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Make the 250 and 450 classes full pro classes, no age, point out, time out or regional BS. AX is the feeder series, let pro races be fully pro races.
And if Savatgy wants to race a 250, let him.
Agree with all of this except the regional thing, it is actually good for the sport as a whole to have it that way.
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Would love to keep the 450 as the "premier class" and have some sort of age and championship limit. Just doesn't seem right guys coming into the class at 17 years old battling with guys 28+, nearly 10 years experience.
Under current rules though he should be allowed back.
The budgets would probably be the same as now, so it’d probably support close to the same number of riders. I don’t think it’d instantly cut the rides by half, it’d just be a question of how many riders could a team support full time vs number of part time riders for the same pile of $.
And pro sports shouldn’t be a jobs program anyway. Should we have 3, 4, maybe 5 regional 250 champions? Then everyone could have a factory ride! I can hear it now: “I’m the upper Midwest national SX 250 national champion!
That’s kinda what an East or West coast regional championship looks like now.. it dilutes the meaning of a championship..
It would create more space for additional teams like Club and others. I am not sure they wouldn't hire as many either. Their Budget would be the same and they have to plan for potential injuries etc. It would also create an opportunity for an actual feeder class that is not part of the major production.....like a larger version of futures that the Teams could field riders in as well with very strict guidelines who can compete and how long they are eligible.....and that could create even more jobs.
Lets be serious here, 99% of the time the riders who are staying in the class for a decade are not winning a championship and arent “blocking” any of the young guns from winning one. If they were that good they would have already won or got a 450 ride. Every once in a while a christain craig happens, but even then so what? James Stewart was wooping grown mens asses on a 125 at 16, the cream always rises to the top. This issue literally only affects 2 riders right now and then will never affect any riders ever again. There arent any other ppl grandfathered in under the old rule. Just let those 2 race and then its never an issue ever again.
"The budgets would probably be the same as now, so it’d probably support close to the same number of riders."
Okay, so why aren't the 450 teams running 3-4 factory riders under their tents?
Star does, KTM did up until this year. Honda has done it, Kawi, etc
The budgets would 100% increase, because all of the riders who would normally stay home during their off coast would have to hit all of the races. That means rider & mechanic salaries, airline tickets (x2), hotels (x2) and car rentals for an additional 9 or so rounds. You also have to factor in parts for the bike as well.
Like Mav said, if it didn't increase the budget, you'd see 450 teams with 3 - 4 guys on them just like the 250s do now.
All this is a complete joke! Joey has not won a 250 championship and he hasn’t dominated the 250 class. Letting him race the 250 SX class does not take a spot from another 250 SX rider as he was signed to race the 250 nationals and help develop the 450.
Tell that to a privateer he’d be taking a spot from
The privateer could easily solve that problem by… beating him.
Its not like they would look at the list of riders and pick one privateer and kick him out and install joey in his place. Joey has to qualify just like everybody else. If he qualifies he should be able to race. Isnt that what qualifying is for?
Triumph already hired him so how does he take a ride from a privateer?
A purse paying spot in the main event*
That's fixable by doing what Pop said...beat him.
Make that 250 a 350 and run it in the 450 class....duh!
Pit Row
So we should change the rules to let a factory rider that has made hundreds of thousands of dollars in this sport drop down and take money out of the pockets of the guys in their vans 3 months behind on rent just trying to make a dollar in the regional class. Fuck them privateers, am I right?
The current 250 riders and mechanics are all already getting paid, they just work part time. The bikes all exist, but they’d get more use so the parts would cost more, and you’re exactly right about travel expenses, they’d basically double. I just don’t think running a full SX season would cut the number of riders in half. It’d probably mean some reduction, but probably not half. And the bigger issue is why treat the pinnacle of our sport as a jobs program? It’s evolved way from its roots as a regional championship to allow privateers to save travel money, now we have full factory programs acting like an amateur series.
Just my opinion, it’s worth exactly what you paid for it, lol!
Ride the 250 in the 450 class.
Yep.....and the 450 riders at that level are much more expensive
This is Joey's job, this is how he earns a living. A pro rider's window of opportunity to make money is very short, therefore they should be allowed to race which ever class that suits their situation best.
Really a shit decision from up top. I hope they wake up.
They don't need to change the rule, they already did. Now they're just being selective about who it applies to.
@Gravel do you think these riders & mechanics are going to do roughly twice the amount of races for the same amount of money?
Yeah, but they would be racing closer to the front with Joey. The fact that other team managers were able to vote against his re-entry to the class is a problem.
While it may be an understandable business decision on their part, they shouldn't have the power to choose their competitors.
The sanctioning body needs input from team managers to help improve the sport, but not on something like this.
Yaa, they’re only making a couple hundred to get into the main anyway it’s not like it’s a killing. Say that same privateer has a hellva night and wins the main, he’s still only making 6k in purse money. They could also just beat him like others have mentioned.
Why? If the goal is to get to the 450 class, they'll be more prepared if they ride against some ex 450 riders. And if they can't beat ex 450 riders they have no business moving up to race against premier 450 riders. Better racing in the 250 class. You have riders that get lapped after half the race on a regular basis. Do you think those riders make for better racing? You have a certain # of riders that leave every year due to injury, non-performance, whatever. Initially they'll move down, but after a few years you'll again see a certain #or riders leave the circuit. And the fast kids will move up. Not as many kids will move up but the fast ones will.
If the steering committee who Joey claims is the team mangers are not to rule on ama rules and exemptions , who would ? Not sure a riders council would have any less biases than the team managers
I like to see "privateers" do well. But being being a "privateer" doesn't guarantee you a spot on the line. Being faster does. Because you're 30 should not disqualify you from the spot if you're still faster. Besides that, didn't that privateer take the spot of another privateer?
He could always race some arenacross races until outdoors start. Hard to feel sorry for the guy.
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