North Kent Trials Combine Rules and Regulations
With effect from the 1st January 2006
1. This document contains rules that are to be used in addition to the current ACU Handbook, the current South Eastern Centre Handbook and relate only to Trials.
2. The Group or Combine shall be formed for the purpose of organizing Combine Trials in the South Eastern Centre of the ACU.
3. It shall be called the “North Kent Trials Combine” (NKTC).
4. It shall be composed from Clubs of the South Eastern Centre ACU that may be elected for membership from time to time by the Combine Committee.
5. The Combine Committee may consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and two delegates from each Club as its maximum size. Each Club shall have a voting power of one, excluding a casting vote of the Chairman.
The Officials excepting Club Delegates shall be elected annually at the AGM.
Club members wishing to apply for committee positions should do so in writing to the Secretary by the 1st of September.
Existing committee members automatically offer themselves for re-election at the AGM unless they have offered their resignation in writing to the Secretary by the 1st of September.
Offers to fill vacant positions on the committee will be considered at any time and can be voted on at an EGM.
6. The number of Clubs admitted to the Combine and the number of events organized in any one year shall not contravene any current rulings made by the SE Centre Board.
7. Clubs shall upon joining the Combine agree to abide by these rules, the current Centre Supplementary Regulations and any rules and regulations subsequently passed by the Combine Committee.
8. A Club may give notice at any time of its desire to resign from the Combine, and this shall take effect from the next Committee Meeting date.
9. Representatives of five or more Clubs, if present, shall be sufficient by a simple majority, to conduct business and make decisions.
In the event of a tie the Chairman will have a casting vote.
10. A Club failing to be regularly represented at a Committee Meeting may be requested for an explanation.
11. The Annual General Meeting shall take place in October.
12. Member Clubs shall agree to send to the Combine Secretary or Treasurer such annual contributions or subsequent calls to cover running expenses of the Combine as may be passed at the Annual General Meeting.
13. The Combine bankers shall be determined by the committee and will hold authority to meet all cheques signed by the Treasurer and Secretary or Chairman.
The bankers may be changed for the benefit of the Combine.
14. Items for the Agenda of the AGM in October must be with the Secretary by the 1st of September. The Agenda will be circulated to those delegates on the contact list by the 3rd September. The contact list is those members who have provided their email details or those who have given a stamped self addressed envelope to the Secretary.
14a The NKTC committee shall be authorised to decide any question for which no provision is made in these rules.
14b The rules and regulations may be amended at the AGM or at an EGM.
14c An EGM may be convened by the committee or at the written request of at least 10 members whose club belongs to the NKTC group. Details for the EGM must be provided in that written request.
15. The Combine season starts on the 1st January and ends on the 31st December.
Final positions will be published as soon as practicable and awards presented at the first Combine trial of the year.
Awards that are not permanently given to a rider must be returned to the organizer by the 3rd Sunday in November at the latest.
16. The number and nature of the trials to be run in a season shall be determined by the Committee at their Annual Dates Meeting in September. Clubs must ensure that their requests for dates and events for the following year are with the Secretary by the 1st of September. Each trial will qualify for points as per ACU Handbook.
17. The Club organizing each trial shall be decided by the Combine Committee. Any Club that has not run or assisted in the organisation of any event may be asked to resign. A Club not running an event may be allocated a day at which they will assist another Club and no rider from either club will be permitted to ride.
18. If in the opinion of the other Clubs in the Combine, an organizing Club has been lax in running a Combine event, or in any avoidable way draws discredit on the Combine, the delegates of the Committee may, after hearing the case, vote, and should there be a majority against the Club in question, the Club may be requested to resign forthwith from the Combine.
19. The rules shall in no way affect the right of constituent Clubs to organise other meetings.
20. The entry fee to each event shall be decided at the AGM, to be sent with the required entry forms and two stamped self addressed envelopes to the event organizer.
21. The printing of regulations, showing details of the Club Awards, start and finish, Officials, Permit No. etc, shall be a domestic matter for each organizing Club and they must undertake to publish these in The Sporting Motorcyclist.
Clubs who fail to publish their events in The Sporting Motorcyclist may be fined £10 at the discretion of the Combine Committee.
22. A Club shall bear all the profit or loss arising out of the trial it organizes.
23. Competitors must belong to a club that is in the NKTC group.
Competitors are not allowed to enter their parent clubs event.
A parent club is the counter signatory to the competitors ACU affiliate membership card application.
For competitors whose main club is not in the NKTC, their parent club is the NKTC club they joined in order to ride in our combine events.
23a. All riders that participate in NKTC events are required to act in an official capacity or as a worker or as an observer at least once in the combine season at their parent clubs’ event. If unavailable on that date they must act in an official capacity or as a worker or as an observer for another club at their event, failure to do so will result in a deduction of 20 points from their aggregate. A rider may provide a substitute for them, to act in an official capacity or as a worker or as an observer at another clubs’ trial, but only if they have a legitimate reason for missing their parent clubs’ event.
24. Competitors who manage to compete and ride in every round will drop their highest score.
25. The provisional results from each trial must be issued as soon as possible and certainly not later than 10 days after the event.
Results must be printed in finishing order with all classes shown.
A meeting of the NKTC Committee will be held after each event, usually on the following Thursday.
26. A results sheet and programme must be sent to the Combine Recorder and any other person who has provided a stamped self addressed envelope to the event organizer.
Results sheets must also be brought to the next NKTC committee meeting held after the event.
27. The programme must show the name of the NKTC Club to which each Competitor is a fully registered member.
28. Two stewards shall be appointed for each event, one by the organizing Club to act as Club Steward and the other by the organisers of the preceding event to act as Combine Steward.
29. The Teams for the NKTC Team Trial Event shall consist of one Expert, one Intermediate and one Novice rider, or any combination of the three.
30. Should the NKTC be in breach of the rules then it has the right to rectify that breach at a subsequent meeting.
31. All riders of motorcycles are to wear a motorcycle crash helmet while riding. Competitors are also required to wear the correct protective clothing and boots as per ACU handbook.
32. Examination or Scrutineering of competitors’ machines prior to the start of the trial is mandatory as per the ACU handbook.
33. The closing date for regulations published in the Sporting Motorcyclist is to be between 7 and 10 days prior to the trial date.
34. A copy of the current ACU handbook is to be displayed on the signing on desk.
35. It is recommended that a qualified 1st Aider be present for the duration of the trial as per the ACU handbook.
36. Youth riders must ride machines correct for their chronological age as per ACU handbook. Some manufacturers do not clearly identify the cubic capacity of their motorcycles, therefore, it is the Parent or Guardian who signs the Youth consent form, who is responsible for making sure that the Youth has stated the correct bike on the entry form, and, is riding the correct bike at the trial.
37. Associates or Assistants to Youth riders must sign on at the officials table and must not ride the machine unless they have entered as a competitor and are wearing all the correct equipment.
38. NKTC Youth Classes
This rule applies to Youth A, Youth B and Youth C in NKTC events only. It does not apply to Centre events which have different classes for Youth categories.
All routes are to be ridden for points and awards.
Youth Expert - white route
Youth Intermediate - blue route
Youth Novice - red route
Youth Novice: Youth B and Youth C on the Red Route
This age group covers riders from 10 to15 years. Youths would ride red route until the end of the year in which they are 15. They would then go into blue for two years until the end of the year in which they are 17. In this period of time it would also be permissible to ask the NKTC Committee to upgrade from red to blue at any time after the end of the calendar year in which they are 12. (From the following January they could go up)
Youth Intermediate: Youth A on the Blue Route
This age group would be riders who are 16 and 17 years of age unless they had previously been permitted to upgrade from the red route.
Youth Expert: on the White Route
Experts are Youth riders of any age who have the capability of riding the white route. They must have obtained permission from the NKTC Committee.
When upgrading during a calendar year, points awarded on one route may not be taken up to the next route. If a rider upgrades and then decides to ride back down, they can but for no points or awards.
Youth Beginner Yellow (only if a club wishes to put on a yellow route)
A club could also run a yellow route for any rider between the ages of 10 and 17. They would ride for no points or awards but their scores would be shown on the result sheet.
Any youth wishing to ride outside their class must first obtain written consent from the NKTC.
Youth C must obtain written NKTC consent before riding in the Youth Novice class.
Written applications for a youth to ride up a class must be accompanied by a written endorsement of agreement from an official of their parent club.
Youths riding up a class with the written permission of the Combine will be eligible for points in the higher class.
Youths are not allowed to compete against adults; however, any youth aged 16 or above may ride the red route as an adult. For a complete explanation of this paragraph please refer to TSR1 in the Trials section of the ACU handbook.
39. Youth entry fees may be reduced by the club running the event.
40. Expert B riders may ride on part of the Expert route by the Clerk of Course setting out a sub section, clearly noted at the section begins card.
Alternatively Expert B riders may ride the whole of the Expert route on a section again clearly noted at the section begins card.
The variations are to be set by the Clerk of Course up to a maximum of 5 sections in a trial and they should be of a technical nature whilst being safe to ride.
There is no obligation on the organizing club to set out any such sub sections.
41. The Classification for the Pre67 class is set out in the Current South Eastern Centre Handbook. From 16th February 2006 Pre 67 riders enter in the Pre67 / Twin Shock Red class.
42. Pre-67 machines will all use the red route with deviations for sidecars and rigids where necessary. From 16th February 2006 Pre 67 riders enter in the Pre67 / Twin Shock class.
43. Riding categories. (updated for 2006)
ROUTE CLASS AWARDS
White Expert Yes
Youth Expert Yes
Blue Expert B Yes
Intermediate Yes
Youth Intermediate Yes
Twin Shock Blue Yes
Red Novice Yes
Pre67 / Twin Shock Red Yes
Youth Novice Yes
Sidecar Yes
Sportsmen No
Yellow Youth Beginner No } only the organizing club can decide
Wobbler No } to set out a yellow route.
A club with the permission of the combine may vary the usual rules of our trials as a ‘one off’, to allow for other alternative successful formats to be found. For example, a single route trial. Any club wishing to do this must bring their proposal to the normal combine meeting for discussion, but, the vote to accept or reject would be taken at the following combine meeting, allowing each club committee to instruct their delegate on how to vote. (An update with effect from the 1st January 2006.)
44. The Clerk of Course should aim to take a maximum of 10 - 15 marks from the winner of the Expert, Intermediate and Novice classes. The routes for these classes will be marked in white, blue and red cards respectively throughout the entire length of the section.
45. Upgrading of Riders
A rider who wins three Best Performances in the Novice or Intermediate Class may choose to be upgraded immediately.
Alternatively they may remain in that class in order to accrue points for the aggregate.
At the end of the season they must either upgrade or begin riding for no award.
Unless there are a minimum of 6 class entries in the programme that start the trial, the Best Performance win will not count to the rider’s requirement to move up a class.
The winner of the Novice and Intermediate Class at the end of the season must upgrade or begin riding for no award.
46. Downgrading of Riders
After upgrading by winning three best performances, should a rider fail to win a single award during the following two years then the rider may elect to ride back in the lower class but for no award.
47. Rider Numbers
The organizing club can decide which of the following two numbering systems to use.
All riders’ numbers will be black and printed on card of the same colour corresponding to the riders’ route.
All riders’ numbers will be made of white card with a distinctive red or blue line corresponding to the riders’ route.
48. Awards (updated for 2006)
The following awards shall be offered in each trial:-
Awards are given for the Best Expert, Youth Expert, Expert B, Intermediate, Youth Intermediate, Novice, Youth Novice, Twinshock Blue Route, Pre67 / Twinshock Red Route, and the sidecar class.
1st Class Awards the next 10% of starters in all the above classes.
All awards are subject to a minimum of six starters in the programme in each class.
Competitors entering on the day are not normally eligible for an award or points.
Clubs will generally specify the awards in the regs published in TSM or in the supplementary regs sent to competitors prior to the trial.
Clubs must ensure that Awards are ready for distribution within 3 Months of the trial date.
In addition to the awards listed above that the organizing clubs may give the NKTC will offer the following.
At the end of the year once the final aggregates are known, the top rider in each class that is eligible for awards will get a trophy/award and a replica, the 2nd & 3rd places will get replicas.For the 2006 season onwards there must be at least 5 riders with points in the class and that at least one of them must have gained points in 5 trials. If the criteria are not met the combine is not obliged to present an annual award. Youth classes are to be reviewed at the end of each year as these criteria may not apply due to their age deciding their class.
49. Competitors will be marked as per the ACU Handbook TSR22A ‘Stop With Penalties’.
50. The organizing club must issue each competitor with two numbers before the start of the trial.
Each competitor must clearly display their two riding numbers both at the front and the rear of the machine.
If it proves to be necessary riding bibs may be used or the rear number may be taped to the back of the crash helmet.
Competitors may receive penalty marks from the organizing club if both numbers are not clearly visible at all times.
51. Competitors and their associates must not argue with an observer.
Disagreement with the interpretation of the observers’ mark on the score sheet or punch card should be discussed with the Clerk of Course.
Arguing with an observer or the use of abusive or foul language any where on the trials course may result in immediate or later exclusion of the competitor and associate from the trials area.
All exclusions will be discussed at the next NKTC committee meeting.
Any such exclusion will allow member clubs, at the discretion of the NKTC committee, to refuse the entry to events for the rider and associate.
The NKTC will notify the rider and associate in writing giving detail and inviting a written response for further consideration.
52. Competitors who breach the rules at a trial will not automatically be excluded from the results.
The NKTC committee has the authority to classify them in last place in their class, including points and awards if applicable. This ruling does not apply to rule 51.
53. Before taking part in an event it is the responsibility of each competitor, where necessary, to ensure that they meet all legal requirements including the Road Traffic Act.
54. All NKTC events will be run under the rules currently in use by the ACU.
31st October 2005
Updates for 2006 are on rules 41, 42, 43, 45 & 48 and the alterations are underlined for clarity.
Addendum
Annual General Meeting: Also known as an AGM and it is a meeting when all club members can attend to vote on specific matters, hear about the financial state of the Combine and ask questions.
Extraordinary General Meeting: Also known as an EGM and it is like an AGM but held at any time to vote on specific matters only.
Group or Combine: They are two words used to describe the same thing which for us is a group of clubs coming together under common rules to run events during a yearly season.
ACU: Short version of The Auto Cycle Union which is a Governing body that controls most aspects of motor sport in the UK to which our Combine is linked via The South Eastern Centre.
The South Eastern Centre: A specific area in the country having officials to operate the links that it has with many hundreds of Combines in its area. It itself is linked to the ACU.
Handbook: The book of rules that we must follow when running sporting events. There is the ACU handbook published annually which is sent to trials riders following payment of whatever fee is required each year and known as affiliation. Also the South Eastern Centre has a handbook which clubs should have a copy.
The Sporting Motorcyclist: Usually known as TSM and published monthly by subscription this is where you will find entry forms each month to our events and ongoing news and information.
Steward: An official at a trial who ensures it runs as per the rules.
Clerk of Course: An official who is responsible for the trial. Do as they say or you may face exclusion and the possibility of a ban.
Secretary: An official who receives your entry forms, checks they are correct as per the trial regulations published in TSM and will return it to you if you don’t. They will also publish the programme, send it to you and after the trial is over, collate all the results and send them out.
The workload on this official is high so on the day, have patience at the signing on area, don’t demand anything as if you ask nicely you are likely to get it.
Machine Examiner or Scrutineer: An official who briefly checks your bike before you are allowed to ride in the trial. It is not an MOT. You are responsible for the safety of your bike and having the correct bits on it that the manufacturer fitted, not the Scrutineer.
Observer: A person who is present at the sections to record your score according to how you ride. Obey what they say and do not start until they say they are ready for you or you may get a 5 and if you do not start when you are called you may get a 10. Do not argue with them whatever mood you may be in talk calmly and rationally.
Best Performance: A win in the class you were riding as long as you were eligible for it.
Awards: Are what you will receive if you do well in the class. Check the regulations for what is available.
Aggregate: The total of the points you are eligible for in a particular trials season counting towards the championship that you are aiming at.
