TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI RESPONDS TO BROADHEAD’S COMMENTS In response to Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s post-Fontana press release, the AMA’s Morgan Broadhead made the following comments on the official website of the series in regard to the penalty assessed to Chris Ulrich for short-cutting the course: “All riders were thoroughly briefed on the rules relating to short-cuts at California Speedway. Ulrich clearly short-cut the track on lap one and it was duly reported by the corner worker assigned to that station. Timing and scoring officials – in conjunction with race direction – reviewed and verified the information and the appropriate penalty was assessed. AMA Racing stands by its decision.” Broadhead’s posted explanation differs significantly from what he said on site at California Speedway, where he claimed that an AMA official, not a cornerworker, witnessed the alleged incident. More importantly, Chris Ulrich did not short-cut the course on lap one of the Superstock race. If another competitor (one the cornerworkers misidentified as Ulrich) short-cut the course on lap one and did not take the appropriate actions as described by AMA Supplemental Regulations for the event as well as discussed in the riders’ meeting, then that racer escaped penalty for his actions. Chris Ulrich did get into a corner too hot and ran off-course at the end of the back straight on lap three of the race, but complied with the conditions of the Supplemental Regulations. Ulrich did not gain an advantage by doing so, and, in fact, lost two positions on that lap and was clocked at a time that was more than two seconds slower than the pace he was running in prior laps and following laps. His segment time on that lap was his worst of the race, approximately two seconds slower than in his other laps. All this can be easily seen in the lap charts and lap times posted on the official AMA website and this information was available to AMA officials on site at California Speedway. “Penalizing a rider for losing over two seconds and two positions is absolutely absurd,” said Chris Ulrich. “What is more absurd is Race Director Morgan Broadhead’s rebuttal to our team press release. The only time I was off course was on lap three. “Timing and scoring shows the time and positions lost,” said Ulrich. “As a rider, I thought things were getting better with the AMA, but no race director in their right mind would penalize a rider for losing over two seconds and two positions after running off the track. “To make matters worse, the story told by Broadhead changed in the 48 hours since the race on Sunday. The individuals in power should not change their story to save face or make false claims to protect their own hide. All I want is consistent and fair calls for everyone in the paddock.” Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki understands the difficulties any sanctioning body faces when making rulings of this nature. However, it is vitally important for the sake of fairness and the integrity of competition that the sanctioning body get it right and have a system in place to make the correct rulings. Once a ride-through penalty is incorrectly assessed, it is impossible to correct, and professional racing organizations such as the FIM and MOTO-ST do not penalize riders who lose time and/or positions in a situation where they run off and then re-enter the track. In this case, the team believes that a penalty was assessed simply to demonstrate and assert the Race Director’s personal authority. More, from another racer: FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I must start by saying that I was surprised that Chris received a drive thru penalty last weekend at Cal Spdway. When Chris was in front of me several laps into the beginning of the Superstock race, I did see him run thru corner 8 or 9…(the tight right at the end of the back straight). But what I witnessed was Chris did in fact take the detour the AMA laid out to slow riders down to keep from gaining an advantage blowing that corner. I was far enough back that as he pulled back on the track, Chris did not gain any advantage on me…yet I did on him. Chris slowed down, followed the rules and kept racing. What did he do wrong? Jason Curtis AMA Pro #19 Canyon Country, California More, from yet another racer: FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: When I witnessed Chris run off on lap three he did follow the correct path thru the haybales. He went from in front of me to behind me, I did see him in my peripheral vision him go thru the proper route. I must say it did take a pretty extreme effort on his part to get way back over to the haybale chicane. Scott Jensen AMA Superbike #61 Phoenix, Arizona