Supercross and Fuel

[tacoman]

I sat down yesterday to watch the latest round of Supercross to watch my Suzuki man Ricky Carmichael.  He'd had some bad luck lately and was running close second to Yamaha's Chad Reed.  The standings come up and hey, he's 34 points down!  Apparently the AMA tested his fuel after the last race and found too much lead in it.  He was penalized 25 points ruining his hopes for a championship.  Big argument, some say lead does nothing and is an old rule left over from the 2 stroke days.  Some say it adds octane, others say it would hurt because it would cause an over rich condition and the new 4 strokes run better lean.  The FIM has not ruled on it yet, I don't think they know what extra lead will do.  Anyway, out of anger and to prove a point, RC rode like an animal.  He took 1st place no problem, confidently saying "I don't need to cheat."  Go RC!

[Swamp Rat]

You forgot to mention from how far back he and Bubba came to take first and third respectively. Bubba from dead ass last and Ricky from somewhere around tenth land.

[tacoman]

What gets me is that the AMA just docked the points and didn't give Team Suz any chance to defend itself.  It's wrong when they don't even know what extra lead does, they say it can increase octane.  I don't think a small bump in octane can really do much.  They could bump compression up but you can really only put so much power to the ground, the rest is rider skill and bike set up.  With dirt bikes, suspension is 99% of the game.  The sad part is Reed only really needs to place 3rd for the remaining 7 races (behind Bubba and RC) to take the crown.  Oh well, it reminds me of my Seahawks and the refs in the last superbowl

[gsxr400 racer]

they are gonna let him appeal it! And yes lead does raise the octane and cushions the valves, but it was a simple mistake . Agreat race it was all racing is so close this year. Anyone see world superbike opener? that was awsome!

[tacoman]

I'm glad they're going to allow an appeal.  I suppose you can look at things two ways.  If you're a Yamaha Chad Reed fan you can say a slight bump in octane can make a difference.  These guys are turning lap times within 3-4 10ths of a second of each other, real close.  I wonder what race the tainted fuel was discovered in.  RC broke his bike in the previous race and DNF'd.  I guess we'll see what happens.  I did see highlights of the superbike opener, that was tight!

[B12Teuton]

I was at the GA Dome for the races.  It was awesome.  RC is the man.  Bubba got booed by about 1/4 of the crowd when they made the introductions.  I don't much like him, but you gotta give him a little respect.  Bubba was way fast and I don't think RC would have had much for him.  Bubba's problem is that he beats himself more times than anyone else... you can't win the race in the first turn.  He's so damn fast that he should forget about the holeshot and pick up the pace after the first 1/2 lap.

RC is still the man to beat.  He doesn't showboat, he's humble and he's the best there ever was.  Now I just wish he would switch to KTM

RC's penalty was at the last round at St. Louis, I think.  A race he DNF'd due to broken suspension.
It's bullsh!t, but now I want to see the ultimate comeback.  Even if he can't win the points, RC can still win every SX race left in the season, and that makes him the champ in my book.  Most fans will agree, and that's all that matters.

And yes, the supercross crowd in Georgia is something to behold.
Or in my case beerhold

[PitterB4]

I was at the GA Dome for the races...

Hey - new members need to go introduce themselves in the New Members thead befor making long-ass posts like that!  

(Welcome back, Manny!)

[B12Teuton]

Bah! I'll show you a long post

 

[silvershadow]

The way that I look at this is these guys have all the factory support they need to stay within the rules.  If a factory team like RC's breaks the rule he needs to be docked points how else can a team with the money that they have be trusted any other way.  Now if a small guy with little money broke the fuel rule I can see the I Did Not Know thing working.
  The points being taken away sucks but, AMA needs to keep the racers on an even playing field as best they can.  
  I have tickets for this weekends race in Indy and expect a better race due to the points battle.

[silvershadow]

Just got this off the supercross website.

AMA has rescinded the 25-point penalty imposed on Carmichael in the AMA Supercross Series standings, and the FIM has said that it will not impose a points penalty in the World Supercross GP standings.

Both sanctioning bodies agreed, however, that a penalty is still appropriate for this fuel violation, and the decision was made to impose a $20,000 fine on the Suzuki team for which Carmichael rides.

[tacoman]

They rescinded? Cool, its not right to punish RC, he does not buy the fuel or even fill up the bike.  At least the $20k fine will be handed to the guilty party whether it was Suzuki or a vendor.  Tight points race now.

[silvershadow]

The Indy race was great.  RC took a big lead and had little trouble staying out front.  If Buba had not gone down in the first corner and come back from last place to second he would have given RC a run for his money.  Reed was up near the front the whole race but did not even come close to the kind of speed that RC was putting out there.  
  Daytona should be pretty good, I think last year Reed took first if I remember right.

[tacoman]

Ricky has his points back so he & the Makita Suzuki are 1 point down.  The fuel thing seems to have motivated him, he's riding tough.  Stewart is the only one who can match him lap for lap but he seems to be enjoying taking soil samples at the start.  Daytona is a rough, outdoor track which is what RC craves.  It will be a good race, Speedchannel takes a break from NASCAR and shows the Supercross on Sunday at 3pm (pac time).