Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/976068
VOL. 55 ISSUE 17 MAY 1, 2018 P33 MEES PENALIZED FOR "TIRE DOPING" T wenty-four hours before bikes took to the track for round three of the 2018 American Flat Track season, a bombshell was dropped—the defending Grand National Champion Jared Mees was disqualified from the Atlanta Short Track for "tire doping." According to a release from AFT, four tires from different ma- chines were taken after the Atlanta Short Track and sent off to a lab for analysis. Three passed, but the Indian Motorcycle/Rogers Racing tire Mees used didn't. It tested positive for what the AFT Competitor Bulletin stated as: "a statistically- significant pres- ence of several chemicals known to be used in motorsports to alter tire compounds, thereby enhanc- ing performance. These include: Hexanedioic acid bis(ethylhexyl) ester, Dodecanoic acid and 1,3-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, bis(2-ethylhexyl) ester." The AFT rulebook forbids modification to the tires, whether it be treating them with chemicals or cutting them. Although tire ma- nipulation is an old flat-track racing trick, the rule has been around for a while, and it was made with two interests in mind: safety and fair- ness of competition. Tire testing is not done at every round, rather, it is random and at short notice. And if the series decides to take samples, the bikes are selected and the sample is taken under supervi- sion of the teams. The sample is then bagged, sealed, signed off by a member of the team and then shipped off to an independent tire-testing agency to compare to a benchmark sample submitted by control tire supplier Dunlop. "In the case of the test that was done after Atlanta, there were four samples sent from four of the top- placing bikes," AMA Pro Racing CEO Michael Lock said. "Three of the samples were identical to the benchmark. One of them showed considerable deviation. Not mar- ginal—considerable deviation." Because the deviation was so far from the norm, the series opted to pay for further testing to determine exactly what chemicals were in the sample, which gener- ated the very long and difficult to pronounce names mentioned from the competitor bulletin. The addi- tional tests were not only request- ed to know the exact chemicals but also to make sure there was no ambiguity in the violation. "Contrary to what a lot of people think, there are no winners when this happens" Lock said. "If a competitor is found to be out- side the rules, it's not good for the sport. It's not good for the com- petitor. It's not good for anybody. So we wanted to be absolutely sure. We asked for the additional tests to identify the chemicals, to see if we can place what this might be, or if there could be any kind of explanation for it. The lab indicated before they even gave us the extended results, there was no ambiguity here." Unfortunately for Mees, his team and the series, this isn't the first time they have been mired in this sort of controversy. In 2015, Mees' tire was scrutinized for hav- ing more wear than normal after the DuQuoin Mile and later tested positive for "additional chemi- Mees was stripped of all he gained in Atlanta after his tire was found to have been tampered with.