yes its all correct (protest)

Those, as I understand, you may remove. The 'loops' that they are attached to must remain.

 

Correct as far as I understand: The loops part are considered part of the subframe to position the bungee hooks but are not actually the bungee hooks themselves so they must stay.

 

OK, how about flat slides on a SuperSport SV in D Superbike (two seasons ago)?

That's flagrant cheating to me. Putting flat slide racing carbs on a supersport bike isn't a misinterpretation, it's thumbing your nose at the rulebook and totally disrespecting all your fellow racers.

The person protested was DQed from the race. No fine, no nothing, just a DQ. Now this is just one case, presented as a rhetorical example, so don't feel the need to try and explain or justify the actions taken at that time. My intent is not to put you on the spot or make you justify what was done. My point was to present an example of what I consider to be the punishment not fitting the crime.

And no, it wasn't me protesting him. It was two novices. However, that same bike was used to take home a 1st Place trophy a few weeks before in a D Superbike race that I ended up finishing in second place. You can bet your ass that it rubs me the wrong way when I look at that plaque instead of a trophy. My bike was legal and his was not (other guys confirmed that the flat slides were not a new addition for the most recent race weekend), yet he's got the trophy and I have a plaque. As we all know, those $12 trophies are what we spend countless thousands of dollars chasing after, so taking one home is not an insignificant thing.

So yeah, it's a bit of a sore subject to me. But I also think I've got a very valid point. I'm very much in favor of an explicit rule that says that anyone caught flagrantly cheating will be DQed from the event, fined the maximum allowed by the rulebook ($500, I think), and will forfeit all points earned to date in that class. Is that harsh? You bet your ass it is. But I'll bet you that it would cut down on the folks playing fast and loose with the rules.

On an editorial front, Mongo, I've got to say that your "chickenshit" comment was pretty uncalled for in my view. The guy was cheating, plain and simple, and got caught. Editorializing about how the tank spacers weren't a factor isn't the issue at all. The guy cheated, got caught, and got DQ'ed as a result. The rulebook is printed in plain English; if you can't read it and follow it, you deserve to get DQ'ed. If you read it and flagrantly disregard it, you deserve to get a load of shit dumped on your head. But you, as an official, talking shit on one racer over another is inappropriate in my opinion.

 

You have banned me from here. During a huge personal tirad. You deleted my account after you were unable to defend your reasoning for doing something stupid and childish. Why did you undeleete? Had I learned my lesson or did you calm down from the trip you say you weren't on at that time?

I have no problem with people disagreeing with me. None. I have problems with people that have a god complex of their own opinions and when people feel they can tell other's to shut up when they are expressing theirs. You actually have no right to. Sure your sandbox and if you want to win the argument by taking your ball and going home to your mommy feel free to any time.

So where's your opinion when Chapin brought it back up a year after the fact? Where was the swift justice and threats of banning then?

So answer me this? Why do you insist on calling him Marty when you know his name is Martin? Because you have to belittle people to make yourself feel important that's why.

 

Huey, did you stop taking your little happy pills again?

 

Nope. Read slower and you won't be

 

I do read slow. Aren't you tired of banging your head against the wall?

 

Naaahhh... At least it let's other people know there's a wall there.

 

And it's very nice of you to have some entertainment for us to watch instead of staring at a blank wall.

 

No, I was talking about flagrant violations of the rulebook being punished more harshly. Not once did I bring up this notion of "how much effect did it have on the results." That one was all yours, and totally wrong in my opinion, since you CANNOT know how much of an effect it had on the outcome. More importantly, it's IRRELEVANT. The only relevant question is, did you comply with the rulebook or not? My only suggestion is that when someone is found to be blatantly outside the rulebook, i.e. flat slides or race cams on a SuperSport bike, that it isn't an innocent violation, it's a clear indication of intent to cheat and should be dealt with quite harshly. Where that person finished was never an issue. Frankly, if I knew someone was flagrantly cheating, I'd protest them even if they finished dead-last. It's a simple principle called "right and wrong."

If the rulebook stated such a position, that might encourage folks to take an active interest in making sure their bike is legal.

While it may BE chickenshit, it's 100% to the letter of the rulebook and therefore 100% correct. It's also completely inappropriate for you to call a racer's protest chickenshit. You are completely free to think it, but you certainly should never say it. Officials are supposed to be impartial. Calling someone's protest "chickenshit" falls far short of that mark. Do you think you'd get a fair shake if the person reviewing your petition called it "chickenshit," or do you think that person is already heavily biased against you. I'd assume the latter. That's totally not cool in my view.

Also, a racer is under NO OBLIGATION WHATSOEVER to politely inform someone they're cheating and going to be protested. It's the rider's responsibility to bring a legal bike to the race. The fact that he brought a cheater bike and entered it anyway means that he's a cheater, no more and no less.

Frankly, I wouldn't tell them up front. I'd wait, protest them, and then let them reap the rewards of cheating in the first place. You can chalk up cheating to either incompetence or malice; neither should be rewarded with a free pass. And like I said, first or dead last, I'd file the protest so they could collect the DQ they earned by cheating in the first place.

"Not paying attention" or "fuck it, we won't get caught?" The answer is nothing more than speculation, and again, not relevant. If you know that being caught on a flagrantly illegal bike will cost you all the points you've earned that season and lighten your wallet by $500, then maybe the "not paying attention" crowd would get off their asses, read the rulebook, and follow it. The latter crowd will either shape up or get booted. Either one is OK with me. It's a simple matter of preserving the integrity of the sport. Everyone is treated equally, every time, without fail, and everyone follows the rules.

 

Sean, I was outriding Chappin everywhere at the '02 GNF except the back straight when he would just dissappear. That was before any major motor mods like head head decking was allowed in '03 so if you were in SS class you were basicly stuck with stock engine with a valve job. I just protested him (visual protest) for tank spacers since it was easy and cheap - if he didn't have 'em I would pay to tear him down. That guy is a cheater and it has beeen proven repeatedly. I saw him during practice at '03 cycle jam and was behind him on a 85hp SV and couldn't motor by him.
Even though he raced his bike the whole year ('03) in D super class he did not enter that race at the GNF.

I hope that you are not talking about me

 

I agree with the above (MTK), 110%.......

If somebody is cheating then they should be punished. If someone is blatenly cheating (cams, pistons, nitros) then they should be punished more severly.

and the person protesting should never be questioned if the protestee is in fact cheating. and they should never be called names by offcials......

I think this line says it all:

It's a simple matter of preserving the integrity of the sport. Everyone is treated equally, every time, without fail, and everyone follows the rules.

 

You have valid points but need to add a liittle common sense here. Its a hobby.

Every tech inspector is a human as far as I can tell. Humans have opinions, both good and bad. How does knowing the opinion put you at a dissadvantage?

What if you were sitting on the grid and saw a guy with his chain masterlink about to come off. Would you tell him, or would you let him go out and lose the chain causing a crash?? He is just reaping the rewards of being a lousy mechanic isnt he?

Its just common sense. If I sat on the grid and heard flatslides clacking in a ss class, I would tell the guy. If he doesnt pull out, protest. If I saw tank spacers, I would do the same. If he cant get it changed in time, tough luck. Hoops off the subframe, I would be embarressed to protest.

Its just a hobby and sometimes not worth the hassle just to prove your right.

 

I am not involved but I don't ever think it is good to call a customer (or potential customer) names regardless of the situation or how it was handled...

People, like me, read this and are influenced to form opinions about people we may not know well or as well as some on here...

We don't know what is a joke and what is not which leaves us cautious of all involved...