You’ve read Dirck’s opinion regarding the K-Dub/Cobra tango at the Phoenix supercross last Saturday. You’ve read the AMA Pro Racing official press release regarding the ten-point penalty against Windham. Before you start reading the responses we received from our readers regarding the incident, here is a link to an article that appeared on CycleNews Online regarding the comments of AMA Pro Racing’s Steve Whitelock (the man who made the decision on Windham’s penalty).
Below are the many responses received from our readers in their usual unedited form.
- I agree with your article and comments based on the photos I saw on your web site. I think you are correct in what you say. Racing is racing but it has to be kept in check or it will get out of hand and ruin the sports. I know I don’t want my kids riding like that.
Good job and this is the best web coverage I have seen on this incident. Keep up the good work.
- Firsts of all I want to make a few points clear:
A) I race MotoCross myself;
B) I did not see Windhams action.
I find it very good that the punishment is given in points, instead of a fine. This is fairer, also for the rest of the drivers (they don’t see any money, when some other guy gets fined, but now they see a rival put back in the standings. This is good.
But why a punishment because you react against an aggressive move? The last 24 years I know, this was permitted over here (Europe). It is not considered nice, but while you race, no-one expects you to be nice, just fair. If some-one attacks you aggressively, and you somehow manage to stay on your bike, and you attack him the next corner, and he falls down, bad luck for him. If he wants to take you out, you can try and take him out. (Remember you put yourself too in a position where you could fall) A few years back Bernd Eckenbach almost took out Stefan Everts on the first straightline, right after start. Stefan worked his way back, and when he came by Bernd, he just drove over his frontwheel in a wide righthander, Bernd had alreaydy turned and Stefan just drove straight trough pover the Wheel , taking his actual turn a bit later. Bernd fell and Stefan managed to drive on. This wasn’t nice and friendly, but Bernd knewhe could be in trouble if Stefan got by him.
This is what I like about motocross, it ain’t a contactsport, but when you’re with many people on a small track, contacts happen. If you can live with this, take another sport, Trial or Enduro are great sports as well.
- I have watched super cross a lot and Vuillemin is not an ethical rider. He is just more deliberate and clever in his attempts to hurt people. Just because he is slicker in the way he bangs people and causes them to crash should not allow him to get away with it. He deserved what he got. Vuilleman did the same thing Windham did he was just more practiced at it so it was not as noticeable. Payback is rough. If they penalize Windham they should double the penalty for Vuilleman – he hit first.
- I view your site everyday and generally agree with your
assessment on most issues but think you are off the mark
regarding your comments about the Supercross race this past
Sunday. If in fact Windham should be penalized 10 points for
the block pass he put in Vuillemin, then Vuillemin should also
be fined penalty points also. The only reason Windam’s tactics
appear more severe is because Vuillemin was unable to respond,
stop in time, to avoid contact and then lost balance and control
of his bike. The move by Windham looked much worse because
Vuillemin was unable to react quickly enough and went over the
berm losing control. The block pass put on Windham was just as
aggressive and is easily seen in the website pictures you direct
readers to. The difference here is that Windham was able to
counter the move without crashing. If in fact you look at the
frames of Vuillemin’s pass on Windham the potential for hard
contact was avoided because Kevin was able to react in time,
David’s move was much more of an aggressive attack. Kevin’s move
just left David nowhere to go.
The block pass is a planned tactic of racing which sometimes
causes riders to go down, I’ve done it and it has been done to
me. Do I get mad and feel it’s unfair when it’s dealt to me, of
course, but that’s a natural reaction when I sample the soil as
a result. To now have riders worry about the consequences of an
aggressive block pass would only take away from the excitement
of the sport.
- I agree that malicious conduct needs to be punished heavily. Not having
seen the race and only going by the screenshots you linked to it looks
on the surface like a case of collosal bad judgement. I’m on dirt
expert but if Vermillion is on the angle he’s depicted at there is no
way short of suspending all of the laws of physics for Windham to make
that turn from his entry point. Granted it may have been Windham’s
intent to crash his competitor out and thus took that absolutely
impossible line or that his execution of the corner was indescribably
bad and Vermillion was unfortunately in the wrong spot at the wrong
time. AMA should strip him of his win as well if it was indeed done maliciously.
- Boy, do you have this one wrong!
Vuillemin has brakes as does Windham. Windham used his in the first encounter to avoid going down and Vuillemin thought he could drive through it and it cost him. The action video shows both maneuvers which are bolstered by the stills. So much for an open mind.
- I HAVE BEEN A SUPERCROSS FAN SINCE 1974! I HAVE WATCHED HUNDREDS OF RACES AND I HAVE SEEN HUNDREDS OF BLOCK PASSES. PENALIZING KEVIN WAS UNFAIR. IT’S ALSO REDICULOUS FOR YOU TO STATE THAT WINDHAM WAS ANGRY SO HE GOT EVEN WITH VUILLEMIN. I HAVE RARELY IF EVER SEEN KEVIN WINDHAM ANGRY ABOUT ANYTHING MUCH LESS A SHITTY ATTEMPT AT A BLOCK PASS BY ANOTHER RIDER. IF YOU LOOK AT THE PICTURES CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE VUILLEMIN COME FROM THE LEFT SIDE OF THE TRACK AND MOVE RIGHT INTO KEVIN’S LINE, HE CLEARLY MADE AND ATTEMPT TO IMPEDE. HE ALSO MADE CONTACT WITH KEVIN, BUT KEVIN SAVED IT! I ALSO AGREE THAT KEVIN MADE AN ATTEMPT TO IMPEDE IN HIS INSIDE PASS ON DAVID,HOWEVER HIS INSIDE LINE WAS JUST THAT, HE DID NOT COME DELIBERATELY ACROSS THE TRACK TO HIT HIM! DAVID HAD PLENTY OF TIME AND COULD CLEARLY SEE KEVIN ON THE INSIDE, HE COULD HAVE LET OFF AND POSSIBLY SALVAGED HIS POSITION AND GONE ON BUT HE HELD THE GAS ON(I MAY HAVE DONE THE SAME THING IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE ON THE FIRST LAP OF A SUPERCROSS MAIN EVENT)CAUSING HIM TO MAKE CONTACT WITH KEVIN. KEVIN’S BLOCK PASS WAS NO DIFFERENT THAN DAVID’S EXCEPT THAT WHEN DAVID DID IT TO HIM HE STAYED UP. HAD HE GONE OVER THE TUFF BLOCKS WOULD WE HAVE PENALIZED DAVID? THIS TYPE OF RIDING AND BOUTS OF ANGER ARE MUCH MORE THE STYLE OF VUILLEMIN THAN WINDHAM. IF YOU CONTINUE TO PLACE YOURSELF INSIDE THE HELMET OF THE RIDERS AND MAKE STUPID COMMENTS AS TO THEIR STATE OF MIND YOU WILL LOOSE THE RESPECT OF ONE OF YOUR LOYAL READERS. I DON’T THINK KEVIN WAS ANGRY, HE WAS RACING AND DAVID WENT DOWN! DAVID MADE A GREAT COME BACK TO FINISH SEVENTH AND HE DESERVES CREDIT FOR THAT, BUT HE SHOULD NOT BE MOVED TO THIRD IN THE STANDINGS. TO PENALIZE ONE AND NOT THE OTHER IS WRONG. I READ YOUR PAGE A COUPLE TIMES A DAY AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO IF YOU AREN’T ON YAMAHA’S PAYROLL!
- maybe you should have attended the event this year, because you are wrong. this all transpired right in front of me and you not being there did not see DV coming down the section before he tried to stuff Kevin. he was aiming at him the whole way as well as trying to bump him mid-air (by the way much more dangerous than a stuff), Kevin just got hard on the brakes before DV could take him out. in the next turn Kevin did what any rider in any mx-sx race would and DV just did not react as quickly as he should have. no this is not demolition derby (a insulting comparision to anyone who has evered raced mx), but it is racing. there are un-written rules that play out in this sport and an eye for an eye is one of them. i hate to see someone taken down for no reason ( like DV tried ) , but retalliation should be expected. this fine is an absurdity, along the lines of what happened to noriuki haga years ago which took a championship away and possibly altered his career in a negative way. i normally respect your opions but i would have to say if you were there you would have a different opion, but you were not so your opion seems to be more like hearsay.
- Just a quick opinion … I disagree with your thoughts on the Kevin Windham points penalty issue.
A block pass is just what it says. If both riders choose to hold their
lines in the instance of a block pass then one or both of them are probably
going to go down. If you look at the screen shots again, Windham changed his
line and held up as Vuillemin put on the initial block pass. How do we know
that Vuillemin was not angry at that point? We don’t … just as we don’t know
if Windham was angry during his block pass. What if Windham would’ve held
his line and kept on the gas during Vuillemin’s block pass? He may have
wrecked. But I can bet that Vuillemin wouldn’t have been penalized
because he initiated the entire process and it wasn’t a move of anger at that
point in time.
Go back and watch the heat race where Tim Ferry and Vuillemin take turns
throwing block passes at each other. Each time the rider gets blocked, he
changes his line to avoid the collision just as Windham did at the
beginning of the race. No one faulted these racers for constantly “almost” causing
a wreck. Actually, the announcers on ESPN loved the action and praised
their efforts. The fact that Vuillemin was stubborn and maintained his line,
even though it would take him right into Windham, is the only difference
between everyone praising the incident versus condemning Windham.
It seems that block passing has become a major part of the sport and AMA
officials have let it get to this point. I just don’t think a penalty is
necessarily fair due to the fact that it takes two people to decide
whether or not a collision will occur (as demonstrated above). Too many
assumptions are being made on the parts of spectators, journalists, and AMA officials.
- I have been riding all of my 43 years of living on
this planet and view your web page several times each
day for motorcycle info. Up to now, I have always
enjoyed your content and opinion.
However, your article on Kdub and DV12 has changed all
of that. Just viewing the tape of the race is not
enough and is certainly not good journalism. As a
rider and a former racer I know what went on between
the two of them. Block pass, block pass. DV12’s pass
was much less agressive than Kdub’s, true. However,
Kdub simply over committed to a very tight block pass
line and he expected DV12 to make an adjustment. DV12
didn’t and things got rough. That’s racing. Bob
Hannah would say, “DV12, stop your crying.”
The AMA should have outlined there actions before the
start of the season and then acted when Langston and
Evans had their little take out match at Anaheim one.
Didn’t hear much about that from anyone. Not even you.
Finally, when you look at the character of the two
involved, Kdub is a saint compared to DV12. Wasn’t it
last year that DV12 punched out Roncada after a race?
I am now removing your site from my favorites list and
will block it from my computer. I will also have to
explain to my kids how political your article sounded
(they will first get to read it so they can make up
their own minds). Support the AMA? Yes. Cave into a
bad call just to keep on their good side? Only you
know for sure.
- It looks as though Vuillemin’s move could have just as easily taken Windham out had he, (Windham) stayed on the gas instead of backing off to stay up, as it appears.
I’m sure Windham was returning the maneuver, but Vuillemin could have jabbed his breaks, and let Windham cross his line instead of testing Windham’s resolve to derail him. After all there was a portion of time where Windham was in his line of site, and I’m sure he understood the implications of Windham’s corner position to his. That’s racing.
Ten points seems a bit stiff. I reckon.
- Regarding the AMA’s point-deduction penalty against Kevin Windham (who has no prior history of aggressive riding): Since you believe that the penalty is proper, what do you believe the proper penalty against Grant Langston (who does have a history of aggressive riding) should be for his blatant take-out of Tyler Evans the week before?
Do you care to discuss the apparent inconsistency of the AMA in the application of its rules and penalties? These incidents occurred one week apart, so I don’t believe they can be explained by a changing of the guard at the AMA.
Rules, and the application of them, should be consistent throughout a season so as not to cause controversy in the final points standings.
- I am not sure that I agree with the call. I watched it on TV, and the
screen shots in the link support my thoughts. While I agree 100% about a
“Demolition Derby” not being what I want to see, it appeared to me that
Windham made a fast cut across the short line on the corner to get in
front of Vuillemin, which he did accomplish (obviously). The biggest difference
between what happened with the Vuillemin block and the Windham “take out”
can be judged by the roost (or lack of) from the rear tire(s) of the
rider’s bike. When Vuillemin cut in front of Windham (admittedly at not quite as
perpendicular of an angle) Kevin straightened up the bike, went wide and
then squared the corner, gassing (see the roost in the photo 6 on you
rlinked page) to chase. When Windham went “after Vuillemin” in the
seconds series, it appears that he was making a conscious effort to beat Vuillemin
through the turn, and as he was in front of the Yamaha rider (who it never
appeared really let up on the throttle or tried to go wide) inadvertently
took out Vuillemin due to the laws of physics…
Was it a bad move? Yeah – it kinda was – on both of their parts. Windham
should probably not have gone so aggresively for the pass, but also,
Vuillemin should have made a move to avoid contact. In fact, for a brief
second watching the race, I thought Vuillemin was going gas it, lift the
front end and try to to ride over the back of Windhams’ bike, as I didn’t
think that Kevin was going to be able to square the turn. Both riders
could have gone down, and Vuillemin is almost as much to blame as Windham. In
photo 9, Vuillemin should have seen that Windham had gotten in front of
him, and started to manuever to go wide. He did not. In photo 10, Vuillemin
is still on his intended line, even though it is quite obvious that another
rider is directly in his path. There is about 5 or 6 feet of room to his
right to go wide and kill speed/avoid, and there was no attempt to use it.
In photo 11, there is a small roost coming off the tire of Vuillemin
(showing acceleration), and he about to T-bone Windham – another
indication that he is also being very aggressive in the situation. The rest is
simply kinetic energy being dissapated as it will, and Windham making a bit of a
save to not go down himself. While I am not particularly a fan of
Windham, I think that he made a legitimate attempt at a non-take-out move – it just
went bad. If points are to be taken away, perhaps Vuillemin’s riding
should also be reviewed and he penalized too.
Love this site. You do a great job and always have some interesting
stuff!
- Wrong call on Whitelock’s part and yours.
- Was it worse than the Evans / Langstons incident?, or several other incidents over the years? You don’t decide championships (as 10 points very well could) by levying penalty’s that aren’t part of stated ground rules.
If the AMA wishes to set standards for aggressiveness, fine, make it part of the Race Rules prior to the season. But don’t create on the fly rules and penalize someone / single out someone and threaten the season’s overall standing and excitement…
Yes, I’m biased, because I’m a Windham fan. I agree with you that Windham is one of the cleanest riders out there….so let’s give him a chance to make amends and prove / disprove that it was unintentional….and better yet, lets keep the points race tight (without artificial interference)…as beating Reed is challenge enough.
Love the website, keep up the good work
- Watching reruns and seeing the link you posted.
One of them was smart enuff to get off the gas and
the other was not. If Kevin had kept the throttle
on he would of left the track as Cobra did. Do yu
think they would of taken the points away from
Cobra in this instance?
- 10 points for a championship contender is just!? How about $5000 instead? Look at those pics again. Windham did not deliberately put him down. Looking at the shots, Vuillemin had every opportunity to lay off the gas. This is not just! This is racing and Steve Whitelock is trying to use Windham as an example. If this were Mike Brown I would say there is reason, but Windham has a VERY clean riding record. 10 points is not just, it’s a travesty that is going to take the wind out of Winham’s sails and alienate fans.
- Pass a rider, and take an outside line in the next corner. He left the door
wide open, didn’t look to his inside, and, oh, I just noticed your website
is sponsored by Yamaha…..
- Check that money in your wallet to ensure it’s not “Blue” LOL!!
- But it’s OK that Chad Reed can mow down RC (Salt Lake 2003) with no penalty?
I think your YAMAHA photo of the day is affecting your judgement. Hmm….this penalty would undoubtedly help…uh…Chad Reed?
That’s the risk you run when you as a “media” outlet climb in bed with a sponsor.
You will be looked at as biased and beholden to your master.
- I couldn’t disagree with you more. Until the AMA starts handing out
penalties and fines in a uniform fashion, calls like this where you penalize
one rider for an aggressive pass but not the rider who committed the first
aggressive pass, you’re no better than the NBA. In the NBA, the referees
always catch the retaliatory punch but some how miss the initial punch.
The second one always looks more egregious in part because you are expecting
a response to the initial incident, a ratcheting up, if you will. But on a
scale of 1-10, if Vuillemin’s was a 5, I would certainly call Windham’s a 6
or maybe even a 7. But this is due to AMA’s lack of inconsistency in
controlling aggressive passing. Additionally, 10 points is a massive
penalty for a riding style that the AMA has done little to discourage.
I have been a racing since 1973, but over the last several years, the AMA
has been allowing more and more aggressive block passing in our sport. Just
two seasons ago at Hangtown, Ricky Carmichael and Stephane Roncada had a
great battle until Rickie put an aggressive move on Roncada which forced
Roncada into the tuff blocks while existing a turn. No penalty points and
no fines from AMA.
And last year, the block pass Matt Walker put on Travis Preston at the San
Francisco Supercross was brutal. Matt forced Travis into the steel poles
that held the finish line banner. That block pass by Matt could have
permanently ended a young riders career. And again, no penalty points and
no fines from AMA. Only later, AFTER Matt actually said that his block
pass was payback for a block pass Travis put on him at Phoenix, did the AMA
fined Matt a measly $1,000. For factory & factory supported riders at this
level, $1,000 is chump change.
I feel AMA has been a model of inconsistency in controlling aggressive
passing the last few years and needs to get their act together. I don’t
like aggressive block passing, but the AMA needs to either clamp down on
everyone who does it or leave it alone. Historically, Windham has been one
of the cleanest riders currently on the circuit and if you’re going hit him
with a penalty, then you should also hit Vuillemin for the block pass he put
on Windham. After all, the only reason Vuillemin’s block pass didn’t cause
a crash was that Windham shut down before Vuillemin T-boned him.
I respect your opinion, but I think you’ve overshot the turn on this one.
- same thing, different result, it was not that different other than the angle, that forced him off the track, david could have hit the brakes, but chose to try to ride it out, in the end making it look worse than it was, sort of like a kicker falling down on incidental contact, this wasn’t incidental contact, but you get my meaning kevin’s angle was farther out, david should have hit the brakes, but it was still ment to be a block pass
- First, let me say that your site is one of the two
motorcycle-specific sites that I bookmark and review
regularly. I even have it set so when I synchronize
my PDA I get the latest download from Motorcycle
Daily. I like the reporting as well as the reviews,
and the the fact that you’re not afraid to express
your opinions on your site.
Thanks for the link to the still shots of the two
block passes. Although I also did not see the actual
race, based on this footage, it looks to me like both
passes were very aggressive and if you look closely,
it looks like Vuillemin actually left less room for
Windham than Windham left Vuillemin. I’m not partial
to either rider, so I’m just basing this on my
interpretation of the shots.
Keep up the great work- I’m envious of you for being
able to work in an industry that I’d love to work in.
- You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but many will disagree with you. Did you see what Grant Langston did in the previous week’s race to Tyler Evans? From my perspective, and I witnessed both events, it was much more deliberate than what Kevin Windam did. I cannot support the AMA’s decision, or the AMA itself, until they treat everyone the same. The AMA cannot continue to pick winners and losers at random and expect to garner support from the riders at this level.
- Wow, are you out of your mind? Vuillemin cut across into Windham’s line
and K-Dub backed off to avoid the collision. Kevin did the exact same to
DV in the next corner. However, DV tried to ride through it. Bad move on
The Cobra’s part. It was not a take out move. It was just as an
aggressive move as Vuillemin did to Windham. I agree with Kevin letting
the surly, ill-tempered Vuillemin know he will not tolerate his antics.
Wasn’t it Vuillemin who rammed Roncada all over the track and then hit him
off the track as well? Who has a history of being an angry rider and who
is the the nice guy on the circuit? This only benefits Chad Reed. Trust
me, he doesn’t need any help. He is blazing fast in Supercross. If this
championship comes down to Windham and Reed and is settled by 10 points or
less in Reed’s favor, it is a tainted championship.
- Saw the Phoenix SX yesterday on ESPN 2. My opinion exactly, in fact, I thought Windham was unjustifiably aggressive and violent when he hit Vuillemin. This is not good for the sport!
Good decision by the AMA, otherwise this could go on unchecked until someone really gets hurt bad.
- YOU SHOULD GET ALL THE INFORMATION BEFORE PASSING JUDGEMENT ON SOMETHING YOU HAVENT SEEN IN ACTION
AS KEVINS SPEED TO THE INSIDE LINE CARRIED HIM DEEP AND ACROSS DV NEW LINE JUST LIKE RICKY AND TRAVIS LAST YEAR WHEN TRAVIS WASNT WILLING TO BACK OF THE THROTTLE AND PLOWED INTO RC SIDE JUST AS DV DID TO KEVIN. DAVID SHOULD OF BACKED OUT MOMEMTARILY THEN WENT ROCKETING BY ON THE INSIDE ISTEAD OF SLAMING INTO KEVINS SIDE. KEVIN DID NOT MAKE IMPACT HE SIMPLY TOOK AWAY A RIDERS LINE AND THAT RIDER IN THE HEAT OF RACING DIDN’T APPLY PATIENCE BUT RATHER THROTTLE AND WENT DOWN. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ALL OF US THAT HAVE RACED AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER AND THIS TIME IT HAPPENED TO DAVID VUILLEMAN. PENALIZING KEVIN BY THE AMA WILL ONLY MAKE A BUNCH OF MAMBY PAMBY’S OF THE RIDERS AS THEY PLAY FOLLOW THE LEADER TRYING NOT TO IMPEDE ANOTHERS LINE OR SPEED.
SINCERELY DONT FEED THE NEW AMA LEADER.
HE SOUNDS LIKE THE FISH AND GAME OFFICER WHERE I LIVE THAT THROW AROUND THEIR NEW AUTHORITY TO PUT THEMSELVES IN THE LIMELIGHT. IF THAT IS THE CASE I ASK HIM TO GO OUT AND TRY TO QUALIFY FOR SUPERCROSS. REALY WHAT IS NEEDED IS A FORMER PRO RACER LIKE DAVID BAILEY IN HIS POSITION WHO KNOWS WHAT LIFE AND RACING AS PROFFESIONAL RACER IS LIKE TO ADMINISTER THE RULES OF RACING. WHAT RULE DID KEVIN BREAK TO BE DOCKED POINTS IN THE FIRST PLACE AND WHERE IN THE AMA RULES DOES IT EQUATE A BLOCK PASS IS WORTH A 10 POINT DEDUCTION AND A MISSED SHIFT THAT IMPEDES ANOTHERS FORWARD ACCELERATION AND CAUSES THEM TO FALL OR RAM ANOTHER RIDER AND GO DOWN IS NOT CAUSE FOR POINT DEDUCTION.
ALL I CAN REALLY SAY IS GIVE ME A BRAKE!!! CHECK THAT IS
- Some of us think Windham’s pass was super sweet! You are right that it was out of character though because he is super clean,so isn’t that the whole point? He gave Vuillemin some room the corner before and David stuck the pass right in his face,he was only returning the favor and thats what he basically said in the interview. Whats good for the goose…. we loved it and the penalty sucks.
- You think the penalty against Windham should stand? What about the first
year Carmichael won the SX championship. It seemed everyone he passed went
down. Yet not one warning or penalty. Why start now with Windham? The fault lies
as much with the SX track design as with the riders. High banked corners lend
to such tactics. Ten points, why not a fine like the normally do?
- You hit the nail on the head. It was poor judgment on Windham behalf and uncharacteristic as well.
- You guys have a great web site that I go to daily to finds news in the world
of motorcycling. Your insightful comments on bikes are great but please keep
your opinions to yourself when it comes to these matters.
People have their own opinions about these type of events. We don’t need
yours.
Stick to what you know best…..bikes….
- I disagree with your analysis of the confrontation between Kevin Winham and David Vullemin. From the observations I made watching the incident in slow/stop motion, David Vullemin is the party in the wrong, and unfortunately, he paid for it.
I will agree that Windham did make a move that would have restricted Vullemin’s line through the corner, but when the actual “hit” happened, Vullemin is the one who did the hitting, not Windham.
My observation of the situation is that after the turn before, when Vullemin drove Windham to the Tuff Blocs, David probably incorrectly figured that Kevin would give way to his line in the next corner, when if fact, Kevin basically said “No way!”
I too am a staunch campaigner against gladiator tactics in motorsports, but in this case, I feel that Kevin Windham is being unfairly penalized for something that he didn’t do.
After writing my previous note, I went back to the pictures again, and if you will look at the attached picture, it confirms exactly what I stated: Vullemin is the one who did the hit, and Windham is lucky that he had enough balance to survive the hit.
One more thing: If you look at the third and fourth pictures in the “KW” series, Vullemin had plenty of time to back off to avoid the collision that eventually happened. If he didn’t, then he has only one person to blame: himself. Riders of that caliber, have a sense of presence of what is around them at all times. In this case, not only could David have seen Kevin, but he had to have made the conscious decision to not let off.
- I regard to your opinion of the so called take out. After looking at
your link to the snap shots, it looks to me like “Racing” to me. This is
just coming from an old guy whom has seen Bob Hannah / Kent Howerton
race in the same manner and they both said it was racing. Years ago I
would have done the same. Todays racing has more to do with tatoos and
body piercing than it does with training and racing. Most of those guys
deserve lolly pops, not six figure salaries. This is my first letter, I
guess I have finally gotton “Old & Grumpy”. I still like your web page.
PEACE brother
- im sorry reed didnt win the race last saturday night but im sure you were delighted that he recieved the most points for the evening-your bias against R.C. and now K-dub goes on -is it just the red Honda the ride or is it that you love the tuning fork so much?when Reed wins its posted here with joy and you never have anything bad to so about him-how about a commit on the stupid post race interview comments Reed made of “the track was to easy”-????????
- Your obvious bias toward Yamaha ( Just looking at your sponsors ads) automatically has anyone not on a Yamaha guilty until proven innocent. If Frenchie Boy knew the difference between the throttle and the brake he would have had the same result as Kevin had the corner before. So pull your head out of Yamaha’s butt and maybe after your head clears from the methane you and the jailors (AMA) will see the reason why so many fans think this decision is invalid.
- Could not disagree with your assessment of this controversy more. There is no difference between what either rider did to the other. Where the difference lies is in how each handled the pass. Windham shut off when Vuilleman had the inside line. Vuilleman did not. And from the link you provided it is obvious that Vuilleman either has the worst peripheral vision in the world or he is blind. Windham beat him to the apex of the turn. He should have slowed as I’m certain he knew it was coming. I believe the AMA has set a precedent that they will regret. Racers get paid to race. If you run it in on someone, you expect to have it run in on you. That’s racing. Perhaps the AMA should come up with a “move over” flag, similar to the one given to lapped riders for instances like this in the future. They can wave it at Windham the next time Vuilleman runs it in on him.
- http://www.racerxill.com/pollpro/PollPro.asp?Task=Vote&ZoneID=0&PollID=77&URL=&LinkText=&BarImage=images%2Fbluebar%2Egif
- If the AMA is being consistent, why in the world wasn’t Grant Langston penalized at the previous round? That Tyler Evans incident was much more blatant. Sheesh…
- Kevin said it best, I backed off when I heard David coming, David did not. The photos in the link clearly show Windham being pushed to the very edge of the track, then when Kevin contacted Vuillemin there was 3-5 feet of open track space that David could have gone for and did not. Windham did not fall because he reacted better than Vuillemin. If Windham got penalized David should have too.
- That is crap. This rings of the NFL penalties, where the guy who throws the first blow gets off, and the 2nd guy gets hammered. If they are gonna penalize them, they should both be penalized. Windham told DV that he was not gonna be his punk on the track. DV paid for it and I doubt you will see DV block passing Windham again.
That being said, I don’t want to see the sport degrade into demo derby either. Fine them all and let them know that anything more than incidental contact will not be tolerated, but don’t do it by making an example of 1 rider.
- And so the “It has to be safer” fools start the season with a very bad choice. If Windham loses the 2004 title by 10 points or less the supercross winner will become the ” AMA safest motorcycle rider award” And this was not an unusal case, did anyone at the AMA go to the Peonix race ? The Langston incedent, I did’nt see any one voicing how bad that was !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MOTORCYCLE RACING IS DANGEROUS… Anyone who gets on a motorcycle has a chance of being hurt ( ask David Bailey whom I believe is one of the best ever) If you wish to punish hard racing then do something other than deduct points !! Has no one in the AMA got an imagination !!!
- Your a dork. It was a fair block pass just like all block passes are fair. And in fact if windham had not paid vuillemin back he would have been percieved as an easy mark for every other rider on the track.
