The participants of the Sporting Commissions in Fiumicino, near Rome (Italy)
The FIM Europe Commission Meetings have been opened by the first session of Sporting Commissions, which will be followed by the second session of Sporting Commissions in November and by the Non-Sporting Commissions next January.
The meeting was held, as in the past, in Tiber Hotel in Fiumicino, near Rome (Italy). In this first session, the meeting of Motocross, Enduro, Trial, Supermoto and Drag Racing Commissions were held, with the participation of the Sporting Council Chairman Mr Martin de Graaff and of FIM Europe Secretary General Mr Alessandro Sambuco. Joining the meeting, also Oriol Puig Bulto, Director of International Technical Commission of FIM, Tony Skillington, Director of Motocross Commission of FIM and Thierry Michaud, Director of the Trial Commission of FIM.
“The presence of FIM directors is important for the cooperation with FIM and for the harmonization of rules between FIM and FIM Europe”, Mr Martin de Graaff stated. “All commissions prepared the 2016 seasons, concerning rules and calendars. Safety matters, licences and insurance were also important items”.
The Motocross Sporting Commission, chaired by Mr Eddie Herd
In the Motocross Commission, the representative of Youthstream Marc Pauwels joined the meeting because the cooperation with the promoter is important for combined events in the World and European Championships. It dealt with rules, calendars and all others aspects of the discipline.
Martin de Graaff gave the information and direction about the working group “age limit” and the process from now on until the next general assembly.
New is also the European Women’s Cup, which will be organised in Cieszyn, Poland, on 21st-22nd of May and will be combined with a round of EMX 65-85cc North-East Europe Zone event. If successful, it is hoped that this will be developed to a full European championship with three or four rounds in the future. The age limit will be between 15-50 on MX2 specifications motorcycles. There will be three races at the event of 15 minutes plus 3 laps, one on Saturday afternoon and two on Sunday, with normal practice and time practice.
The Hillclimb motocross will be continued and the Commission will try to find one or two more organisers for the next year.
The sport will continue to develop and expand with the cooperation with promoter Youthstream.
The “pyramid” linking the European championships and World championships for motocross and the development of young talented riders is now firmly established and proven results can be seen by all.
The Supermoto Sporting Commission, chaired by Mr Ivo Tsvetanov
Supermoto – Yesterday there was a meeting with the Supermoto European and World Championship Promoter, BPROM, represented by Mr Danilo Boccadolce, Mr Martin de Graaff, Mr Alessandro Sambuco and Ivo Tsvetanov, to discuss the contract for the promotion of the European Supermoto and the calendar for the coming season. Today the Commission proposed a new “Open” class that will run together with the Supermoto Junior and S3 class events, some specific aspects at the events in 2015 and possible proposals for changes for 2016 season that will be decided with BPROM. The new season 2016 will give the opportunity to the European riders to benefit from their participation in the S2 class and offer better chances for winning the Continental title.
The Trial Sporting Commission, chaired by Mr Anders Minken
Trial – During the Trial Commission only minor changes to the European rules will be proposed and also the technical rules as for the weight of the bikes will be maintained for 2016. The future of the discipline was mainly discussed. The statistics of the development of the European championship are very promising – the average participation grew of 86% during the latest five years. 2016 calendar is made to make the travel patterns for the riders as cheap as possible.
Enduro – Producing the Enduro calendar for 2016 was not so easy because of the late appearance of the FIM calendar. The future of Bajas was discussed for the new season: the participation of UTVs will be the same as in 2015. In order to promote the Super Enduro Cup, the riders are allowed to take part with national licences and starting permissions of the Federations. The calendar of the Enduro Extreme Cup was done without problems and rules also will not have big changes for the next season.
The Drag Racing Sporting Commission, chaired by Mr Palle Lind
Drag Racing – After the meeting in Copenhagen with Nordic Federations and Organisers, the Commission discussed the possibilities for better European Drag Race Championship. It is important to create a calendar with more than three events in the future for the Championship and the Cup. In 2016 there are three applications for the Championship and four for the Cup, which the Commission proposed. The deadline for the calendar is extended up to the 1st of December 2015. The plans for the Junior Cup are extended for the season 2017.
In all Commissions Mr Oriol Puig Bulto stressed out the change of technical rules for next year, which also affect European Championships. Few items about safety are about the use of the helmet cameras, which is forbidden in all disciplines except motocross, where the use of helmet cameras is strictly controlled. Body and back protection for the different disciplines and their respective homologations were also discussed. Mr Bulto listened to the experiences of trial riders for other solutions for body protection in trial, which requires particular agility. Last but not least, new rules for all off-road disciplines were discussed as for the throttle, which cannot be ride-by-wire any more, but only mechanical.
“The importance of meetings like this, with all sporting commissions together, is very serious to create a very good calendar for the next season”, Mr de Graaff stated. “And this also a good way to grant the harmonization of rules thanks to the presence of the respective FIM representatives. It is always a pleasure to see how seriously the commissions are working for the future of the sport. All calendars and proposals will be discussed in the Management Council next December for approval”.
