Should it be harder to become an expert?

[backMARKr]

Noid,  you do look like you're getting it more put together this year! 

Hello, my name is Rick and I am a professional shit disturber....

and apparently I have had a psychological break of some sort and complimented someone....and in a thread that Ben Probst complimented someone in as well....(end of the world coming?)

[Burt Munro]

Just trying to cover all the bases across the board.............. fair and balanced.

A jab here, a pat on the back there  - keeping the ledger on an even plane.

I do still make an exception in your case however!   

[backMARKr]

Just trying to cover all the bases across the board.............. fair and balanced.

A jab here, a pat on the back there  - keeping the ledger on an even plane.

I do still make an exception in your case however!  

there is the Rick Weaver I know!

[Court Jester]

Do you think it should be harder to become an expert?

No, but it should be cheaper

[Super Dave]

No, but it should be cheaper

Racing isn't cheap.  But it can always be done cheaper.

[MELK-MAN]

For me I'm just looking like I will get 400 points this year and thinking I am kind of not worthy of it.
If I race in a class with 5 entries versus a class with 30 is 400 points really the same? My last Ultra Lightweight race had 4 finishes, big deal I got second out of 4.
In one of my Supertwins race there were 4 or 5 people on 1000cc or greater the rest on SV 650's.  Normally I am 3-5 seconds faster on my Duc than SV.
In Formula 40 at CMP I think we had 5 people.  

Performance index takes care of some of this.. 2nd out of 4 riders is way lower PI than 1st out of 4. 2nd out of 30 is pretty close to 1st out of 30 so your points are adjusted down a bunch with few in the class.

[HAWK]

PI doesn't apply to upgrade points, upgrade is raw points in ALL classes vs championships which are PI points in all classes that all riders can compete in, ie riders under 40 cannot compete in F40 so no rider can use F40 points for a championship bid however those points do count toward AM -> EX upgrade.

[Team Spalding]

Look at what the Loudon Road Race series is doing. They have the 3 tier system and from what I heard works great.

[Fat_Nate]

Look at what the Loudon Road Race series is doing. They have the 3 tier system and from what I heard works great.

I guess Joel was paying attention to pretty much everything when he came to visit NH!  LRRS (Loudon) has novice-amateur-expert, with upgrades based on a performance index, and grids based on year-to-date overall points total.  (First grid of the year based on prior year's point total.)  Not too many complaints with the system.  It seems to encourage guys to get their feet wet in novice -- which is pretty tame, then learn how to race in amateur before putting it all together for expert.

On  related topic, they also have wi-fi in the garages and wireless real-time lap times and running order display using software you can download from the series web site.  At no additional cost.  Wow!

Nate

[Spooner427]

At the end of 2007 I was on the bump list to Expert purely out of points. I never made a podium and a Championship was a joke but ran in a lot of races just about anything my 600 would qualify for . I thought about staying back in AM long and hard and decided that I would rather lose a race to every EX on the grid then lose to even one sandbaggin AM.

[Farmboy]

Which tracks is Jimmy within 5 seconds of lap records? 1? his home track? Just becuase someone is fast doesnt mean they have to leave right now. Other things go into it as well, little things like crashing and race craft. Its racing, some people are fast some people are slow. Should Jimmy go expert next year? Yeah, but its also his first year of real racing. thats how it works, you work hard to get fast and you get your year in the sun. Then you go expert, take your lickings for a year or two, and if you can try for another step into the spot light. A guy like you should go expert too, your consistently placing at the front end of the novices, you have been leading points all year, and you havent burned your bike down this year.  You guys will get a bunch faster if you move up.

+1000, IMO, but more on that in a minute.

First, short answer to the original question, (again, IMO,) no.

Long answer:
What, exactly, is so easy about going to Expert? True, I already have enough points to do so, but only after competing in the (nearly) complete first half of the Midwest schedule. Most everyone here knows what this requires, but I'll give a brief recap:

9 days off work (no pay) (so far, and I'll be off 4 more next week for HPT)
2000.00 +    entry fees
1900.00 +    tires
bike prep
bike repair  (2 crashes, again, so far)
travel expense
gear expense (see crashes)
travel time
etc, etc, not to mention the additional interest I'll accrue on the credfit card, or the other events on the summer social calendar I've forgone, and definitely not mentioning the vast amount of good will and patience which my wife has been displaying (again, so far).

So, again, I ask, "How is it easy?"

I know I'm still coming to grips with the scope of it, because I sure thought it was going to be a breeze; go to the track, win races, win championships, go Expert. Well, I certainly had no idea how much time and effort this would take, and as mentioned, we're not even half done, which means I could have a bad get-off next week, or the race after, or whenever, and everything I've done so far would be completely for naught.

See, the thing I've figured out is that it takes way more than going fast to be an Expert, or at least, a successful one. 4 races in, (+3 weekends last year) and I'm learning something new every day. Racing strategies, organizational skills, tire choices, staying calm under pressure, it goes on and on. I'd have to say that I still feel as if I'm in a very steep part of the learning curve. I considered the pros and cons of petitioning to go expert after 9 out of 9 wins the first weekend at HPT, but, in retrospect, I'm happy as hell that I didn't, because I wasn't anywhere near ready. Sure, I probably could have made some podiums already, but I feel that I'll make a much better Ex after having run a full season of Am ( however long that season ends up being), because I'm learning how to RACE, as opposed to just going fast.

And again, just my humble opinion, this shit ain't easy at all. (But it's mostly fun as hell...)

[Farmboy]

Oh, and for the record, I now have the points, so whatever happens from here on out, I'll have white plates next year.

Which really sucks, because the yellow plate looks better on my bikes, what with it being the only piece of bodywork I run up there and all..