Australasian Dirt Bike — June 2017

14 |JUNE 2017 http://www.adbmag.com.au

AMA OFFICIALS HAVEfined

Chad Reed $5000 following

theYamaharider’srun-in with

defending AMA 450

Supercross champion Ryan

Dungey in St Louis. Reed was

dockedfive championship

pointsandfined“after failing

toacknowledgeblueflags,” an

AMA press releasedsays.

The incident happened in

the450SXMain.Reedwas a

lapdown andrunning

sixteenthwhenhewascaught

by Kawasaki’s EliTomacand

Dungey. Tomacpassed Reed

witheasebutDungey was

unabletonailitforthreelaps.

Dungey wouldeventually

getaroundReedbut,bythat

stage, Tomac hadpulled a

seven-secondleadontheKTM

riderand,withonlyfour

minutes andonelap

remaining, Ryan was forcedto

settleforsecond.

ThecontentionbyDungey,

RedBullKTMandtheAMA

wasthatReedignoredblue

passingflags forthreelaps

andchose toride onthe

preferredracingline, making

itdifficultfor Dungeytomake

aclean pass.

The AMA Supercross

rulebookstates under section

4.17 Flags andLights: “Itisthe

rider’s responsibility to be

aware oftheir surroundings at

alltimeswhileontrack.Safety

is a main priorityandthe

riders mustobey allofficial

signals and directionsgiven to

them. Any rider failingtodo

so maybepenalised.

a. Solid blue flag:

1.Indicates you are about to be

overtaken by faster riders.

2.When conditions allow, move

out of the fast line.

3.Hold your line (don’t ride

erratically) and do not impede the

faster riders progress.

4.Riders disregarding the blue

flag may be black-flagged at the

discretion of race director.”

Itisrumored thatReed’s

actions weretheresultof an

exchange between the two

champions in aheatrace.

Reedpulledasolidstartand

was leadingbut thingsgot

heatedwhen Dungey

attemptedtomakeapassfor

thelead.Dungeyclaimed

Reed’sblocking moves were

dangerousandtooaggressive.

Inapost-race interview,

Dungey calledReedimmature

andsaidChadwas outtoget

him. Chadsayshedidn’thear

theinterview.

Whenthetwo metinthe

Main Event,despitebeing a

lapdown, Reeddidn’tdo

Dungey any favours and,

accordingto AMA officials,

“failedtofollowthedirection

of the AMA officials indicated

bytheblueflag. Indoing so,

rider #22didimpedethe

faster rider’s progress”.

Thetwo ridershadvery

differentviews. Dungey said:

“Ijust don’t know why [Reed]

hastogetinvolvedwithme

andEli’s position. Ifhewas

onthesamelap, I’d

understand,Ithinkwe all

would, but he’s a lapper.

“IguessIdon’tknow where

this attitude and everythingis

coming from... Thatguy’s

been aroundalongtime and,

with thatmuchexperience,

you’dthinkhewould

understandwhatit’sliketobe

inthepositionthatIam.But

hehas no respectforusand

whatwe’redoing, whatwe’re

tryingtodo. Ihave alotof

respect for theguy, still do,

buttonightwas alowblow.”

To hearwhatReed thinks

aboutthepenalty, checkout

his columnonpage33.

SOIL SAMPLE HOT OFF THE PRESS

ReedvsDungey

WHAT WENT DOWN AND HOW IT ALL STARTED

BOTH RIDERS SPOKE ABOUT THE INCIDENT AND

THEY HAD VERY DIFFERENT VIEWS