Any input about amatuer vs. novice?

[Glitch]

Hey all,
I was thinking about racing unadilla amatuer classic tomorrow but I dont have a district card or anything to say what class i'm in. I've never raced on a real track before, except at jack frost traxx, but that was on the novice supercross, and just with friends. Unadilla said that they would probably put me in the amatuer class instead of novice :( because they dont want people saying they are novice but really amatuer and racing novice. And I've been riding for about 1 and 1/2 summers, so, does anyone know how good the amatuers are compared to novice or whatever? Like, would the amatuers do a 40ft table and the novice wouldnt? Unadilla also said that the track is very fast, so I think there are maybe natural terrain tabletops, no doubles, but mainly fast sections. Anyone??
Thanks,
jim

 

[nikki]

Hi Glitch,

I took a look at the Unadilla site and their breakdown for the 125 classes and it is as follows:

125 Expert
125 Amateur
125 Novice

which is equivilent to 125A, 125B, and 125C. Given your experience, I would recommend racing 125 Novice (aka 125C). When you sign up, if they ask, then just tell them that you've never raced or only raced once or only been riding for a year or something. You'll probably find, though, that the Novice class will be the largest class. But typically the 125 Amateur/125B class are guys who race regularly and probably for at least 2-3 years. All the 125 Amateur riders will be clearing 40 foot tabletops and probably 1/2-3/4 of the Novice riders will be, too. Good luck tomorrow!

 

[nephron]

There's a guy here that hauls, is training for pro, and run the !@##% NOVICE class in all the Kansas state series. :silly:

 

[mx547]

here novices do everything on the track. but we have a class lower than novice. we call it beginner. some of the beginners do everything on the track too.

the tracks here are not ama sanctioned, so we always have four skill level classes: beginner, novice, amatuer, expert.

 

[Glitch]

Thanks for the breakdown gals/guys. Nikki, I called them up to ask about entering since I dont have my card, they said that unless I have some stub or form from a previous race saying my class, that they would put me in the amatuer class. I even told them that I'd only been riding a year and a half. Nephron, what that guy is doing is exactly what they are preventing, its unfortunate because he's making it hard for the rest of us(not necessarily me, but the people in the novice class who can never win because too good of people race in novice).
mx547, that sounds like a good class for me.
Even though I could clear 40ft tables and doubles, I just like to watch people hit it for awhile, then work myself up to doing it. Anyway, thanks for the replys.
jim

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

Jim, just get in touch with one of your local track officials from where you raced last and ask them for some sort of proof.

 

[SpeedyManiac]

Have you ever ridden with someone who has raced before? If so, find out what class they race and go in that one. I race Junior in a series I do, but in a race a couple weeks ago I entered the intermediate class (after much debate, the promoter finally told me to go in intermediate) and boy was I glad I did. I ended up 9th (after crashing in the last corner of the last lap) on the smallest bike in the class. This was a harescrambles, mind you. I say you should probably enter novice, although it'll be more dangerous then amateur. Good luck and stay safe.

 

[bedell99]

Novice, if you rode the amateur class you would have agood chance of hurting someone.

Erik