Yoshimura Suzuki’s Jamie Hacking lost an appeal of his disqualification from an AMA Superbike race at Road America on the grounds that his crew took his crashed bike behind the pit wall to make repairs during a red flag. An appeal hearing was held on Thursday, July 19 at Mid-Ohio.

The rule was originally put in place when AMA rules did not allow riders to change bikes during a race red flag situation; the rule was intended to prevent riders from going back into the paddock to swap bikes.

But in a cruel bit of irony, AMA rules now allow riders to use a back-up bike, so Hacking, who did not have a back-up bike, was disqualified for breaking an obsolete rule.

The Appeal Board ruling points out problems with the AMA appeal process, which allows 3-man appeal boards appointed by AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition Merrill Vanderslice to hear a rider’s case and make a final ruling. The involved rider has no say in who is on the appeal board and cannot object to any member of the board, unlike jury rules in a normal courtroom.

Which makes it possible for appeals to be heard by “stacked” boards or by boards made up of people who do not understand the original intent and application of a given rule, and who instead decide appeals based purely on their literal interpretation of the rule in question.