Quote Originally Posted by senator8 View Post
Is it fair the way it is now?
No it's not. I didn't mean to insult your idea, I was merely pointing out one of the situations that your idea wouldn't work for. I think coming back as a C grader no matter how long you have been away is a better idea as you already know race-craft and how to start and just need to find your corner speed again and you're back in the mix, whereas a genuine D grader shouldn't have any of those skills. Keith Greentree hadn't raced for 5 years and raced the last round of St George and won C grade on both days easily. Graham McCarthy is a perfect example of why an ex A grader should never be put in D grade. I just don't know how they did it last year and then again this year.

The biggest problem with the system now is the fact that you have Terry O'Neil doing his own thing and MA doing another. Little Mick admitted that TON put him back to D grade for his races despite MA giving him a C grading. So MA think D grade is only there for absolute beginners, where as TON thinks someone doing 1:06's and 1:44's is a D grader. Mark Weaver raced a few FX rounds and one St George round, then (the next year) competed at St George as a D grader (again) doing 1:39's because there is no communication between AASA and MA. If you look at the majority of riders that are in the wrong grade, you will find that most of them race FX and that is what needs to be fixed more than anything else.

I also think that RYM should be included as racing as you are learning starts, passing etc, just like 'real' racing.