Jumping the start.......is the penalty too much?

Was watching the replay of the Italian GP this morning and it got me thinking. Karel Abraham jumped the start and got his normal ride through penalty. When you do a ride through, depending on the track, you may lose what....8-12 seconds? How much do you gain by jumping the start? 1-2 seconds maybe.....unless you just goose it and go! Your race is essentially over.

Is the ride through penalty too harsh?

 

The penalty has to be much greater than the potential reward to dissuade anyone from jump starting. It's simple economics. If the penalties for jump starting weren't significant, then the advantage you could gain would be worth the risk of a penalty. Eventually you'd see guys jumping by bigger and bigger margins to gain an advantage. It's not a matter of whether the punishment fits the crime, but rather of the punishment being significant enough to disincentivize the crime or unfavorable action.

See also: Penalties for going off track.

 

If the rider ends up last anyways into T1, like in Abrahams case, it always seems silly for the ride throughs.

But if they gain any advantage, even a second or two, then any pass they make from the on out is sketchy because their bike is in a spot it should never have been in.

Abrahams case is interesting because since he stopped and had to re-clutch, his jump start actually cost him time. The ride through was just salt in the wound.

But have to treat them all the same regardless.

I guess the other thing is what else would you do? A ride through or stop and go are the pretty common race punishments. Not sure what else is out there except deducting time from the finish which seems like it would get messy

 

In the case of cutting a corner on the track the rider can self-penalize by re-entering the track at a point where they make sure they don't gain any advantage. Could the same be implemented in the case of a jump start? Hard to say because a rider might claim (or not be aware) they never jumped the start. In the case of riding off the track its pretty easy to figure that one out.

 

I think people are going to complain no matter what happens.

If you give race control discretion (I would agree that Abraham jumped, realized it, and gave up far more than he gained) people will just complain about the rule not being clear.

If you make it a bright-line rule like it is now, we leave ourselves debating situations like this one.


no-win situation. The bright-line rule at least puts people on notice that it's better to get a crap start than jump it.

 

NO- Green or NO red means go! NOT when the rider thinks it is clear to go

 

It can be a safety issue if a rider jumps. The penalty is not too severe.

 

Maybe it's not severe enough. If you jump the start in drag racing guess what? You just lost.

 

They should make roadrace starts like MX. Line em' all up at a gate that you get stuck in if you jump



Either that or go back to ol' rolling starts of DMG yesteryear. You guys remember that crap?

 

Push starts!

-jim

 

I dont care what Van Halen says, don't jump

 

LeMans style starts......fuck yeah!!!

 

DMG tried that a few years ago at Daytona because I remember Josh Hayes blatantly jumping a start and thought it was odd that he didn't come in for a stop and go. Somebody who was at the riders meeting said that it was announced that jumpers who gave up their position on the first lap would not be pulled in. Whatever the reason, this arrangement didn't last too long.

Too dangerous for the bigger bikes. I used to occasionally signal the Fiddys to cut their engines on the starting grid at USCRA races if I was the Starter. I had the old farts complaining too much so I stopped doing it. Rumor has it we're bring them back for this season.

Again, the old people bitch too much and Control doesn't like all the bike holders on the hot track.

When I say old, I mean old. Next weekend Ed Fisher will be racing with us. He won the Laconia Classic the year I was born. He'll be turning 90 next weekend

 

I agree, but I still personally think the penalty is WAY too harsh. Especially in instances where the rider stopped his forward motion, then left with everyone else (but maybe his front wheel was a little outside the box).

The only time I have seen riders actually gain an advantage is when they leave 0.5sec early and never check up. In 90% of the cases, the rider actually loses time because the start routine is off, concentration is broken and he is trying to correct the mistake.

In most cases, the rider might gain 0.5sec or 1/2 bike length...but yet they are given a ride-through, or a 5 second penalty at the finish. I think jump starts should be policed with a great deal of common sense. It is going a little too far when Championships are decided by jump start penalties. I get the whole "well don't jump" thing, but I still think the penalty is too harsh.

 

Absolutely!

I wish Mongo would let us do LeMans starts for the Grom races.

 

That is so awesome. Much respect.

I hope im still racing at that age.

 

NO pit lane ride through causing more chasos, a Simple 10 second penalty to be added at race end is the best and all round safest and calmest way of dealing with it I think.

 

I just hope i'm still breathing at that age