Hacking Loses Appeal Of Road America Disqualification

Hacking Loses Appeal Of Road America Disqualification

© 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Categories:

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.

Latest Posts

MotoGP : World Championship Race Results From Argentina (Updated)

Marc Marquez won the FIM MotoGP World Championship race...

Moto2 : World Championship Race Results From Termas De Río Hondo

Jake Dixon won the FIM Moto2 World Championship race...

Moto3 : World Championship Race Results From Argentina

Angel Piqueras won the FIM Moto3 World Championship race...

MotoGP: M.Marquez Leads Warmup In Argentina

Marc Marquez was fastest  in the MotoGP warmup session...

World Superbike: Razgatlioglu Sweeps Portimao Test

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) topped the...