IN
THE
WIND
P30
SUPERCROSS STARTS WITHOUT STEWART
O
n Tuesday, December 16,
Yoshimura Suzuki's James
Stewart was notified by the FIM
that he has been suspended
from racing for 16 months after
having failed an anti-doping test
that was taken following the April
12, 2014, Seattle Supercross.
Even though the 16-month
suspension is retroactive from
the date of collection, he won't
be able to race again until the
middle of August of 2015, which
means he will not be able to
participate in the 2015 Monster
Energy AMA Supercross Series
and all but the last two rounds
of the 2015 Lucas Oil AMA Pro
Motocross Championship. In ad-
dition, all subsequent results he
obtained in those competitions
are cancelled with all the result-
ing consequences including for-
feiture of any medals, points and
prizes. The FIM will therefore
modify the rankings of the 2014
Monster Energy AMA Super-
cross, an FIM World Champion-
ship, accordingly.
Stewart was found to have
taken Adderall—which contains
a substance that is on the World
Anti-Doping Agency's non-ap-
proved list—that was prescribed
to him. Unfortunately, Stewart
failed to complete the proper pa-
perwork to obtain a therapeutic
use exemption (TUE) for the pre-
scription. He has since obtained
the TUE.
Stewart has appealed the deci-
sion but is still not allowed to race.
"I'm extremely disappointed to
say the least," said Stewart days
after the FIM's announcement.
"We plan to appeal as I person-
ally feel that the punishment far
outweighs the situation; espe-
cially since I received both WADA
and USADA approvals that prove
I'm not cheating. I'm bummed
for everyone involved: my family,
my team, my sponsors, the pro-
moters and most of all the fans.
Unfortunately, I've had to be very
quiet in regards to this situation
but I'll be telling the full story in
the next couple weeks so every-
one can understand what we've
been going through. Thank you
all for your continued support."
Despite an ongoing
appeal, James Stewart
has been suspended from
racing for 16 months by
the FIM. Stewart, however,
showed up at A1 to sign
autographs.
