*The Truth About Gustavo Laya (Abasolo)*

[hdpromos]

05/09/05

Re: Investigation of classification Gustavo Laya (Abasolo)

After a thorough investigation as to whether Gustavo Laya (Abasolo) should be classified as amateur or expert, here are the facts:
1. He was accused of racing as an amateur in the 2004 ROC at Homestead and bumped to expert. Findings: I contacted Kevin Elliott at CCS and he reported that he did participate as an amateur and finished as follows: MWSS-13th, ULGP-12th, MWGP-6th. The picture on the National Privateer web site clearly shows amateur status and the name Gustavo Abasolo. This is the same rider (Gustavo Laya). This is a Spanish name where they sometimes use part, or the entire last name.
2. He was accused of being an expert champion in the Venezuelan series. Findings: The Venezuelan Federation says that he is ranked as an amateur. He rode 600's and 125's and won a 125 championship race.
And so after looking at all the information available to me on this matter, I have found that Gustavo Laya and Gustavo Abasolo are the same person. But it makes no difference as the rider is correctly classified as an amateur as he should be. Further, the rider states that he in no way was trying to deceive anyone by giving the name Laya or Abasolo. I agree as I have seen it before with other Spanish names.
As far as any question about Gustavo Marquez, he is an amateur and raced MX in Venezuela last year.
In closing, I would also like to say that even though there was a question about the riders last name, I found all other accusations to be completely erroneous. I also think an apology from those that made the accusations would be in order. So unless you have anything further to show me, I consider this matter closed.

Henry DeGouw
CCS/Florida

[wizard]

great job henry.

is this the man or what.


i think BIB the michelin man is really the marsh mellow man from ghost busters....can you look into this?

[Racer222]

Great job Henry!!  Good on you sir.

[Chuck]

Thanks for clarifying the facts HD.

[gma]

Well done, Henry. Very professionally processed and communicated.

[grich575]

Henry, Thanks for finding out the real information on Gustavo. Anyone can post anything on their website and when I saw South American champion I jumped at the opportunity to call him out. I guess when I ride as hard as I can and lead the first few laps of almost every race we are in together just to be beaten by him over and over, by a very large margin, it led me to say stuff before knowing the facts.

I guess I need to take the advice of OmniGLH when he said:

Want to win?  Don't like him taking your contingency?  Then figure out how to go faster, and beat him.  You'll never get faster by racing people that are slower than you anyways.

So I guess I must apologize for jumping to conclusions about him and try much harder to get faster myself.

I must also give props to Gustavo Laya for his ability to ride knowing now that he is an actual amatuer. Very good for only riding a little while.

Once again, thanks for looking into this and getting it all straightened out.

[251am]

  Yeah, I have an opinion based on my freshman year Spanish class. The name change is a shell game. Full spanish/mexican names are based on the mother's maiden name and the father's last name, and generally the father's first or middle name. Generally, around %99 of the time, a man will carry and use the same order of familial names throughout his lifetime. Unless he is trying to hide something...It would be the same if I started using my mother's maiden name after 35 years of having used my father's last name. Anyway, sounds like you've made up your mind about the matter anyway. Just keep my 2 cents in the back of your mind.      

[grich575]

Just a note:
As per the January issue of Roadracing World pg.101 under the GTU amateur recap:

Fernando Amantini finished third on a Ducati 748RS just in front of Jonny Moore, but Amantini was disqualified from the race (and from all of his Amateur races) when it was found out later in the weekend that he was racing as a Professional in other countries.

Amantini was mentioned for his efforts in MWSB and for coming from the last row of the grid to win the HWSB race. After the HWSB race he told reporters that he was winning the Venezuelan National and Latin American road racing Championships, which he described as "professional" series. (pg.105 - 106)

[Lunchboxgsxr]

I guess that solves that good job HD and finding out the truth. I have to admit we u see the website that says he is a Pro Champion it did set me off a little. But i am glad it is settle now and lets go racing .

[gsxr_rcr]

05/09/05

 The Venezuelan Federation says that he is ranked as an amateur.

Henry where did you find information about the "Venezuelan Federation", what is there website, phone numbers, contact information, etc....

I have been looking for this information for the last week, also what is the exact name of the sanctioning body for their racing, as I cant find anything on the net, but I know they exsist.

[xseal]

That was such a good job, you should be investigating the high crime of "underage" racing in F40, as a follow up.

[ducatiracer_#100]

         :D :D Good job henry, at least the matter is solved.  Some will be happy ::), some sad :'(, some mad >:( but to quote the 2005 Road Race Rules & Regulations pg. 3 "Since it is impossible to anticipate every circumstance, the offical responsible for operation of each racing event will rule on any area of dispute that is not clearly covered by these rules byusing common sence and fair play. THE WORD OF THE REFEREE/RACE DIRECTOR ON THESE GRAY AREAS WILL BE CONSIDERED FINAL."
    Now back to racing, see ya at Moroso........ ;D