SUPERCROSS
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WORLD
ROUND 2 / JANUARY 16, 2016
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA / PETCO PARK
P42
DID HE OR DIDN'T HE?
Racing is a cruel mistress. One week ago,
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Jason Ander-
son took his and Husqvarna's first-ever 450SX
main-event victory, and with it the points lead
heading into this weekend's race at Petco
Park. One week later, Anderson comes
through the pack from outside the top 10 to
finish third, but is stripped of the podium fin-
ish by the FIM's John Gallagher after being
accused of jumping while the red-cross flags
were out. The circumstances leading to the
penalty seem dubious, though:
The section in question was a right-hand
90-degree turn followed by a small single
jump and a tabletop with a lip at the end of
it, which then led to a triple. The track's two
triple jumps have red lights mounted at the top
of the first jump, and when those lights are
flashing, racers are to keep both wheels on
the ground for safety reasons because there's
a downed rider and/or track personnel in a
dangerous position. That's the same thing
that the red-cross flags indicate; to keep both
wheels on the ground through the section
being flagged.
And indeed there were red-cross flags be-
ing flown (although they were in the process
of being put away) through the two jumps that
led up to the triple, but the red lights on the
triple were out when Anderson cleared the
red-cross flags, so he jumped.
After being informed of Anderson's penalty,
his team reportedly showed the video of the
incident to Gallagher to prove the lights were
out, which they believe indicated it was safe
to jump, but Gallagher upheld the penalty
anyway.
So, despite finishing third on the track
and celebrating on the podium as if he had
finished third, Anderson was relegated to fifth
place, costing him four championship points
as well in the process.
