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Most won't speak up because they are doing the same thing.
That's exactly what happened to me a few yrs back at GH. Raced the 40+ int OTMX race and top 3 were all masters racing 2 classes down, so I felt pretty good with my 4th place finish and 3 holeshots out of 5 motos.
Wasn't there a rule or something like that at one point with OTMX or OTHG about riding a class higher with them than you normally would with say Swap Moto or others?
Simple conversation could have got him moved up at the world 2-stroke championship you can change classes on race day
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Nothing new. It was happening in the 80s at the height of the contingency programs for the Golden State and Trans Cal series.
I'm sure there might've been. I hadn't raced in 10+ yrs, so wasn't aware of the new down class rules at the time. It just seemed pretty funny that grown men cherry picking like they were going to get a factory ride or something at 40 yrs old.
C class guys in southern Cal are way faster than they are where you are from, and probably faster than your A class guys. It just is what it is.
It's been happening for a long time. It's frustrating both as a former racer and your kids as they progress.
It's not long before you realize, this sport is not for the casual rider.
For OTHG, new members are evaluated over 2 races for proper placement. They are given minimum points for each race regardless of finish. Once placed, there is an advancement points system to keep people moving up.
The Race Director can also bump anyone at any time if it's obvious a rider isn't where they belong.
We also keep track of non-members who show up frequently and bump them if necessary.
I don't know if anyone is more strict than OTHG (South Chapter in this case) on making sure racers are truly where they belong. Some people still try their hardest to game the system, but we don't put up with it.
Now, we do have the 2nd Annual OTHG Classic coming up, which is a once a year deal that's structured differently and wide open to all vet riders... There will certainly be some more sandbaggers, but it's a fun event and all members get full points just for attending.
Edit: To answer your actual question, there is no written rule for that. We simply suggest this information to new members. Someone who, for example, races Novice with Swap Moto/2X/AMA races, etc. is likely Intermediate or Expert speed in our club. If they don't take our advice and blow everyone's doors off, they'll get bumped anyway. To expand a bit more, our beginners are TRUE beginners, rolling everything on the track, Novice riders jump a quarter to half the jumps, and it goes from there. Intermediate is the first level where you see everyone hitting everything and getting around fairly quick. We don't have novices throwing down and scrubbing everything like you tend to see elsewhere.
Yeah was weird to me for a while once moving here. I’d be talking to some older guys, my age, that were saying they were “expert” when they clearly were not.
Back to sandbagging Novices. I come from the South and I can without a doubt say that there are more fast riders here in Ca. than down there, by the hundreds, and what’ll blow your mind is half of those don’t even race but if they did they’d surely race the novice class. Novice here in Ca. Is no joke, but it is in the same breath.
It might have been someone I talked to that raced with OTHG that told me that. It’s been a few years since I had heard that last. I immediately went looking on OTHG website and didn’t see it, but figured either you or one of the other gang riders would clarify it for me!
Lots of old guys crying. Maybe take it the other way and realize you battle hardened vets arent much faster than some young kids just entering the sport in the C class???
This not only happens in SoCal look at the results in the Racer X Senior series, same guys winning B Class for 10yrs and 4-6 guys in A Class.
I've said it for years and will continue. Not so much in vet racing but some, no contingency from the factories. Once you get to the pros, you can earn them through your riding. Way back when, a pro race in So Cal had 20-30 pros each week. No reason to move up if you can make more money riding novice classes.
After spending a few days in CA hitting the daily practice tour where everyone goes to one track on one day and another track the next I quickly understood why so many racers are so fast that come from CA.
And its not just CA.
If they have enough $$$ or parents to be able to ride with the Pro’s every day they get faster. Same thing with places with full time students like ClubMX, South of the Border, MPF and others in FL.
The sport has evolved.
Mammoth has been famous for this for decades
No surprise. Local 85 rider that cleans up in the Jr class around here, multiple state titles went and raced the 85 C class at spring a ding.
If only there was an organization that we could pay $49 dollars to per year to help manage rider results and move riders up when needed.
Pit Row
Ask the NEPG events how that went LOL
Primarily because Lorettas, it's similar here in Texas. Lot of parents with money to blow and know their kid doesnt stand a chance in the B class due to how gnarly it is. The AMA could potentially fix this by having seperate ' National ' rankings/divisions from ' Local ' divisions.
Hell, I would of stayed down in C a little longer if I could of done local races in B, and didnt have to feel like a douchebag racing the C class locally vs teenagers that actually belong in that class. There is just way too much disparity between your local C/B/A rider vs the C/B/A rider that trains every week at a compound and chases every big national.
Yeah, but the OP is comparing the C class with the A class at the same race. Both classes are in California.
Sandbagging is just a way of life around here.
You’re an absolute loser if you race a lower class so you have a better chance to win an amateur race of plumbers and carpenters. Doubly worse if your an adult.
For being a sport that requires huge nuts to do it at a decent speed, there sure are a lot of candy asses within it both at the track and on the internet.
As soon as I was consistently near the front of the C class, I moved up to the B class. Not even really about not being a sand-bagger, just didn't like going into Talladega with a bunch of C class dudes...
If you're fast enough to win the C class, you should not be proud to win the C class.
Always happened back when I was racing. Local races guys would be in interm/expert class and for the big races drop down 1-2 classes.
I noticed the same thing when I started racing R/C cars after my accident. Local races all the guys I ran against in pro stock would go down to sportsman stock at big races and funny thing is they'd still get their asses kicked because the top half of sportsman were running the same times as everyone in pro stock.
Ya, the varying mentalities is crazy to me. I remember when I first raced on an 80, I never even had a goal to win a C race. I was already envious of the kids with A and B plates and just wanted to get to B class to be around better riders asap.
You going to join us at Perris or GH? You're Intermediate, btw. 🤣
I don't ever remember it being a rule, but both tried to control "sandbagging" best they could.
That for the most part is true.....
I concur 100%.
With CMC you only had 3 classes.
1. Pro
2. Intermediate
3. Junior
I was not uncommon for some winning the lower class to move up and run mid or better in the next, for sure some overlap.
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