Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition Merrill Vanderslice was recently quoted by a motorcycle publication as saying, in effect, that there was no controversy around teams running the Yamaha YZF-R7 chassis in Formula Xtreme for two years, and now suddenly it’s a problem. Vanderslice’s comment seemed aimed at dismissing the protests of Damon Buckmaster’s winning R1-engined YZF-R7 at Fontana by riders from five teams.

But the R7 question was a hot issue in the July 2000 edition of Roadracing World, which covered the controversy over Richard Stanboli not being allowed to enter his R1-engined YZF-R7 in Formula Xtreme at Sears Point. You can read about it in the July 2000 Inside Info story here.

Ironically, at the time, Stanboli wanted to race an R7 in Formula Xtreme and Graves didn’t want the R7 to be legal. Their roles in the current controversy are reversed, with Stanboli angry that Graves is now racing an R7 and Graves angry that anyone is questioning the R7’s legality.

At the heart of the matter is what involved parties say is a pattern of conflicting messages from AMA Pro Racing officials, who refused to accept protests of the R7 in 2001 and told potential protestors that the bike was being allowed to race in 2001 only and would be gone in 2002, while at the same time telling Graves that he could race an R7 in 2002.

But back to the origins of the controversy, as reported in the July 2000 issue of Roadracing World. Stanboli told Roadracing World at the time, “I told (AMA Technical Manager) Rob King what I intended to do. He admitted it was a gray area but within the spirit of the rules. When I got here he told me it wasn’t eligible. I think he’s had pressure from other teams–Chuck Graves and Erion. The AMA now says they want to keep Superbikes out of Formula Xtreme. Yamaha hasn’t backed us at all.”

AMA Pro Racing Communications Manager Bill Nordquist told Roadracing World, “They had a long conversation and many things were discussed. The R7/R1 situation came up,, along with other topics, but at no time did Rob (King) say it was a legal combination. The R7 is produced as a racebike, and is not supplied as a streetbike to customers.”

The report on the subject in Roadracing World continued, “There was little sympathy for Stanboli in the paddock. Chuck Graves vehemently denied that he had ever approached the AMA about the eligibility of the machine and summarized the feelings of his fellow competitors. Graves pointed out that the class had a good rule structure that shouldn’t be threatened by the introduction of Superbikes. As a case in point, he noted that Honda’s RC51 would be eligible for the class, but Honda chose the class to showcase the CBR929RR. Similarly, he felt it was a class for the Yamaha R1, not the R7. Graves noted that in an effort to keep Superbikes out of the field, the AMA specifically excluded the 996 Ducati in the rulebook. Finally, Graves wondered, if King had told Stanboli that the R7/R1 combination was legal, why hadn’t Stanboli asked for confirmation in writing before investing considerable time and expense to produce the hybrid?”