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Al is really mean.... :-\

Al Ludington Confrontation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C42W0dyBC8#ws-lq-lq2-hq-vhq)

From the AMA/DMG rule book....
C.  Courtesy Flags
   1.  White Flag: Indicates the final lap of a race.
   2.  White and Green Flags Crossed: Indicates 1/2 total race distance.
   3.  Blue Flag: Indicates to rider they are about to be lapped.
   a.)  Flag will not be shown during practice/qualifying.
   b.)  No action is required. Rider is to maintain racing line but do not impede lapping riders progress.
   c.)  A rider impeding progress of faster riders intentionally or unintentionally may be Black Flagged at 
    the discretion of the Referee or Starter.

Was that Johnny Rock Page? Mladin (http://twitter.com/MatMladin) tweeted about that recently:

Forgot to mention. Great 2 see Johnny Rock Page booted for a couple races. Should happen to all lapped riders that don't abide the blue flag

they started calling him Johnny Block Page after that...

[laugh]

i think they've been callin' him johnny rock roadblock for a while.

despite JRP's general idiocy, and i haven't seen the actual event, the "I held my line" thing that he said 637 times is what he's suppsed to do.

When they showed him the blue flag, did he hold his line.  [laugh]

Those two deserve each other.

Am I the only one who's put off by the "you ruined the show" comment? I want to see a race, not a WWE event on 2 wheels.

Whether the guy blocked or not, it should be about impeding a competitor and not "ruining the show"

you've just summarized the entire DMG problem.

Not me, If your 29th or whatever he was and your not moving out of the way for the leaders. You are ruining the show.  ;)

the blue flag instruction is always Hold Your Line.  if that's what he did, he didn't do anything wrong. 

mladin posted "Great 2 see Johnny Rock Page booted for a couple races. Should happen to all lapped riders that don't abide the blue flag" -- so maybe Johnny Block did something not so bright.

This I understand, but it might be the faster riders "line" as well so, if your in the way move the make the beast with two backs over.  ;)

if you do that you may move into the line of one of the faster riders, which is why the rule is don't move and let them get around you.

..but it also is let them get around you.

Maybe that's the issue.  [thumbsup]

the fim regulation is mo' better...

fim rulebook:

http://www.fim-live.com/fileadmin/alfresco/Codes_et_reglements/SBK_SS_SST_Eng.pdf (http://www.fim-live.com/fileadmin/alfresco/Codes_et_reglements/SBK_SS_SST_Eng.pdf)

1.23.1 Flags and Lights Used to Provide Information:

• Blue Flag

Shown waved at the flag marshal post, this flag indicates to a rider
that he is about to be overtaken.

During the practice sessions, the rider concerned must keep his line
and slow down gradually to allow the faster rider to pass him.

During the race, the rider concerned is about to be lapped. He must
allow the following rider(s) to pass him at the earliest opportunity.

Any Infringement of this rule will be penalised with one of the following
penalties: fine – disqualification – withdrawal of Championship points.

At all times, this flag will be shown wavedto a rider leaving the pit lane
if traffic is approaching on the track.

the racing line is the racing line and it is whatever route you need to get around the track fastest....now I do agree with the FIM way of putting it where you roll off speed to allow faster leader traffic go by without being abrupt...Ludington is an idiot though...

it's confirmed.

big Paris Hilton sunglasses on a guy = douche bag

(http://www.superbike.co.uk/imageBank/b/Ben%20Spies%20Qatar.jpg)


just checking

mitt    ;D

Yup...confirmed...  ;D

Ben gets a fast pass. [laugh]

but had they been white..... sorry Ben, you be da douche

lol, great point.  ;D

I think the whole paddock of every series is full of douche bags then.    8)  Even my smiley is a douche.   ;D

woooops

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Jul/e/n090722a.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Jul/e/n090722a.htm)

now the [rhetorical] question is, would this have happened if the incident weren't taped?


and then: http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37431 (http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37431)

and our loyal fans? ;D

Yep, all 4 of 'em.

the thing that eludes me is how Johnny Block Page isn't taking this as a gateway to appeal his suspension....this incident goes beyond just Al's behavior, and beckons back to the heart of the problem at hand, and this happens to be an extreme inflammation made extremely public of another contribution of that issue IMHO, and that is AMA/DMG and the inconsistancies of their rules and enforcement of them...

I think the riders/racers union needs to slap AMA/DMG with a lawsuit...oh wait...there isn't one....but that in of itself is probably a good thing.

My 2 cents;

JRP definitely started dicing with the leaders, but he also adhered to the letter of the blue flag rule. If he'd made a sudden move off the race line in such a tight and twisty area of the circuit it may have ended a lot worse.

I think suspending him is overkill and AMA pro seriously need to revisit the blue flag rule. Saying all that, JRP is also a serious media whore, but hell, if I could get them to pay my bills by being him and wearing big-assed sunglasses I would too!

just because it hasn't been in the news doesn't mean he isn't doing just that.  i bet he is.

I don't think JRP needs any help paying the bills. He was already rich when he started racing ;D

+1  I watched that video earlier this morning and as someone new to this whole thing that video in lame on several levels.  Take out the fact of what the rider did for a second.  This is one of the first things I have seen form the ama and this event casts a shadow on the series for me.  It make that guy Al whomever seem like a moron.  Even if the kid was last, I want to see a race not a pre planned show.  While I will watch some Ama races I can guarantee it will be in the back of my mind for each one.  This not the way to bring in a wide audience.  Hopefully the fire that ass hat.

Just out of curiosity was the race almost over when this whole thing went down?  It must have been if they were lappin the kid right?  Did he ruin a battle for the lead?  I'm still a bit confused as why that dummy Al seemed to care so much.

he allegedly screwed up the 2nd rider that tried to pass him (bboz) and therefore ruined the very end of the race from a down-to-the-wire POV.  i still haven't seen it.

there's rumbling that he started to dice with the passing riders some, which could be a very subjective call.  maybe he simply held his line, maybe he tried moving and then corrected, maybe he lived up to his reputation and did something grandstand'y and stupid.  mladin seems to feel it was the latter, having posted that he would have headbutted the guy.

Jeez....the whole thing was pretty funny all in all. Most everyone at some point gets there ass handed to them by someone (Dad, coach, boss, wife) - given this it really sucks Al is getting suspended for something that is quite normal. My god its not like Al married a porn star.

Er, you mean Aaron Yates? [roll]

And he was definitely dicing with the first rider who passed him, Mat Mladin ;D ;D ;D

(yes I know it was Vale)

uhhhh

you guys are tame if that video is NSFW  [coffee]

i can't watch "ama pro" because of the lame commercials showing bikes flipping and crashing everywhere.  makes ama look like nascar.  I can just imagine the hairy, beer swilling yokels yelling, "yeeeahaww, dijya see dat der crash ... sooo-eeeeee!"

BSB is mo better

 [roll]

'Clarification' of the Blue Flag Rule:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37494 (http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37494)

"The intent of a specific rule will override a competitor's interpretation of a rule. The intent of a rule will be determined by AMA Pro Racing."

 [roll]

i guess they better publish what the intent of keep your line is.

ya know, they could've just adopted the fim regulation, but noooOOOOoooo...  [roll]

Does this mean they'll be publishing an addendum with the intents of the rules listed?

"We intend this rule to give spectators time to go buy T-shirts and hot dogs"
"We intend this rule to get us an American bike to talk about"
"We intend this rule to stop that dastardly Mladin fella"

How the make the beast with two backs does that release clarify anything?

There's such a bunch of useless mothermake the beast with two backsers.  [bang]

they did a little better w/ their superpole procedure clarification:

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37504 (http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37504)