What To Expect at a Race Meeting

There's no need to feel worried about coming along to a race meeting. All the local club races are small and friendly and there's always someone there to help you out. The first thing to do when you get to the track is to register your name and age. The race organiser will then be able to put you in the correct races, so you will be racing with others who are roughly the same age as you

If you are under 16 and not a club member, you'll need to get your parents/guardian to fill in a simple consent form. They are available at the track on a race day. When you get to a craemeeting, you need to register your nameand age. Your race age is the age you will be at the end of the year - NOT necessarsilly your current age. Once everyone is registered you'll be told when racing will start, the youngest riders race first and the mountain bikes race last of all. It can get a bit hectic at the start so it helps if riders can be ready to race - that means having their helmet on and being near the start line, waiting to be called. The starter will call out names and which lane each rider is to start from. Riders line up with their front wheel against the start gate. Read the getting started in BMX article for more background information.

To start with, there are three races (each race is known as a moto). After the first three moto's the organisers sit down and calculate everyone's scores. Your performance in the first three moto's determines whether you get to ride in the A final or the B final. Occasionally, there are also semi-finals, and sometimes there are ride off's too, where two riders have to race each other for the last place in the A-final. It is your result in the final that determines how many series points you are awarded. Each week, riders win points which get added to their total in the series. At the end of the series, the biggest scores in each category, win the series. Simple!
The format of the Midlands Regional races is very similar to this, and once you've done a few of our local races you'll have no trouble at all. The main difference is that regionals have "Expert" and "Novice" categories. It's usually best to start with the Novice category. However, younger riders (7 yrs or younger) may wish to avoid the novices because they might end up racing with a lot of older riders. Best to discuss with the race organiser on the day.
I'd also avoid Chesterfield until you have a bit of race experience. It's a tricky track, especially the first straight which is a lot tougher than it looks.