My daughter Casey and Dave's daughter Hollie will hopefully be racing at Castle Coombe on recumbents built by Dave...

I'm sure there will be a good few other little'uns as well.

Obviously at Castle Coombe there won't be a "Slow Race" so there will be a huge speed difference between the kids (and me  ) and the faster riders...

Any thoughts on ways to make the racing safer for the kids and to stop them getting in the way of people chasing championship points?

Maybe tell all the kids to stick to the inside (right hand side) of the track so that everybody knows where they'll be? - This would of course rely on the kids doing something suggested by an adult which would be something of a first...

Or maybe a seperate short race for them (two hours is probably going to be a bit of a struggle for them anyway...)

Alan

Either way is fine, though they might not be too keen on going around the track on their own.

CC is probably the easiest track to cope with slower riders apart drom the chicanes where it would probably be best if they keep to the RHS even though they will be going a bit further.

They will have to be heavily told to keep to their line and not weave - the prospect of someone barreling along at 40 having to make sudden changes of direction makes me wince already.

We may well be able to run their race within the main one, they finishing at half time. his would be up to the organisator who is likely to be Kevin. What do you think Kev?

Seems reasonable that there is a one hour race.  We can't really stop people stopping after an hour anyway, taking part in the first hour of the main race.  It will depend on how many people there are to help.  One person will have to be responsible for finishing the race, while others time and marshal the main one. NOt sure how we can do the points, if that is significant.  Unfortunately Sacha will probably be willing to do the 2 hours.

We have mixed age groups in the BPCC which sometimes cause problems but most of the time is just another factor of racing which you deal with. Over the last couple of years, driving standards have improved to a point where this is less of an issue than it was.

The golden rule we have is that it is up to the faster machine to make the pass cleanly and safely, not to expect the slower machines to move off their line. But this is backed up by the expectation that the younger or slower drivers stick to their lines and do not weave or wander. These were not rules we thought of ourselves, they are exactly the same as those which apply in most forms of racing where there are different classes of machinery on the same track at the same time.

Generally it works out and the time lost in traffic balances itself out over the course of a race. Occasionally, of course, tempers get frayed but the smart teams realise that it works itself out.

Obviously we are talking about smaller circuits where the race controller can see a lot more of it.

I know we're talking about slower speeds all round but we are probably taking about similar differentials in momentum and it's momentum which hurts.

When we raced on the full Castle Combe circuit last year the kids didn't mind too much. They didn't find it that exciting in pedal cars but they didn't mind the distance.

I suppose we ask the juniors at the event?

How about this:- the Junior event stops at the hour but position and points for all other classes are dependant on position at the end of the 2 hours.

So if Sacha stops after an hour he will finish way down the overall placing but leading the Junior; if he carries on he will be in exactly the same position in the Junior event, which stopped at the hour, but will make a lot of people worried in the open event.

That sounds good to me...

I agree that Castle Coombe is probably wide enough to have the kids out safely in the same race as long as we tell them as forcefully as we can that they should hold their line.

I'd like to suggest that the race organiser gets them together and spells it out for them... For some reason kids always seem to take more notice of somebody other than their parents... :o).

At a narrow twisty track like Eastway or Milton Keynes though, I think a seperate race would be a good idea if enough kids turn up...

I propose we ban Sacha from lapping anyone over the age of 42...

Alan...

AlanGoodman wrote: I propose we ban Sacha from lapping anyone over the age of 42...

s/42/41/