So, you want to go Road Racing…..

…we’re here to help.

(This guide is also available as a printable document in the Download docs section)

Working out which machine you can start racing on and what qualifications you need to have (including your age) can be a headache when you first want to go Road Racing. It has been likened to having to ride an old Honda C90, with flat tyres, across London, blindfolded in the rush hour and then having to sit "The Knowledge”.

It’s not actually like that at all.

Don’t worry, it’s dead easy

(with a bit of help from your friends)

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1) Completing the Licence Form – Degree of difficulty 1/10 (simple)

Download an ACU 2011 Road Race Licence Form

Click here to download registration form

Filling it in is now very simple.

On page 1:-

Fill in your name, address and date of birth information above Section 1 and clip a passport sized photograph to the form.

 

In section one, simply put a cross in the box next to “Clubman” (or “Clubman A” if you have a Full Class-A DVLA motorcycle licence) and tick the “Orange vest” column (you must wear an orange vest until you have lost your newcomers status). Don’t fill in anything else.

 

In section two, put in your payment details. You can pay by card or cheque.

 

On page 2:-

In section three, put a tick against each of the 12 questions. If you are fit and healthy, you should be ticking “No” on every box.

 

In section four, your Doctor or any optician should be able to pass your eyesight as 6/6 with “normal” colour vision WITH your glasses worn if required. This is your corrected vision, not your unaided vision. Get the optician/doctor to sign and stamp in the boxes.

 

In section five, you do not need to fill in anything, unless you have ticked “Yes” to anything in section three, or are over 70 years of age.

 

Skip to page 4:-

In the top half of the page, tick your preference of CD or Booklet (make it CD) and e-mail or post (make it e-mail), then sign and date it in the boxes provided.

ONLY if you are under 18 years of age, get your parent or legal guardian to sign and date the “Minors Declaration”.

 

Simple so far?................

 

*** If you’re unsure about any of this, please read through the form again

and then phone us for help (01455 842600). Don’t be scared to pick up the phone, it’s what we’re here for. ***

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2) Joining a Road Racing Club or Organisation – Degree of difficulty 1/10 (simple)

Once you have decided which series you want to race in (Thundersport GB of course), apply for or download the appropriate registration form. Here is the link for ours;-

Click this link for registration form

It is quite normal to join more than one club or organisation and joining any organisation does not commit you to competing at all or any rounds, you are free to do as much or as little as you wish or can afford. Each club or organisation will send you the individual Entry Forms automatically.

Fill in the registration form and send it TOGETHER with your ACU Road Race Licence Application to the address on the registration form.

You will see on our form that we do two different types of membership, “Premier” and “Standard”, they are both racing memberships and the only difference is that “Premier” riders get £20 discount on each race entry. This makes it cheaper over the course of the season if you intend to compete in more than 4 of our events.

 

Still simple?................

 

3) Completing a compulsory Competitor Training Course (CTC) – Degree of difficulty less than 1/10 (very simple)

Every new applicant has to complete one of these very straightforward theory courses. Most clubs run at least one course before the start of the season and the ACU run them every Monday at ACU House at Rugby. You can book one direct with us at the same time as you send your Licence and Registration forms in to us (01455 842600).

Ours is a complete one stop shop, run every February and you can walk in without a licence or membership and walk out 8 hours later as a fully licenced Road Racer.

 

This course can include all of these elements:-

 

On Track Assessment (Proof of Competence).

 

Complete Competitor Training Course (CTC).

 

Eyesight Report.

 

ACU Licence Application.

 

Thundersport GB Registration.

 

(or any combination of the above)

 

The CTC paper itself is a simple multi choice exercise designed to make sure that you understand the flags and course conduct taught during the day. It is very easy and if you have read this far, you will have no problems with it whatsoever.

 

Still simple?............

 

4) Providing “proof of competence” – Degree of difficulty 2/10 (easy)

The final stage in being able to actually enter a meeting and start road racing is to show that you can actually ride a bike. A valid CBT certificate or DVLA licence will do, as will previous results from Moto-X, Supermoto or another competitive discipline.

Alternatively, if you don’t have any of the above, you can be assessed on track by an ACU certified coach. The last option sounds onerous, but it really isn’t as most clubs or organisations have a list of certified coaches who can assess riders and it is an integral part of the pre-season day that we run (see # 3 above).

 

How easy was that?...................

So now you're ready to go racing, but what kind of bike are you suited for?

When you get your first Road Race Licence, you will either be classified as a “Clubman” or a “Clubman-A” rider. The only difference is that a “Clubman-A” rider will be over 18 years old and in possession of a Full Class A – DVLA road licence and is therefore not subject to any machine capacity restrictions..

There is a table of licence grades, ages, machines and restrictions on the ACU website (you can download a copy of this document by clicking this link) but that is laid out in such a way that it encompasses the ease of use for club secretaries rather than what YOU can ride, and actually want to ride in the real world. So here is a breakdown of exactly what you can ride as a newcomer to Road Racing by ages with some machine examples:-

At 11 years old, you can ride any Production based scooter without gears. In reality this category doesn’t actually exist within the current structure of road race clubs and at 11 years of age you would probably be better placed in one of the Junior Formulas at Mini-moto events. The Metrakit & Conti GP50-80 machines competing on karting venues are a very good place to learn in a safe and enjoyable environment. (check out www.fab-racing.co.uk).

At 12 years old, you can continue to ride one of the GP50-80 machines within the club structure on big circuits as a Formula 125 machine, but this generally means riding in a mixed class race and isn’t ideal by any means. You could also get an Aprilia RS125 machine and enter the Aprilia Superteen Challenge (www.apriliachallenge.net) where the path to a career in motorcycle racing has started for so many of todays star riders. In this series you are all on the same machinery on a single class grid. This is the premier youth championship in the world today.

At 14 years old, you can start on a 125 Grand Prix machine, such as a Honda RS125R or a 250cc 4-stroke single cylinder machine like one of the new “Moto3” specification bikes in MotoGP. If you are interested in these machines, there is a wealth of information on www.two-strokes.com and you would be well advised to have a good look before you buy as these lovely little bikes do require plenty of looking after and quite a lot of time in the garage.

At 15 years old the options for newcomers open up a little more. You can ride up to a 450cc Production based machine such as a Kawasaki ZXR400, Yamaha FZR400 or Honda VFR400. You can also ride a 500cc twin cylinder 4-stroke machine such as a Honda CB500 (www.cb500racing.co.uk) or even one of the new Aprilia RRV450s (www.aprilichallenge.com). You can also ride a 650cc twin cylinder Production based 4-stroke machine and the most popular of these is the Suzuki SV650, more commonly referred to as a Minitwin. The CB500 suits a tighter budget, but if you are shopping on looks and performance the Aprilia is the bike for you.

At 17 years old, you can start racing on a pretty much anything you want except 4-strokes over 600cc or 2-strokes racing machines over 250cc. This opens up the options to ride Formula or Supersport 600 machines such as the ever popular Yamaha R6 and Honda CBR600. You may also race certain twin cylinder machines, such as the Ducati 748/749 and the Triumph triple 675, as they comply with Supersport 600 specifications.

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Upgrading your licence and how it effects your eligibility.

 

On each race day, you will be eligible to obtain a signature on your licence for a satisfactory race finish. A “Satisfactory” finish is now defined as completing the race distance within 110% of the time that the first placed machine in your class sets. You will need 10 of these signatures from 3 different venues to upgrade to “Clubman-A” status and once you have these 10 signatures you are no longer required to wear your Orange vest, which denotes your newcomers status.

Once you have a National licence, this effectively means that the ACU will treat you as though you are a year older than you actually are, reflecting your superior experience and ability.

Therefore a 13 year old with a National Licence can compete on a GP125 or Moto3 specification machine. A 14 year old National Licence holder can compete on up to a 450cc Production based 4-stroke machine and a 16 year old National Licence holder can compete on a Formula 600 or Supersport 600 machine or even a 250cc Grand Prix machine.

 

If you need any help or advice on choosing a machine to start with, please feel free to give us a call in the office – 01455 842600 – and we will do our very best to give you fair & balanced advice.

 

Dave, Bernadette, Syd, Jan & the whole Thundersport GB team