Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Fuel Issue Still Hot Even though Chad Reed won the AMNTHQ Supercross Series title on Saturday night, May I, Yamaha is expected to furthe r pursue the fuel issue that cost Reed , his teammate David Vuillemin and a privateer Yamaha rider 2S points apiece when the AHA ruled that the fuel they 'd used in the Dallas Supercross on April 17 was illegal. Yamaha filed an appeal on April 28 based on such issues as "testing protocol and procedures , test sample collection, potential contamination of the fuel samples and the AMA lead test standard ." But the AMA promptly denied the request for appeal with AHA Pro Racing director of competition Merrill Vanderslice stating that there was nothing in the appeals that would warrant convening an appeal board. "The appeals submitted by the riders never refute AMA Pro Racing's finding that fuel tested after the Texas Supercross was fou nd to be in noncompliance," said Vanderslice in a release issued on April 30. "Instead, the appeals attempt to cast doubt on the testing methodology, the validityof the AHA Super cross fuel requirements, whether or not their fuel impacted performance and the appropriateness of the penalty. Based on the language in the AMA Supercross Rulebook, none of this is appea lable." 8 According to the AMA Supercross Rulebook, appeals can be lodged under two circumstances: I) a party which loses a protest can appeal for further review of the issue, and 2) an appeal may be lodged to challenge fines, suspensions and technical disqualifications levied by race managers and/o r AMAPro Racing. "O bviously, this is an unfortunate situation," said Vanderslice. "However, after care fully reviewing all the facts surroun ding this incident, I'm confident tlhat our initial findings are correct. The fuel in the bikes of Hadsell, was denying the team an opportunity to appeal the penalty. "I was very surprised and very disappointed with that," McCarty said on Saturday morning, May I, at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. "I think we laid out a pretty good appeal and hit on several points, and it was a complete surprise to see that they didn't think tlhat we laid out any points that were valid. I guess right now for us we have a race to deal with tonight, and we're going to get through ton ight, and then we 'll pick this up Monday morning." "Those guys [the Yamaha team] work really, really hard, and they were heartbroken last week." - Chad Reed Reed and Vuillemin fro m the Texas Supercross was not in compliance, and the penalties applied are appro priate," Vanderslice added that fuel from the bikes of the same riders was tested after round IS of the series and was found to be in compliance. Yamahateam manager Keith McCarty was surprised by the AMA's announcement that it MAY 12,2004 • CYCLE N EW S McCarty is hopeful that his com pany won't give up on the issue - even though Reed still won the title, the company's first since Je remy McGrath won In 2000. "I would like to think that we would pursue this," McCarty said. "I see this as a total shock. How is this someth ing tlhat Is not something that should be in front of an 40th Annivers a r y appeals board? I would like to think that regardless of the outcome ton ight, we would pursue this." On Saturday morning, McCarty had yet to converse with anyone from the AHA since he learned of the decision. "I'm not sure who I would talk to ," he said. "I have to believe that anybody who Is anybody there knows what's going on and believes in it I00 percent. Otherwise I can't believe they would issue a press release. I th ink the word they used to the guys was frivolous - that we didn't prove any points. Again, there was a lot of detail given to them , and I can't imagine tlhat they didn't think we made any points that should be looked at. As far as proving them, that's kind of difficult to do in ou r position at that mome nt. That's what the appeal process Is about. I'm very disappointed and surprised , and we 'll work on it on Monday." "We've raced the 16 races with the same gas," Chad Reed said of the gas situation in Las Vegas. "I mean, we never changed It or did anything different. It was just a weird situation with the team that we were found a little over the limit. We were tested in San Francisco, and I won there. Those guys [the Yamaha team] work really, really hard , and they were heartbroken last week . It wasn't something that was planned or anything like that. It was tough to take,"

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