john collins Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 I think we all enjoyed Hawkstone - and those who attended could see that it is a masive undertaking. Good column this week Rappers - I think you summed it up for us all While it is easy to propose this or that - as I have said before , it is a complex subject. Of course the money side is a big problem - but as a few of you have said perhaps not totally impossible if one could be fairly sure of getting the people in through the gate - this obviously takes a huge amount of promotion, ads in paper etc etc. Jake did a fantastic job of this and this is the part that ensurers you will not make a big big loss. I can also tell you first hand that Dave Willoughby ( ACU) Martin Lamkin and in particular Harry Lampkin do a huge job on the sections - and this expertise is not easy to come by. I - along with the Portugese FIM Jury President and the FIM Spanish member inspected and approved all sections on Friday afternoon - and *I can say honestly I was scratching my head - but Harry and Dave had it all undr control and so it turned out - but a huge amount of work and effort. The location of the venue is very important here - and L & M had done enough research to be sure that it was a central part of the UK that could best promise the numbers needed. If you can reduce costs - then possibly you do not need so many people through gate to reach the break even point - and can possibly - I stress possibly - start to look in locations away from centre of UK - but it will take a brave person to do so with today's FIM requirements. This brings me to probably the most important point. As enthusisats - we can look at a venure and think it is good - or at least credible, but we are looking at what we percieve is wanted. I am afraid it is more complicated than that. Each venue for a World Trials ( or MX etc) needs to be FIM " homologated" - this basically means that it has to pass a rigerous inspection by the FIM - who then issue an homologation ( certificate) if you like - for usually three years. As ACU ( FMNR) representative I have been involved this year in the homologation process for both Hawkstone and IOM - as TDN is also a World round. It is far more complex than you could imagine. It comes down to hard standing, size of paddocks, water, electricity, offices, press rooms, distance of sections from paddock, max length of lap etc It even comes down to counting the toilet bowls and urininals - and in IOM we did just that ( cracking morning just walking round ladies and gents toilets - when I thought I would be looking at sections!) Whether or not all this is deemed necessary by us or not - I am afraid is irrelevent - if you want FIM homologation - you have to comply. No homolgation - no event. You can be 100% sure L & M have been through this until they must have felt like screaming - and it is these sort of things we all seem to take for granted . It is not just the cost - it is the hassle. So - there may be venues out there - probably are - but they would have to meet a fairly stringenmt criteria. At the present time - or at least for 2008 on - only the IOM is homologated as a Trials venue in the UK Hope this gives a little insight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordson major Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 (edited) low north are there enough WTC sections there? While I've been riding at Low north I've often wondered whether WTC sections could be plotted and I think they could. There's a lot of natural, big rock faces out of the river which are about WTC standards and there's already quite a few man-made rock sections which could be jumbled about to come up with something about right. A lot of work goes on up there creating new areas for sections and altering existing rock sections so there's definantley the scope to do this. Neither the top or bottom car park is big enough for thousands of cars but top car park could be used for trade stands e.t.c The farm land round the camp is used for grazing so I'm sure they wouldn't say no to a few quid to let the fields be used for camping for a weekend.As Nigel Dabster said the back of the Flask Inn is a possibility and has great access but I'm not sure whether people would be willing to walk from there to get to low north. The access road to Low north is quite narrow which'd probably be a problem (mind there's the old army bridge that they used for getting big vehicles in, maybe that could be restored?). Anyway just thought I'd throw my thoughts in... EDIT: this obviously takes a huge amount of promotion, ads in paper etc That's Low North out of the question then, the Scarborough Evening News gave Micheal Brown's Junior Championship win about 1/4 of a page (at most) about two pages in from the back !! Edited August 1, 2007 by Beta120690 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldilocks Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 It comes down to hard standing, size of paddocks, water, electricity, offices, press rooms, distance of sections from paddock, max length of lap etc Hard Standing - Italian round used the market square Size of Paddock - Market square in Italy must have been big enough Water - Temporary supply from existing main, whats the water supply for ? just the motor homes ? Office - Italians used local hall, portacabin ? Press rooms - as above local authority I think is key to most of this if we find the right venue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabie Posted August 2, 2007 Report Share Posted August 2, 2007 Hard Standing - Italian round used the market square I think you can get away with grass, if its flat and has tarmac access road (eg Hawkstone paddock isn't tarmac), but to get one in the UK you'ld need all the appropriate road closures and very extensive local government co-operation the type that cynical me doesn't think will happen in "mainland" UK (although maybe Scarborough is an honourable exception with Bike Week). Size of Paddock - Market square in Italy must have been big enough there would be a number of arctic and awnings somewhere in some FIM bumf somewhere. In MX we find the number gets bigger every year with riders campers, sprinters, etc etc Water - Temporary supply from existing main, whats the water supply for ? just the motor homes ? haha this is the killer! Way back in the mid 90's we looked into hooking up to the main, all of 500m away from our front gate. The costs are phenomenal, and then there are questions of pressure - ie after the event when everyone is washing the bikes and taking a shower. I was minorly involved in the (in)famous MXDN at Matterly Basin in Winchester, where water was one of the key problems, they had to bring in tankers (very expensive!). In the end we connected to the (arable) farm next door's irrigation system. Office - Italians used local hall, portacabin ? Yeah that part is easy, hiring a few site huts, their furniture and equipment - its all silly stuff and if you had someone who works in plant hire, them big companies have that stuff, but its got to brought in, staffed, etc Press rooms - as above haha - that what we said when we (Sidcup) got together with Euromotosport to run 3 Sidecarcross GPs (1999-2001) - i worked in the press room and back then we used a 40 foot container with mains electric and two phone lines (ahh the day before the internet) and maybe two photocopiers. Our homolgation ran out in 2001 (and the event was barely breaking even), and we knew the problems we had with the FIM were (among others), the showers we brought weren't good enough (and they cost real money) and our press facilities were insufficient. Having worked in many MXGP & MXDN press rooms your looking at some serious kit, really good photocopiers, wireless internet, lots of power, and press conference facilities. local authority I think is key to most of this if we find the right venue I'm not saying it can't be done, as it has been done, but for whatever reason we don't seam to be in the UK bringing on the top trials organiser to be installing this kind of gear at their venues (ie cost is a lot less if spread over many events over many years) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bilco Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 At the end of the day these team's carry aload of old crap around with them,take the crap away and you'd probaly get all the important stuff in the back of a couple small box van's and they could get down little lane's and take less room for them to park up. funny how they like to show there gloss off that mean's nothing to anybody intit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perce Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 From what I hear there's a serious Trials enthusiast currently building a venue to hold an event Britain will be proud of. What I want to know though, was it pure coinicidence that his wife was on holiday when the latest batch of rocks arrived? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 Shut up perce you know nothing, right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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