AMA/FIM Reach Resolution on Carmichael Penalty
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 3, 2006) --The American Motorcyclist
Association (AMA) and the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme
(FIM) have announced a joint resolution to the points penalty imposed
by the AMA on Ricky Carmichael following the February 11 San Diego
round of the AMA Supercross Series and the FIM World Supercross GP.
In a post-race tech inspection, the fuel in Carmichael's motorcycle was
found to contain more lead than allowed under a standard jointly
adopted by both sanctioning bodies beginning with the 2004 racing
season.
The AMA has enforced that fuel regulation in its AMA Supercross Series
and AMA Motocross Championship for the past two years. However, this is
the first time that testing has revealed a fuel violation affecting a
competitor entered in both the AMA and FIM series, and while the fuel
standard is the same in both rule books, the two sanctioning bodies
call for different testing protocols.
The AMA initiated an investigation into the fuel requirement and
testing protocols. It then became apparent that this difference in
testing protocols would make consistent enforcement of this standard
difficult, and the two sanctioning bodies have agreed to cooperate in
the investigation, with the goal of creating a unified unleaded fuel
standard and testing protocol for the 2007 season.
Meanwhile, the AMA and the FIM jointly agreed that, because of the
disparity in testing protocols, a points penalty would be inappropriate
in this case. As a result, the AMA has rescinded the 25-point penalty
imposed on Carmichael in the AMA Supercross Series standings, and the
FIM has said that it will not impose a points penalty in the World
Supercross GP standings.
Both sanctioning bodies agreed, however, that a penalty is still
appropriate for this fuel violation, and the decision was made to
impose a $20,000 fine on the Suzuki team for which Carmichael rides.
The AMA and the FIM will equitably donate the fine to the Asterisk
Mobile Medical Center, which provides trackside medical support to
riders at all AMA Supercross Series/FIM World Supercross GP series and
AMA Motocross Championship events and to Riders for Health, a
humanitarian organization working in Africa for 15 years reaching
nearly 11 million people with regular health care workers riding
motorcycles.
"It was clear that the differences in testing protocols raised serious
problems for enforcement of this rule,'' said Steve Whitelock, AMA
Motocross and Supercross Series manager.
"We think this is a fair and equitable resolution of a difficult
situation" said Wolfgang Srb, President of the FIM Motocross Commission.
The AMA has announced that the fuel investigation will be conducted by
the Southwest Research Institute's Fuel and Lubricant Lab, an
independent consulting organization with nearly 60 years of experience.
It is expected that teams as well as fuel suppliers, among others, will
be interviewed in this process.