James
Staff member
Well that was an interesting red flag restart, us in the crowd (and the riders) were pretty confused as to what was going on. At first we were all going "WTF?", but this way does make more sense.
Here's what the AMA Pro Rulebook has to say about red flag restarts:
Here's what the AMA Pro Rulebook has to say about red flag restarts:
4.21 Restarts
a. The race is stopped (with fewer than 3 laps completed by therace leader / whether it be a Heat, Last Chance Qualifier orMain Event)1. A red flag will be displayed to the riders.2. The race will be considered null and void.313. The riders will return to the starting area and a re-start willtake place as soon as possible.4. The riders will keep their initial starting order.5. The riders will be restarted from the starting gate.6. Riders who were present at the starting gate for the originalstart of the race but were unable to start and who did not jointhe race before the red flag was displayed are notauthorized to take the restart.7. The race will be run for the original number of laps.8. In the case of a Final, if it is found impossible to restart thenthis Final will be declared cancelled and not count for theChampionship.b. The race is stopped (with more than three laps and less than90% of the total distance completed by the race leader,rounded down to the nearest whole number of laps / whether itbe a Heat, Last Chance Qualifier or Main Event)1. A red flag will be displayed to the riders.2. The riders will return to the starting area and a re-start willtake place as soon as possible.a. A minimum of 10 minutes from the time that the red flag isdisplayed will be given to make repairs or adjustments.b. The race may be re-started before the minimum 10minute waiting time only if all riders indicate to theRace Director that they are ready to start.c. Repairs or adjustments may only be made in the startingarea.3. The starting order will be determined by each rider’s raceposition at the end of the lap preceding the stopping of therace.4. Riders will be restarted from a staggered standing start inthe starting area.a. Riders will be lined up in a staggered formation beginningon the starting straight at a start line located by the firstturn, starting with the rider that was in the first positionand continuing back towards the starting area.b. Riders not ready to take their position in line will be placedlast.c. Once all riders are in position, the starter will display agreen flag to signal the start.d. Any movement of the motorcycle before the display of thegreen flag will be considered a jumped start. Any riderdeemed to have jumped the start will be penalized aminimum of two positions in the final results.e. Eligible riders who are unable to participate in the re-startdue to a stalled motorcycle or continued repairs may jointhe race from the starting area at anytime during the race.5. Riders who were no longer actively participating in race atthe time when the red flag was displayed are not authorizedto take part in the restart.6. The race will be run for the remaining number of laps.7. In the case of a Main Event, full championship points will beawarded.c. The race is stopped with more than 90% of the total distancecompleted by the race leader, rounded down to the nearestwhole number of laps / whether it be a Heat, Last ChanceQualifier or Final)1. A finish flag will be displayed to the riders.2. The riders will return to the paddock.3. The race will be considered completed. In that case, theriders' position will be those at the end of the lap precedingthe stopping of the race.4. In the case of a Heat or Last Chance Qualifier, the riders willqualify for the Main Event or be relegated to the LastChance Qualifier according to these results.5. In the case of a Last Chance Qualifier, the top two riders willqualify for the Main Event according to these results. Theremaining riders are eliminated.6. In the case of a Main Event, full championship points will beawarded