Wednesday News Brought to You By Yamaha Motor Canada- Is Ten Positions Too Much?

So What Happened?

As Round 2 of the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals presented by Motovan came to a conclusion on Sunday afternoon, the subject that everyone was talking about was the very severe penalties handed out to both Matt Goerke and Davi Millsaps. The ten position penalty was for jumping on a red cross flag during Moto 1 in Nanaimo, BC. While neither rider said that they didn’t do it, both were in agreement that they didn’t see the flag, or at least didn’t see until it was too late to slow down. The incident was caught on video so there was little Goerke and Millsaps could do to argue the situation, however, both riders, especially Davi Millsaps, was adamant that the penalty of ten positions was over the top in its severity. He compared this incident to that of Ryan Dungey’s in Supercross earlier this year in which Dungey committed the exact same offence, and he was only docked two positions. Obviously, no explanation would comfort Millsaps on Sunday and he left Vancouver Island not a very happy camper.

Why Is This Penalty So Harsh?

In talking to Head Referee Paul Kingsley at the airport on Sunday evening, he explained to me that this rule and its penalty were implemented back in 2013 after Colton Facciotti was badly injured at Round 2 (ironically the same round as this past weekend). In that incident, Colton had crashed on the back side of a jump, and as he was trying to restart his KTM, he was hit from behind by another rider and his leg was badly broken. That injury obviously knocked Colton out of the 2013 series and soon after this new rule was amended to include this very stiff penalty. In fact, later that summer, the MX1 points leader at the time, Brett Metcalfe, was the first rider to feel the wrath of this penalty when he was docked ten spots at the Sand Del Lee National for inadvertently jumping on a red cross flag. At the time, Metcalfe argued that he saw the flag at the last second, tried to slow down and almost crashed himself in the process. That didn’t matter and Metty was still assessed the penalty. He would go on to win the MX1 title that year, but, like Millsaps on Sunday, he missed out on the hefty race day bonuses from his sponsors. We have to remember that for these visiting superstars, they more than likely will receive anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 for a win or a podium finish in the MX1 class. Since Millsaps’ penalty on Sunday relegated him to fourth overall, he probably missed out on his bonus for the day, so we’re sure that infuriated him even further, as it would any rider. If you look at the updated MX1 points in which Colton Facciotti is now leading, Millsaps is only four points back, so it’s not like this incident has cost him a shot at the 2016 title.

Does This Penalty Need To Be This Harsh?

In my opinion, and this is what I said to Paul Kingsley, this penalty is definitely a little too harsh for what we’re dealing with. In both Metcalfe’s case in 2013 and again on Sunday, all the riders involved weren’t doing anything malicious, they either didn’t see the flag in time to slam on the brakes or they didn’t see it all. With so much video available these days, and remember both of these incidents were caught on video so they could be watched over and over again, I feel like it should be a judgement call by the Head Referee. For instance, in hockey when you’re dealing with the serious offence of checking from behind, the Referee has the ability to determine that, in some cases, the hit from behind wasn’t intentional and he can give the lesser penalty of boarding. In this instance, a player is not ejected from the game and he or she simply has to serve their penalty in the box and then they‘re able to resume playing. On Sunday, Kingsley perhaps could’ve watched the video, determined that there was a good possibility that Millsaps or Goerke didn’t see the red cross flag until it was too late to slow down, then maybe a lesser penalty could’ve been given, say five positions instead of ten. This would still send a message to the riders, but it wouldn’t ruin a day as it did at Sand Del Lee in 2013 and again on Sunday. Or in other cases, the Referee could determine that the rider or riders in question didn’t even make an attempt to slow down, thus putting the downed rider and medical personal in further danger. This is when the very severe ten position penalty could be assessed.

Riders Have to Be Aware

So where do we go from here with this rule and its penalty? Obviously, the rule is there for the sake of safety, the safety of the riders as well as the track personal. The last thing anyone wants is another Facciotti incident (although I believe only a yellow flag was being waved at that time), riders need to be aware of what’s going on at all times. In our conversation on Sunday evening, Paul Kingsley also told me that all the riders were made aware of this rule and its penalty verbally prior to the opening motos in Kamloops, so nothing should come as a surprise. As with every major incident on race day, hopefully everyone can learn from this and make the necessary adjustments to see that it doesn’t happen again. There is always room for improvement with both flagging and with how the flags are interpreted. For Millsaps and Goerke, this incident overshadowed just how well they both rode on Sunday. So far, in four motos Millsaps has slowly separated himself as the rider with the most amount of raw speed in the MX1 class, with Goerke a close second. This is a long series with unfortunately more red cross flags in the future. With any luck, this type of incident never happens again and we can all sit back and just enjoy the high level of racing.