the outlook on racing life, eh

guess I better win a 'proper' one then, not like thiose Sat races last year when peolpe won their 'first' race and the front guys werent out there...roll on Snettereton!!

Exactly what I got when I won a Sat race at Pembrey last year... and exactly why I didn't say a word, because I remember how much it annoyed me. According to the ACU, you need 6 finishers for it to count as a Race... so 7 is plenty!

Originally Posted by Ghost

About the staggered start, the timing of the stagger could be adjusted to suit the track length/laptime. Why do some races have staggered starts? I recall class A's last year at Mallory, going out with super retards with a staggered start, why would that have occurred.

Part of the difference is that we do more laps now, so more laps to make up the difference. I only finished 2s ahead of Neil at Brands and 40s ahead at Anglesey. I think it would be hard to pick a stagger that would work at the shorter (1min ish) lap circuits

Originally Posted by Sorted

It's just getting all too serious for my liking

At the start of the year we're going racing and commit to that, so at the end of the day if you turn up to them all, are consistent, don't crash and manage to keep your bike running/repaired to finish them all, your points have been well earnt and you should keep them. .

Last year I had bike problems at Snetterton and Pembrey which could have cost me 4 finishes but I managed to scrabble round and grab some points and I know that isn't always possible, but that's racing and the luck of the draw.

Most bike series are won by consistency and as said before 'you have to be in it to win it' but in DD that doesn't necessarily give you an advantage.

Can you imagine Shakey saying 'I'm not going to Thruxton cuz its too far to travel and I'll have that as my dropped round', or Lorenzo saying 'I've got a cold so gonna give Valencia a miss and anyway rain's forecast'

Or even Neal (C) and Awesome saying I'm a bit achy, so gonna give Anglesey a miss... Well done you 2

The drop 2 rule does play a big part in the results (I would have been joint 1st in the Novice Championship last year without it and at present sat in 2nd only 3 points behind Phil instead of 4th and 25 behind

Anyway C'est la Vie......... It's all about Fun!!

Alan... I thought you were just there for fun?

I argued the side of all races scoring points (if there was no overseas round) before the season started, but the general opinion was that we should drop 2 for all of the previously mentioned reasons (I may even go back and see who agreed before the start of the season).

You have argued against my attitude for winning in the past with the comment that this is not WSB or MotoGP, but turn the same argument on its head by telling us Lorenzo and Shakey would not choose to drop rounds.... besides which, the truth is that no-one has chosen not to turn up because they have a bit of a cold (I was even at Anglesey 2 weeks after breaking my finger). As Skids has pointed out to me, these are the rules we entered the season with, so we cannot change them halfway through the season just to suit some people that have been luckier than others.

Regardless of all this, if you look back at all the past championships, the winner would have won, dropped rounds or not..... and it will be interesting to see if that happens again this year. I will still try to win everything, and if I crash a few times, so be it. Skids offered me the loan of his bike at Mallory (thanks Kev), and I could have sat in second at the last race. That probably would have put me close to the championship lead without dropped points. However, I'm not interested in safe points, I want to beat people.... isn't that what racing is all about? If I won the next 4 races I could lead the championship again, but that is unlikely to happen if I settle for decent points for the next 4 races. I have benefited more than most the past 2 seasons from dropping results, but I still don't think we should drop any.... so why do we?....