MoFo's DISQUALIFICATION!?!

[Patrick]

Ronnie Hays' team, the MoFo's, were looking forward to this endurance season. They wanted to put together a team / bike able to finish in the top 3 for the season. They had just installed a freshly built motor and reworked the suspension on their SV and the members of the team had implemented some off season training and had it pay off; in the season opener at Cresson they placed a solid 2nd in class. The next race at TWS was looking good.
Ronnie preregistered the MoFo's for TWS with 3 riders; Cathy, Joe and himself. At that time their 4th rider had not been chosen. Closer to race date, I decided to bring one of my shop hands up to help trackside with SCRC, freeing Brandon up to ride with the MoFo's.
Saturday morning in the prerace rush of the 8 hour, Ronnie forgot to add Brandon to the roster.
Mind you, this was not an intentional oversight, or a midrace substitution, but merely something forgotten in the accelerated pace of the preparation for the 8 hour. As a result, another team reported the oversight to the CMRA, so Ronnies' team got disqualified Tuesday last week for having an unregistered rider. As a result of this oversight the team has been stripped of its first place finish and points earned.
Ronnie was not informed of this decision, he found out from one of his teammates who saw the overall standings posted on the board.
Now I want to take a minute to state this: the team acknowledges that not registering Brandon was in violation of the rules. Brandon not signing a waiver put the CMRA at risk if something would have happened to him.
I've seen much worse violations IMO, that have involved rider saftey issues that have been overlooked, or given a free pass.
I believe the decision to disqualify the team was overly harsh. Perhaps a fine, or even to remove the laps run by the non-registered rider. The decision to disqualify the team and strip all points earned, effectively ended their chance at finishing well this season and as such the decision has been made to mothball the team till next year.

Patrick

[Patrick]

Ronnie Hays' team, the MoFo's, were looking forward to this endurance season. They wanted to put together a team / bike able to finish in the top 3 for the season. They had just installed a freshly built motor and reworked the suspension on their SV and the members of the team had implemented some off season training and had it pay off; in the season opener at Cresson they placed a solid 2nd in class. The next race at TWS was looking good.
Ronnie preregistered the MoFo's for TWS with 3 riders; Cathy, Joe and himself. At that time their 4th rider had not been chosen. Closer to race date, I decided to bring one of my shop hands up to help trackside with SCRC, freeing Brandon up to ride with the MoFo's.
Saturday morning in the prerace rush of the 8 hour, Ronnie forgot to add Brandon to the roster.
Mind you, this was not an intentional oversight, or a midrace substitution, but merely something forgotten in the accelerated pace of the preparation for the 8 hour. As a result, another team reported the oversight to the CMRA, so Ronnies' team got disqualified Tuesday last week for having an unregistered rider. As a result of this oversight the team has been stripped of its first place finish and points earned.
Ronnie was not informed of this decision, he found out from one of his teammates who saw the overall standings posted on the board.
Now I want to take a minute to state this: the team acknowledges that not registering Brandon was in violation of the rules. Brandon not signing a waiver put the CMRA at risk if something would have happened to him.
I've seen much worse violations IMO, that have involved rider saftey issues that have been overlooked, or given a free pass.
I believe the decision to disqualify the team was overly harsh. Perhaps a fine, or even to remove the laps run by the non-registered rider. The decision to disqualify the team and strip all points earned, effectively ended their chance at finishing well this season and as such the decision has been made to mothball the team till next year.

Patrick

[Nancy Selleck]

First let me say that this situation is between Ronnie Hay (as the team owner) and Walter Walker, the Race Director. Not the club at large.

Second, Ronnie was contacted by Walter as soon as Walter had been made aware of the situation. He left messages on Ronnie's answering machine and then apparently they played phone tag for awhile. I know Ronnie spoke with at least one Board member early one morning.

Having someone ride for an endurance team without putting them on an entry form is not simply a violation of the rules, it is a serious liability issue. Whether it is intentional or not, has no bearing on the ultimate result. It is no different than a sprint rider gridding up for a sprint race without ever having filled out and signed a sprint entry form.

The difference between an endurance team without a legally entered rider and a sprint without a legally entered rider is that on an endurance team the team owner is completely and fully responsible for everything which occurs with their team. It is the team owner's responsibility to make sure that all team members are current license holders and have been entered properly for the race. A sprint rider is completely responsible for making sure that he is properly entered for a race.

If a sprint rider made it into a race without an entry, you can rest assured that he would not only be disqualified from the race, but would also surely incur a monetary fine and/or license suspension. Why should it be any different for an endurance team? What is the difference?

Patrick, there are rule violations which go on all the time, but they aren't always caught. When they are brought to the race officials, they certainly have to be dealt with so that hopefully others won't make the same mistake next time.

[Nancy Selleck]

First let me say that this situation is between Ronnie Hay (as the team owner) and Walter Walker, the Race Director. Not the club at large.

Second, Ronnie was contacted by Walter as soon as Walter had been made aware of the situation. He left messages on Ronnie's answering machine and then apparently they played phone tag for awhile. I know Ronnie spoke with at least one Board member early one morning.

Having someone ride for an endurance team without putting them on an entry form is not simply a violation of the rules, it is a serious liability issue. Whether it is intentional or not, has no bearing on the ultimate result. It is no different than a sprint rider gridding up for a sprint race without ever having filled out and signed a sprint entry form.

The difference between an endurance team without a legally entered rider and a sprint without a legally entered rider is that on an endurance team the team owner is completely and fully responsible for everything which occurs with their team. It is the team owner's responsibility to make sure that all team members are current license holders and have been entered properly for the race. A sprint rider is completely responsible for making sure that he is properly entered for a race.

If a sprint rider made it into a race without an entry, you can rest assured that he would not only be disqualified from the race, but would also surely incur a monetary fine and/or license suspension. Why should it be any different for an endurance team? What is the difference?

Patrick, there are rule violations which go on all the time, but they aren't always caught. When they are brought to the race officials, they certainly have to be dealt with so that hopefully others won't make the same mistake next time.

[Patrick]

Nancy,
Please don't take me the wrong way;
I'm not saying the violation didn't occur, I'm simply expressing my opinion that the resulting penalty incurred was harsh, especially in light of other violations that occur that the officials are aware of that are allowed a free pass.
If the intent is to make sure others won't make the same mistake next time, it can be accomplished just as well with a fine and a posting of such. To me a disqualification / stripping of points should be reserved as a last choice of punishment for extreme violations. My post was not meant to anger anyone, it was just a posting of my opinion.

Patrick

[Patrick]

Nancy,
Please don't take me the wrong way;
I'm not saying the violation didn't occur, I'm simply expressing my opinion that the resulting penalty incurred was harsh, especially in light of other violations that occur that the officials are aware of that are allowed a free pass.
If the intent is to make sure others won't make the same mistake next time, it can be accomplished just as well with a fine and a posting of such. To me a disqualification / stripping of points should be reserved as a last choice of punishment for extreme violations. My post was not meant to anger anyone, it was just a posting of my opinion.

Patrick

[Nancy Selleck]

I'm not angry...sorry if it came across that way. Just to the point, I guess.

So, in your opinion, if a sprint rider was in a sprint race without an entry, he should not be disqualified? He should keep his finish, points, award money, contingency awards, trophies, etc?

[Nancy Selleck]

I'm not angry...sorry if it came across that way. Just to the point, I guess.

So, in your opinion, if a sprint rider was in a sprint race without an entry, he should not be disqualified? He should keep his finish, points, award money, contingency awards, trophies, etc?

[Patrick]

I guess the difference in my opinion is that in a sprint race the person has to enter himself before he can race. In an endurance, the team captain, Ronnie, has to register his team, which he did . He simply forgot to add a rider to his already registered team on race day.

Patrick

[Patrick]

I guess the difference in my opinion is that in a sprint race the person has to enter himself before he can race. In an endurance, the team captain, Ronnie, has to register his team, which he did . He simply forgot to add a rider to his already registered team on race day.

Patrick