A bit harder to make 3rd cat

[David Martin]

The points requirement for 3rd cat has gone up by 2 points to 12. This may make sense in the regions where there are many closed circuit races (Hilingdon, York etc.) but in the wild hinterlands of wherever (like Scotland), this means many fewer riders will make the grade as the points opportunities aren't there.

Maybe there will be an equivalent to the 'Scottish VS' where a Scottish 3rd cat is about equivalent to an English 2nd cat

[Ham]

Isn't this how you make a 2nd or 3rd cat?

[Rainmaker]

Oooh!!!   You are awful!    But I like you!!!

[Byronius Maximus]

This may make sense in the regions where there are many closed circuit races (Hilingdon, York etc.) but in the wild hinterlands of wherever (like Scotland), this means many fewer riders will make the grade as the points opportunities aren't there.

Surely that problem exists whatever the required points total though. It's just harder to get for everyone now. I can see where you're coming from, but if you're not racing as much then you're not likely (on average) to be as good as someone who races regularly, whatever the reason for racing less frequency (e.g. geography).

I didn't know they'd made this change, but it seems to make sense to me as a single win as a 4th cat would get you to 3rd before, without needing any other results to prove some kind of consistency to your racing.

Nice reference to Scottish VS btw

[Karla]

I always thought it made sense that winning something automatically got you your 3rd cat.

[Rhys W]

Do they run closed circuit races at the Royal Edinburgh Showground still?

South Wales is the same - loads of 1 hour races at Llandow racing circuit, every week from February to September (and not quite as often at Pembrey). Not the same as having maybe one 60-mile road race a month to enter.

[David Martin]

Yes. There are typically 3 or 4 ingliston crits per year. It isn't the same as a bi-weekly C+ circuit race with plenty of points on offer. The number of potential racing days within reasonable travel are somewhat limited.