Mladin DQ'D!!!

[weggieman]

We may not even have a superbike class next year to worry about............

[JBraun]

I can't go along with your rationale, Dave. The factory bikes have been vague incarnations of their oem counterparts for some time. It's the AMA's fault, they created that monster.
Did anyone really think Yosh  was ordering their crankshafts from Bike Bandit?? Every part on every factory bike of any brand is special in some way.
The AMA has let this go on forever and every factory team does it. Why did Yosh get singled out? And more specifically, why Mladin? It's pretty clear that AMA/DMG has an axe to grind.

The AMA has two categories of violation, Syfan admitted that the AMA was making no claims that the crank enhanced performance, so why the disqualifications? Why wasn't this a category two violation?
If the results at Road Atlanta were any indication, the cranks weren't the magic bullet.

[weggieman]

Exactly......now they have denied the appeal and made themselves look silly by pulling the plug on Mladin who had enough balls to speak his mind on the whole AMA/DMG situation.

Can we say CMG?? Communist Motorsports Group? Ve vill tell you vat to run, vat tires to use, vat fuel to use, how many horses you can have and how to speak ottervise ve spank you but goot!

[Super Dave]

Can we say CMG?? Communist Motorsports Group? Ve vill tell you vat to run, vat tires to use, vat fuel to use, how many horses you can have and how to speak ottervise ve spank you but goot!

Does seem to work well in WSB.

[cbr600_mj]

I'm not a mechanic so I ask,

Would that modified crank make his bike faster?

And with those yosh suzukis, why do they just make all the other factory bikes look like they are standing still?

Is it the equip? The rider? Bike setup? or a combination of all three??

[Gixxerblade]

I'm not a mechanic so I ask,

Would that modified crank make his bike faster?

And with those yosh suzukis, why do they just make all the other factory bikes look like they are standing still?

Is it the equip? The rider? Bike setup? or a combination of all three??

Not necessarily faster but maybe more reliable at higher RPM's.

[dylanfan53]

When was the last time any serious racer added any non standard part that didn't improve performance in one way or another?
Of course the crank helped or they would have left it stock.  If it wasn't stock they cheated, period.

The AMA look like bullies and could/should have handled it differently but it's still not okay to cheat "just a little", which apparently has been tolerated in the past.

[kl3640]

I'm glad that AMA/DMG is applying the rules, whether the offending parts offer a real advantage or not, and I'm no fan of Mladin, but after VIR the fact that (even though they asked for valves from all three Yosh bikes) they only inspected the #6 bike's crank seems a bit strange.  I know that they claim that they did so because he finished first, but with the championship on the line (Spies probably would have won it anyway, but I hate for it to be decided in this way rather than on the track), and with no other teams being really close, then I would think that when they extended the inspection to the crank that they would have done it for at least all of the Yosh bikes (as they then later did at Road Atlanta), whether under the guise of being an inspection of all the Yosh bikes or of being an inspection of the top 3 finishers.  That they only went further with Mladin's bike seems strange.  At least at Road Atlanta they started by opening all three bikes' side covers and then proceeding with only the #6 and #22 bikes based on what they saw from that preliminary inspection.

I just hope that Spies does well enough at Laguna that, even if Mladin's VIR wins hadn't been DQ'd, Spies would have won the title anyway.  Spies winning would have been the likely outcome anyway, but it ain't over until the Fat Lady Sings (or, in this case, DMG sings), and I hope that he puts up the points that would have been necessary had the DQ not happened just so that the championship will not have been decided by DMG instead of on the track.

[GIGOLO]

Even in WSBK you know that between about 3-4 riders who is going to win.  So I dont think that DMG is going to be able to have a completely level playing field.  I hope the superbike class isnt regarded as the "restrictor plate races" that NASCAR currently runs.  I like the idea that the best rider should win the race, and not the rider with the  greatest financial support.  Even still given level playing field I still would expect Mladin either winning or finishing well.  Furthermore, look at Tommy he is on essentially the same bike as Spies and Mladin and he cant hang.  What would be really cool (but probably would never happen) is have a race once a year kindof how IROC is in NASCAR, set-up a handful of 600's identical and have the top three finishers from each class race against each other.  Or a couple times a year with a point structure.  So if anybody reads this and likes my idea, you can make my royalty checks out to GIGOLO Inc.

Oh and kl3640 sorry about not sticking around to help you last sunday, I had way too much to drink saturday night.  I felt you probably wouldn't like vomit in your pit stall.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

Even in WSBK you know that between about 3-4 riders who is going to win.  So I dont think that DMG is going to be able to have a completely level playing field.  I hope the superbike class isnt regarded as the "restrictor plate races" that NASCAR currently runs.  I like the idea that the best rider should win the race, and not the rider with the  greatest financial support.  Even still given level playing field I still would expect Mladin either winning or finishing well.  Furthermore, look at Tommy he is on essentially the same bike as Spies and Mladin and he cant hang. 

Especially on bikes (due to their light weight compared to a car), the only truely close to fair playing field (as far as power goes) is 'power-to-weight ratio' racing - like is supposed to happen for AMA / DMG's 'Daytona Superbike' class. Ironically 'power-to-weight ratio' racing is the same thing proposed for ASRA for '09 and so many other types of racing org's have gone to, or are going to, as well. This way it doesn't really matter what the hell is in your engine, you might have more durable parts, but powerwise your going to be on a level playing field.

When I see a rider who is lighter in weight than the other people they are competing against I can't help but think how much different the outcome would be if 'power-to-weight ratio' was used in their races, they most likely would be further back in the pack if it were a truely level playing field powerwise. When I see a heavier rider running in the front group I think how much different the outcome would be if 'power-to-weight ratio' was used in their races, because in all reality they're a better rider by just being able to keep up while under-powered, given a level playing field that rider would most likely be able to prove their the better rider and run away with the win.

[GIGOLO]

I might be biased with the power to weight approach cause im a fat guy,  so there is no trying to sway my opinion. 

[kl3640]

Even in WSBK you know that between about 3-4 riders who is going to win.  So I dont think that DMG is going to be able to have a completely level playing field.  I hope the superbike class isnt regarded as the "restrictor plate races" that NASCAR currently runs.  I like the idea that the best rider should win the race, and not the rider with the  greatest financial support.  Even still given level playing field I still would expect Mladin either winning or finishing well.  Furthermore, look at Tommy he is on essentially the same bike as Spies and Mladin and he cant hang.  What would be really cool (but probably would never happen) is have a race once a year kindof how IROC is in NASCAR, set-up a handful of 600's identical and have the top three finishers from each class race against each other.  Or a couple times a year with a point structure.  So if anybody reads this and likes my idea, you can make my royalty checks out to GIGOLO Inc.

Oh and kl3640 sorry about not sticking around to help you last sunday, I had way too much to drink saturday night.  I felt you probably wouldn't like vomit in your pit stall.

I agree GIGOLO, but with a twist: What if they had to do something kind of like what they do with the Race of Champions in Europe, where they take the top NASCAR, F1, WRC, etc champs and then have each of them drive ALL of the classes.  How cool would it be to see RC, Rossi, Campbell, and the like have to do MX, Road Racing, SuperMoto, Rally/Enduro?  Maybe even throw Trials or EnduroCross in there for fun!