2004 Gncc Pro Class Break Down

[EASTHILL]

THE 2004 GNCC PRO CLASS STRUCTURE AND REQUIRMENTS HAVE BEEN UNCLEAR TO ME AS OF THE LAST RACE IN INDIANA.

AS I AM LOOKING TO RACE PRO NEXT YEAR,I WANTED TO KNOW IF MY ROLL 250R WILL BE ALLOWED,OR IF I WILL BE REQUIRED TO RUN A PRODUUCTION BASED MACHINE.
I SPOKE WITH RP THIS MORNING AND THIS IS WHAT I FOUND OUT.

THE 2004 GNCC PRO CLASS WILL BE RESERVED FOR THE TOP 20 FINISHING RIDERS FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR OLNY.
RIDERS 1-10 MUST RACE PRO ON A PRODUCTION BASED MACHINE.
WHILE RIDERS 11-20 MAY ALSO CHOOSE THE NEW PRO/AM CLASS.

THIS NEW CLASS WILL ALLOW ANY MAKE, MODEL OR CC .(JUST LIKE OPEN A)

THIS IS GOOD NEWS FOR 250R FANS-

AS IT STANDS, PRO AND PRO/AM CLASSES WILL COUNT 12 OF 14 RACES FOR THE OVERALL.

HOPE THIS INFO IS HELPFUL

[cdalejef]

Did you qualify for Pro Am? The way I understand it is this:

numbers 1-10 must race pro
11-20 can race pro or pro am
21-30 must race pro am
31 and up must race A or any of the other classes.

Pro Am will be an open class including aftermarket quads.
Pro will be production based class

This is just word of mouth and not from RP

[EASTHILL]

I FINISHED #25 SO I CAN RACE PRO AM OR ANY A CLASS

TO QUALIFY FOR PRO/AM A RIDER MUST HAVE ANY OF THESE PREREQUSITES:

OVERALL HIS OR HER A CLASS
WIN 3 OR MORE RACES
FINISH #11-20TH OVERALL

[gncc35]

Originally posted by EASTHILL
I FINISHED #25 SO I CAN RACE PRO AM OR ANY A CLASS

TO QUALIFY FOR PRO/AM A RIDER MUST HAVE ANY OF THESE PREREQUSITES:

OVERALL HIS OR HER A CLASS
WIN 3 OR MORE RACES
FINISH #11-20TH OVERALL Do you mean 11-20 or 11 - 30 for pro am.

[EASTHILL]

NOT SURE ON THAT ONE.

Glenn read Jeff's post. It is the way I explained it to you Sunday!!! 1 thru 10 RUN PRO 21 thru 30 run Pro Am 11 thru 20 you have your choice of which one you want to run

[quadman21]

But in either case, Pro will be production based and Pro/Am will be an open Pro? I wonder how long that will last?

[cdalejef]

Originally posted by quadman21
But in either case, Pro will be production based and Pro/Am will be an open Pro? I wonder how long that will last? What do you mean? :confused:

[jlhughes750]

OK Easthill stated, 1-10 must be on a Prod quad. 11-20 can choose the new class Pro-am, but do they have to or can they run Pro??????? say for example Wahl #17 he won the A class last year. He CAN run the Pro -Am but technically he's qualified to run Pro!!!! BUT he can't run Pro with the R he will have to run a Prod quad to run Pro.???? So even though he won the A class last year, he can not run the big money PRO class till he get a new Prod quad????
Basically it sounds like 1-10 have to buy new quads next year, 11-20 can run what they brung!!! 20-200 take a look at 1-10 cause if u want to be there, u gotta run what they bring eventually.

they'll get it sorted out eventually.... I like Pro and Production being seperate, you win an A class race you can run PRO simple as that!!!!

[quadman21]

What do you mean?


How long does RP intend keep this format before making all pro classes production based only? 1 season, 2 seasons, etc

[adam250r]

Lets just see how many special situations arise (jeremiah Jones, Shane Hitt, etc). Will RP make them run in the A classes? i highly doubt it. It looks like we're in for another year of rule changes during the year at the whim of RP.

[240GNCC400]

seems like thats gonna make the pro class kind of small. is RP gonna start the pro and pro/am classes at the same time or are they gonna seperate it so the pro/am guys have to fight traffic on the first lap. seems like when they started the top 20 together it was more fair

[cdalejef]

Originally posted by jlhughes750
OK Easthill stated, 1-10 must be on a Prod quad. 11-20 can choose the new class Pro-am, but do they have to or can they run Pro??????? say for example Wahl #17 he won the A class last year. He CAN run the Pro -Am but technically he's qualified to run Pro!!!! BUT he can't run Pro with the R he will have to run a Prod quad to run Pro.???? So even though he won the A class last year, he can not run the big money PRO class till he get a new Prod quad????
Basically it sounds like 1-10 have to buy new quads next year, 11-20 can run what they brung!!! 20-200 take a look at 1-10 cause if u want to be there, u gotta run what they bring eventually.

they'll get it sorted out eventually.... I like Pro and Production being seperate, you win an A class race you can run PRO simple as that!!!! James will be able to run Pro Am on his R...if he wants to go Pro, he'll have to buy a production quad.

[cdalejef]

Originally posted by quadman21
How long does RP intend keep this format before making all pro classes production based only? 1 season, 2 seasons, etc Pro Am is not considered Pro so to answer your question, they aready have!

[cdalejef]

Originally posted by adam250r
Lets just see how many special situations arise (jeremiah Jones, Shane Hitt, etc). Will RP make them run in the A classes? i highly doubt it. It looks like we're in for another year of rule changes during the year at the whim of RP. Pro GNC rider will be able to run Pro on a production quad or Pro Am on their aftermarket quads.

[cdalejef]

Originally posted by 240GNCC400
seems like thats gonna make the pro class kind of small. is RP gonna start the pro and pro/am classes at the same time or are they gonna seperate it so the pro/am guys have to fight traffic on the first lap. seems like when they started the top 20 together it was more fair Pro will be on row 1 and Pro Am will be on row 2.
Pro Am won't be fighting too much trafic because most people in the pro class will be faster.
Guys, RP is doing this to better everyone, they are not trying to punish people. They are doing what the factories want to see. The factories will start paying contingency to amature riders as well if they see their current quads winning races.

[gizmocor]

Jeff,
I agree, I like the way they handled it. It's tough on the top ten if you weren't getting any help, but I think most of them will make the switch pretty easily with the support they have. Everyone else is pretty much free to ride what they want. Do you know if your Cannondale is going to be considered production yet??

[cdalejef]

Yes, I called RP and they said that the Cannondales will be allowed in the pro class since ATK and Dinli are continuing production.

[WOOLIN]

The whole structure is way too complicated. Pro and Pro/am should be able to race what ever they want. That would be alot simpler. My $.02:confused:

[Ryan]

Originally posted by WOOLIN
The whole structure is way too complicated. Pro and Pro/am should be able to race what ever they want. That would be alot simpler. My $.02:confused:

It would be simpler, but the main reason of doing this is to get the Manufacturers involved.

[quadman21]

Hey Jeff, not to get off the topic too much, Can you elaborate a little on the Cannondale/ATK situation? I haven't heard much about in my neck of the woods. Are Cannondales going to be available through ATK or something?

This is what I have heard from Jason@ RP. The might take some restrictions off the Pro-am class to allow more people in it. The way everyone has listed it so far is if the top 20 all run PRO then only 10 people would be eligable for Pro-Am. I think they are going to allow more poeple in Pro-Am

[joedirt]

OH so they want a small Pro line for the cameras next year. That always makes our sport look good. Have 15 pro racers and 35 pro-am racers. The 1st row should have at least 20-25 racers. It makes no sense to me. Like Monkeys FN a Football. I am going to race Pro on a Bike I will have no problem running pro class there. The only reason people want to run Pro ATV class is for exposure. Bike racers don't want to race Pro cause they can make more money in contingencies sandbagging in the B-class. Reading and dealing with this ***** sucks. All of us Quad racers that have bikes also should pick a race and sign up for Pro bike class on Sunday this up and coming season. That would really mess them up

[cdalejef]

I'd love to but like the quads, you must qualify to race pro bikes.
I'd be up for racing an A class with ya!

RIDER ELIGIBILITY AND CLASSIFICATION:
1. Pro Bike
a. Top 10 overall riders from previous year's GNCC, unless eligible for an age class.
b. Top five overall riders from previous year’s AMA National Enduro, National Hare Scrambles, and Hare & Hound Series.
c. ISDE Trophy Team members or riders who earned Gold Medals at the previous year’s ISDE.
d. All international riders currently holding a top 10 ranking in their home country's national championship of similar type of event.
e. All current AMA Pro Racing license holders.
f. All current AMA Pro Sport license holders who qualified for a National Motocross or Supercross in the current or previous year.

1. Pro bike riders are not eligible to race the ATV event.

[jlhughes750]

so 1-10 have to run Prod quads, it would be great if other qualified Pro's other then the top 10 could run Open machines. I hate to keep using this poor guy as an example but think about this>>>> Jame Wahl is already qualified to run Pro he's been #8or 9 before. This year he won A so that qualified him as well, but he's only #17... In this example he would be qualified to run Pro but since he was not 1-10 he would be running the R on the frt. row. i guess that would contridict the point of there plans!!!!?

[quadman21]

it would be great if other qualified Pro's other then the top 10 could run Open machines

You confused me:confused: Other pros than the top ten can run open machines in the Pro/Am. The top ten have no choice but to run production quads. Do you mean you wish that 11-20 could run open mahines in the Pro class too? instead of only production quads in the pro class? Did I say that right?:huh

I think he is saying he would like to see 1-10 have to run prod quads and 11-20 can run what evere they want in the PRO class

[jlhughes750]

yea what GNCCer said!!:)

i know it would never happen but, it would be great to see a few teen #'s in the top 5 running strong with the big guns.(on R's)....


I just don't know how interesting it'll be to see 10 atv's on the frt. row all Production machines..

[quadman21]

I think RP is banking on 11-20 wanting to compete for the overall too. That would make them have to switch to a production machine. I think if I were ranked #13 and was on an R, it would worth my while to switch and see if I could break the top ten. Remember, ballance wasn't so hot the last few races on a 4-stroke. So maybe the playing field might be a liottle more even come 2004.

[chad duvall]

quadman 21, I agree with you. The playing field will be more even so that would make a few riders with higher numbers be more likely to get a few good races in. Look at what happened this past year, alot of place changes in the middle of the race due to mud and bottle necks. If you are in the right place at the right time you too could beat the top riders if you start with them. I look for a tighter race finishes and new winners a t several different races. Even the odds makes for better racing! I am excited and look for a great season. I want to win(bad) but I also am pulling for the up and coming Production based riders. I think it will all work out in the end for everyone.

[gncc571]

They say they are doing this to get the factorys involved ,so they will see their "factory quads" that anyone can go buy doing good.The way I look at is, if thats what they want, they need to put more restictions on what you can do to the quads.Think about it, every pro production quad this past year would cost you 20 grand to build.To me that kind defeats the purpose of even having the class,because the only thing thats stock is the cases and the frame.I think they should leave the stock a-arms and swing arm on them,after all they are "Pros"if their that good of a rider they should be fast on what ever they ride,I think that would even things out and put more of rider skill back into it.

Just my 2 cents

[gizmocor]

GNCC571:

The class last year was Pro Production, not Pro Stock Class. Limiting the pros down to bone stock machines is not a good thing for anyone. Name a sport where you see amateur racers with better handling faster equipment then the top Pro's. There is a stock class for the sort of thing you are talking about, where everything is less expensive. The top ten are top ten because they are talented and have more heart in it then the rest of us. They just never quit and ride 100% for 2 hours. I have been upgrading equipment for the last couple of seasons, and believe me, when your used to the handling of aftermarket, going back to a stock machine is dangerous. They don't handle very well, and you tend to try and run them as fast anyway. It wouldn't be good to see amateurs beating the pro's often either. It is the Bill Ballance's that are helping to grow this sport right now. It is those top ten or so guys who need to get non-industry sponsors involved to grow GNCC into new areas. If they are constantly battling with full aftermarket machines from the amatuer ranks, and not able to do anything to there quads, we get nowhere. The bigger the show they put on, including the way the quads look, the better it is for everybody.
That said, I think things are going in a direction now with the new 450's that you won't need that kind of $ into the quads anyway. The 400EX, and even the Z400's, weren't all that impressive of a motor out of the box, and they didn't handle well on the track either. They required a lot of time and $ into them. I have a new YFZ now, and personnaly I think you could get away with nothing more than a slip on exhaust and a rejet to beat those hopped up 400's. The handling needs work, but really your just looking at a-arms, s-stems, and shocks. You could build yourself a competitive Pro machine now for under $10,000. The swingarms and axles and what not are really just for durability. They do affect handling a bit, but nothing that would make or break you.
Anyway, I say kudos to RP, I think this was probably a tough decision, but everyone knew it was coming, and unless your Bill Ballance, Chris Borich, Matt Smiley, or Santo Derisi, I don't see the need for complaining. Those 4 riders were the only ones who were required to switch machines. Everyone else is free to ride what they want. I look forward to some great Pro Class racing with the new machines, and Jeff, I wish you luck or your ride, and hope you can represent the Cannondales with the Big 4!!!!