We have put this guide together to help you get your child racing and then what to expect on race day. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

 

• Register for British Cycling membership – the silver membership is probably the best option. You will need to add a ‘race licence’ on and is usually free for under 12’s. This is essential for racing. Details on www.britishcycling.org.uk

 

• Order a race plate - British Cycling will issue your rider a seven-digit membership number, the last three digits of this will be used on their race plate on the bike. For example, if their member number is 1785241 their race plate number becomes 241. The club have partnered with www.moto1bmxplates.co.uk to create a bespoke race plate. Please order the side plates at the same time. 

 

• Entering the race – all race entries are done on British Cycling. You will need to search for the BMX race, usually under events-off road-BMX racing-youth & juniors. Details about the venue and technical information can be found here and it is quite straightforward to do the race entry. You will just need to know which category to enter – there is either ‘novice’ or ‘expert’. If your rider is just starting out, novice is a great option to introduce them to racing. The age category is worked out by subtracting your childs year of birth from the current year. For example if born in 2013, it would be the current year 2023 less 2013 so they would race in Age 10 and under. 

 

• If you have entered your rider into expert, they will need their own transponder. If they are racing in novice, transponders can be hired on race day for a refundable deposit of £10. 

 

 

What to expect on race day:

• Once you have got parked up and arrived at the track, you will need to find the admin desk to hire a transponder. This will be attached on the front fork of the bike. It is linked to www.our.sqorz.com which tracks the riders gate & lap times, moto finish position and overall event rank.
   

• Riders get 30 minutes practise split into 12’s and under and 13’s and over. They will also get a further 30 minutes practise with the gate running. Riders are free to do as much or as little as they choose. 
   

• Each rider will get 3 ‘motos’ or race laps. The motos are drawn by Sqorz usually around 30 minutes before racing starts. It will tell you which moto/race they are in and which gate they will start in.
   

• Riders are normally called to the holding pens around 10 minutes before their moto will start so keep a listen out for announcements on the PA. The race volunteers will ensure they are looked after in the pens and they get to their moto/gate. 
   

• Once the moto is done, riders should come back to the team area to recover and get ready for their next moto. 
   

• There are often semi-finals and finals for the riders once the motos are finished although this can depend on rider numbers in each category. Generally positions 1-8 will be in the A final, 9-16 will be in the B or X final. At some races, all riders will have a final so check before you decide to head home. 
   

• If you have hired a transponder, this will need to be returned to the admin desk once your rider has finished racing. 

 

What to bring:

We normally bring club gazebo’s to races for everyone to sit under so please come and find us on race day – we’re a really friendly bunch and love to cheer our riders on. 

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Don’t forget to bring your camping chairs, picnic, waterproofs, comfy footwear and some cash. Most tracks will have some sort of catering but payment can be limited to cash. Most clubs also charge for carparking so expect to pay between £3-£5 for the day. 

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If there are any mechanical problems on the day with their bike, there are plenty of us around to help sort those – someone always has a spanner or set of allen keys with them! 

Finally, please enjoy the day. We were all new to this at some point so feel free to ask any questions you have and we will all do our best to guide you through race day.