AMA Racing has overturned the penalties assessed to riders Martin
Cardenas, Jake Holden and Aaron Yates at the season-ending AMA Superbike
Championship event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sept. 16, 2007 after
conducting a thorough review of the evidence submitted in appeal.
The infractions concerned page 31, section 3.5 Engines, b, of the 2007
AMA Superbike Rulebook: “Except as noted, all internal and external
engine parts must remain stock with no modification…”
During post race technical inspection, AMA technical officials concluded
that modifications had been made to the crankcase breather tube on each
rider’s motorcycle. The penalties assessed were a $2000 fine and loss
of 20 championship points for each rider.
The Appellants submitted evidence arguing that the routing of the crank
case breather tube had been previously approved and that the parts in
question had successfully passed a number of previous inspections. In
addition, the teams submitted evidence that suggested that the
modifications permitted within the guidelines of the current rulebook
were largely subjective as it relates to enforcement of the rule.
In reviewing the initial decision, AMA Racing considered several
factors.
• Motorcycles, parts and equipment are not automatically approved
by having passed inspection at any previous time.
• There are two sections of the rulebook pertaining to this issue
that could be construed as contradictory. As per the general equipment
standards section of the rulebook, the modification in question is
allowed in all AMA Road Racing classes.
Given these facts, it is the decision of the AMA to overturn the
original penalties.
In addition, AMA Racing will implement the following:
• The AMA Superbike Rulebook will be modified to remove the
conflicting statements regarding this technical issue. In addition,
written clarification on this topic will be distributed to all teams.
• In the future, any modification to the existing rules is only
deemed valid if teams have received written documentation from AMA
Racing. Teams and Riders are encouraged to submit all requests for rule
clarifications or interpretations to AMA Racing technical staff. Staff
will review each request and then distribute a written Competition
Bulletin to all participants.
As a result of this decision, Cardenas, Holden and Yates will have their
championship points reinstated and fines returned.