#64 Shane Narbonne and MOB racing's Ducati Panigale 1199S DQ'd from UNL SS Race

[djduc748l]

Shane Narbonne and MOB Racing were denied their right to appeal CCS's decision to DQ Shane's victory in this Saturdays Unlimited Supersport final ROC, why?
I'll give you the Readers Digest version of the events as they took place and my comments and questions last...I just wonder how long this post will stay on the CCS forum...
Saturday Oct 20, 2012
-Shane starts and wins the Unlimited Supersport race on board MOB racing's Ducati 1199S Panigale Superbike- in STONE STOCK FORM...1:45pm
-Shane advises Tech as instructed in the riders meeting, (because nowhere in the CCS rulebook is post-race inspection and timeline addressed- ASRA weigh in does not apply here) that he had another race on his R6 and would return immediately after, OK was the answer...
-Shane crashes out of that race early on, delaying his return to the pits and therefore tech...immediately upon his return he went to tech and asked the CCS official if it was still ok to bring the bike over, again the reply was "yes"...bike was submitted for CCS inspection, no issues found on the STOCK, OFF THE SHOWROOM FLOOR Ducati 1199S and Shane was congratulated on his victory by the CCS Tech inspector...
-Shane resumes his day and other races...
-3:55pm Shane finds out, not by a CCS official, that he was DQ'd from the UNL SS race, I received a text from Shane at 3:58pm...
***So at this point, 2+ hours have elapsed since the race was over, 1+ hour after the STOCK Ducati was deemed OK by THE CCS TECH Official, and NO ONE FROM CCS STAFF has yet to speak with Shane***
We discussed what transpired, I read the rule book...twice (5 times by the time this was written) and instructed Shane and Tom Campion to advise CCS of our intent to appeal their decision. Tom Campion went to CCS officials in the tower to have this discussion and was summarily dismissed because the appeal had to come from Shane. Fine, we'll play your game, because the rules say the competitor my advise CCS...
Shane completed practice and went directly to the SAME CCS official to advise him of his intention to file a formal appeal. The official then stated "your past the 60 mins allowed to appeal" no shit, we were NEVER ADVISED BY CCS! Then went on to state "the race results are final, sorry I know it sucks", really???
Does any of this remind anyone of the AMA, say back in the 2008 days? They learned a lot as an organization since those days and when DQ'ing a TEAM AND RIDERS 1^stEVER AMA PRO VICTORY AT ARGUABLY THE 2ND BIGGEST EVENT ON THE SCHEDULE IN 2012 FOR SAID CLASS AT THE ARGUABLY MOST FAMOUS TRACK IN THE WORLD, THEY TOOK THE TIME TO... A. ADVISE THE RIDER AND TEAM... B. TALK TO THE RIDER/TEAM/STAFF/TV CREW/PHOTOGRAPHERS/MEDIA, ETC TO GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT... C. MEET AND DISCUSS THE OUTCOME IN A 5 HOUR PROCESS TO ASSURE THE RIGHT THING WAS BEING DONE...THE RESULT? THE TEAM RETURNED THE TROPHY, THANKED THE ORGANIZATION FOR TAKING THE TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING, MUTUAL RESPECT WAS GAINED BY ALL PARTIES FOR THE WAY THE SITUATION WAS HANDLED.
Not so with CCS...and now to my questions? Because neither the rider nor even my yet unanswered emails to various CCS staff members do we know if this action was due to a protest or CCS decision? What was it? To which we/Shane should have been advised in A TIMELY FASHION allowing him the right to file an appeal as per CCS rules. Why was he not advised? Not advising him of the infraction is much like accusing someone of robbery, and sending him straight to jail, no $200 for passing go, not one word from the accused...just GUILTY BECAUSE WE SAID SO, TOO BAD!!!!
Since my public expression of dismay over this decision, no less than 5 separate emails were received outlining the very same tactics throughout this season by the same CCS officials, some as simple as a typo putting a competitor in 4^thinstead of 1^st in a result sheet. When questioned, the CCS official said "you should have caught it earlier, the results are final" over a typo? I can continue but this is about Shane, about MOB Racing's effort to get this bike on track at this pasts weekends ROC and about our newest and baddest racebike ridden by one hell of a racer getting the credit they are due...yeah I'm beyond pissed. People that know me know I take my lumps and move on, this is uncharacteristic of me on so many levels, but after comparing the way the AMA handles such situations in contrast to this debacle its absurd! You call telling riders to "go to tech" as "having control" of the bike until they reach tech? No official walking with the bikes to tech? Racers all know this is more an honor system than the real thing...again, something can be learned from the AMA here.
Recommendation to future CCS racers, don't sign up for back to back racers unless you have the staff or spare bikes to support CCS tech requirements. This drop in entries should work miracles on CCS's bottom line...
Allow Shane/MOB Racing the chance to appeal, get the facts and the whole story before you continually make bad decisions which will undoubtedly drive racers to other sanctioning bodies in search of fairness...Shane can't believe this happened and it's in his nature to let it go, but I am definitely calling BS on this one!
Regards,
Dennis Espinosa
MOB Racing
d_man@mob-racing.com

[Super Dave]

Dennis, that really stinks.

I don't have a rule book in front of me, but, often, we were allowed to go do the next race and come back for tech IF the bike we were using was in the next race.  If you weren't using that bike in the next race, we were generally expected to leave the bike there at tech and come back to complete the post tech stuff.  I agree, the back to back racing thing was always a struggle.  I was usually running without a lot of help, so, if there was anyone doing much for tear down for airbox checking to try and get the bike back on warmers for my race coming up almost immediately...yeah, it played into my entries. 

Again, it does stink.  Shane's a fast guy (and an artist...I have a picture floating around here that he drew of me.    ), and you're probably feeing very good about having a rider of his caliber on your equipment.  I do think there is some timeline for tech, but, again, I don't have the rule book in front of me.

[MELK-MAN]

just playing the other side here Dennis, but why didn't the bike just sit in tech, and you guys give Shane a ride back to jump on the R6?? considering all the chaos that could ensue, that would be the safe thing to do.. and be the RIGHT thing to do in fairness to the other competitors that do report to tech. YOU know the bike is legal, Shane may know it too, but the other riders that do as instructed maybe don't know that.. and get a bit suspicious when a bike just goes rolling back to the garage..

Case in point from a personal perspective. it's annoying to me when i go right to tech after a race and the other riders don't show but come back later. Why didn't they just go to tech as instructed in the riders meeting? who knows.. they forgot to go, they had to get a glass of water, or.. well. I always like to think the best of folks but things can happen. They say "report to tech" to get "teched".. not allow you to ride the winning machine back to the pits. That is what you and the other mechanics are for.. no offense, but give the kid a ride back to the garage but don't muck things up riding the bike in question to the garage.

Tech was a bit of a cluster fuck this weekend in part do to the never ending antics of one Charlie Mavros. Congrats to him on his wins, but that guy is a never ending pain in the ass, he is a DANGER in the pits riding fast ALL the time at this track and others, and he had a bike that had some alleged infraction. I feel for Tom Eubanks and the other lightweight riders having to deal with that guy. Good rider, tough racer, passionate about the sport, but lacking in sportsmanship and fair play in my personal opinion.
ANYWAY, Charlie is taking up the time of many officials and someone is left in tech garage that knows much less about the bikes than Gary Mcquiston does. So I am there in the tech garage - by MYSELF.. A) the winner of my hwss race is nowhere to be found. The 3rd place guy is nowhere.. I'm like "seriously, what the f-ck .. why am i the only one here". i ask the older gentleman how long are they going to give Nicco to show up for tech. Now i'm thinking the worst, that they are doing something like putting the snorkle back on the r6 filter, bringing the other bike, etc. The tech official says "oh a little while".. im saying, "no, lets set a specific time right now". Someone eventually announces over the PA for Nico to come to tech, and 3 mechanics wheel the bike over. I don't even know if it's the same bike.. but i give em the benefit of the doubt, and ask the tech "fill in" tech guy "do you know what to look for on an R6 filter". he assures me "yes". The other team proceeds to take the filter out and the tech guy says "OK, your good" BUT IT ISN'T.. the filter didn't have the restrictor, and now I have to be the A-HOLE to point this out.. All doubt is now gone that this team was trying ANY funny business, as why would they bring a bike that wouldn't pass tech, but my point is that i should have been able to tech MY bike, LEAVE, and rest assured that the CCS tech official will do his job as best he can rather than make me have to cause a rift between a very talented rider and a very impressive and professional team. ??

SHit happens.. do all you can to ensure your bases are covered.

[trace33chargers]

It is too bad about the DQ. I'm with Melk-Man though, the bike should have been left at tech. Even though someone in tech said it was okay to come back in twenty minutes, they don't run the show. That should have been discussed with the race director as soon as you saw the race schedule and back to back races.

[Hollywood]

I'm with MelkMan. After the winning of the SS race in question the Panigale should have been left there in the tech area (since another bike was being used for the race immediately following the winning race) in a kind of quarantine to make sure nothing happens to it.


Every CCS riders meeting that I've ever been to they are very clear about winning SS races and reporting to tech, and if you have a back-to-back race to let them know and they will make sure to accommodate your absence and wait to tech the winning bike (still in quarantine at tech or just finishing the second race) after the rider is done with everything.


As far as the lack of authority clearly NOT being displayed by the CCS employees in the tech shed, I hope that in the future that Kevin will appoint a clear head tech inspector who will not hesitate to put an immediate stop to the ridiculousness that Greg described. It's a tech shed, not a court room. You either pass or fail tech by the rules and if the tech inspector finds an infraction or a perceived infraction. Period. CCS isn't Charlie Mavros' private race series and IMO when one person disrupts the organized chaos that is already plentiful in tech sheds as of late, I think that person should be dealt with swiftly and seriously. 3 things need to be brought to the tech shed. The motorcycle that just finished the previous race, a person to assist in the technical inspection dismantling the parts necessary to complete the technical inspection and the tools to do so. Not a loud mouth, not a list of reasons why the technical inspector is wrong, not a list of past grievances. Got a problem? File it and let the race director do his job. 


As far as MOB not being notified and given the opportunity to give theri side of things, I think that is crap. There CLEARLY was a breakdown in the entire process that needs immediate attention. Somebody made a mistake, and saying that "oops, it's too late to change it now, oh well" is a terrible way to treat your customers and an even worse precedent to set for the future and for your potential customers. If what MOB says is true (and I don't know why they would make any of that up), due diligence should have been followed and they should have been notified in person with CCS' intent to change the result. It would have been solved immediately. Instead, MOB had to find out from another racer that the results had been changed?? It sounds as if CCS knew going in that if they confronted the MOB team with their intentions that they knew the changes would have been contested.


Lastly, there are NO procedures for tech inspections or post race operations for winners in the rule book. Anywhere. There's a whole section on protesting, and I've been racing with CCS since 2006 and have yet to see one of those happen. I have seen mass confusion, upset and adrenaline filled racers who are ignored and given unclear information when they report to tech and even tech inspectors who have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what they are looking for or at on some of these motorcycles when they arrive at tech. But never a clear cut policy which specifically defines what, where and when a bike and rider must go after winning a SS race. I hope that is something that CCS strongly considers reviewing this winter as well.


Shane and Dennis, I'm sorry that you guys lost out on a National win for Ducati and for your team. It would have been great to see the ROC go off without these kinds of thing happening, and hopefully CCS can find a way to make it right and make sure that it doesn't happen in the future. That's all we can really hope for.

[apriliaman]

After the races are over and posted don't you have 30 min to say anything to the officials if you think something is not correct? I had many times where I went to tech and an other rider didnt.If they didnt show up after they came off the track and went to there pits, after like 2 min I would tell tech.I do also look at there bikes for different wheels or other stuff the tech staff never look for.I had to point out to them a bike had carbon fiber wheels that they never saw.In another class I saw somone not in my class with ohlins forks that was in supersport tech that did not come with the bike  but I didnt say anything and no one knew.

[leeroy996]

After the races are over and posted don't you have 30 min to say anything to the officials if you think something is not correct? I had many times where I went to tech and an other rider didnt.If they didnt show up after they came off the track and went to there pits, after like 2 min I would tell tech.I do also look at there bikes for different wheels or other stuff the tech staff never look for.I had to point out to them a bike had carbon fiber wheels that they never saw.In another class I saw somone not in my class with ohlins forks that was in supersport tech that did not come with the bike  but I didnt say anything and no one knew.

National Champs and they're not picking up wheels and suspension. 

[race712]

It's CCS - they'll leave a DQ-ed rider in first place (failed tech inspection on a cut-and-dried airbox issue) and still tell you "tough, results are final"


Some days we might as well save the bikes and tires and just draw straws to determine results.

[steve p]

It's CCS - they'll leave a DQ-ed rider in first place (failed tech inspection on a cut-and-dried airbox issue) and still tell you "tough, results are final"

Some days we might as well save the bikes and tires and just draw straws to determine results.

Yep

[banzai1]

Duh, All SS bikes report to tech after the race. At Daytona, it's closer than the garage area is anyway.

[Gino230]

I truly feel for these guys, but in the end they were wrong. You have to leave the bike at tech. If I can do it with no crew and back to back races, than I'm sure they must have been able to. There are always exceptions, but bringing a bike to tech hours after the race? For god's sake it's easy enough as it is to cheat, (not that the team in question was cheating) you can't expect any more leeway than we already have.

What does suck is that tech inspectors don't often know what to look for and race results are often not posted for a LONG time...thus unless you prefer to stand in front of the men's room wall or tech (never got a clear answer on which was the "official" spot) for hours, you might not have the chance to protest the results when(ever) they come out (god forbid you are on track at the time of the posting). As Mark and Greg have pointed out, almost every supersport racer has had to point out some obvious defect at tech-I went through the same scenario in 2008. Unfortunately I think that's just the way it is in club racing....(careful what you wish for in comparing CCS to AMA) No organization is perfect, but there is always room for improvement. Time for another drink.