I've had a lot of calls today re-ACU licenses for tomorrow's trial at Shield Close Westgate.
The gist of every call was: "I dont't actually have an ACU license in my posession, can I still ride?"
As you can imagine, the list of reasons for not having one is long and varied, the best (and most honest) being "I applied this morning and still haven't received it"
The simple answer is that if you don't have a license, you can't ride, however, there are certain caveats.
First, I don't want to turn riders away who have made a licence application.
Second, you can initiate your license application at the trial.
If you have genuinely applied and are waiting for your license to arrive in the post, then you can ride. You must however produce for me the acknowledgement from the ACU that you've applied (an email from the ACU is perfect)
If you have not applied but have made the effort to obtain an ACU membership code from your club, then bring that along. Note: Fred Nicholson from the NEC ACU will be on-hand to verify these.
If you have not applied and have made no effort to obtain the ACU membership code from your club then you will have to join the ACU and the South Shields DMC at the same time. For £5 annual subscription I will provide you with an ACU membership code that will allow you to obtain an ACU licence (cost £10). Apply for it on Sunday night and you should have it for the following weekend (mine took 2 days)
Thanks
Gordon Imrie