Ask The MXperts: The Battle Over Timed Qualifying & What’s Wrong with It

Dear MXA,

Last week there was an “Ask The MXperts” about the Villopoto/Lawrence penalties at Hangtown. It was a good read (without any of the blowhard fluffing you see everywhere else), but it hinted that the AMA had blown its new timed practice idea, but it said “that will have to wait for another day.” Please tell me how timed practice set-up, run and administered by the AMA?

Here is a ÿquick answer for you

For 2007 the AMA switched to timed practice (instead of qualifying races). On Saturday the AMA is supposed to trim the 80 entered riders (in both classes) down to the 40 that will race on Sunday…based solely on their fastest single lap. The “top ten” in the 450 class and the “top ten” in the 250 class are seeded into Sunday’s program (sort of). The riders who are outside the top 40 in lap times get to race in consolation races (the 250 class on Saturday afternoon and the 450 class on Sunday morning) to choose two alternates to replace any of the 40 fastest riders who might not be able to start in Sunday.

On Sunday, the 40 riders in each class go out for two more times qualifying sessions to choose gate pick. The fastest rider gets the first pick and the slowest rider gets the last pick (if a rider is injured, an alternate will take his place, but must choose his gate pick 40th). The timed gate pick is good for both the first moto and the second moto (no matter who well you do in moto one).

So far, so good…but even though the AMA has been working on this for months…they messed it up. How so? Let us count the ways:

(1) In principle, Saturday’s riders (in each class) are divided into two 40-man groups (one for the top 40 in points and one for the other riders trying to make the Sunday show). Unfortunately, at Hangtown there were 18 riders in one practice and 72 riders in the other. Why? The AMA said that the Top 40 from last year didn’t show up. So, the 18 top 40 riders that did cruised around getting clean, unimpeded laps for both of their timed session, while the privateers fought to get through 72 riders in hopes of getting a clean lap (their session had lots of yellow flags and even a red flag). The AMA could easily have taken 22 of the riders from the second practice (based on last year’s AMA points or National numbers or at random) and evened out the two timed practice sessions, but they didn’t. They even had time to reorganize between the first and second timed 450 practices, but they didn’t. And if they were accepting 80 riders, how come there were 90 at Hangtown? Is it 80? Is it 90? Will it someday be just 40?

Then, a week later at Mt. Morris the first session had 28 riders and the second session had 47 riders. Wasn’t it suppose to be 40 and 40? According to the AMA, it wasn’t because only 26 riders in the top 40 bothered to come to Mt. Morris. To get to 28 riders, two (Barry Carsten and Bobby Garrison) were moved into the Top 40 practice (not because they were in the current top 40, but because they were in last year’s top 40). Wouldn’t it have been just as easy to move an additional seven riders out of the privateer practice so that the two timed sessions would have some form of parity. Those seven riders could easily have been the seven riders with the highest National numbers.

Even better, why not just divide the riders equally into two timed practice session at every race without regard for where they are in the standings. How so? Take the complete rider entry list and put the first name in timed practice session one and the second rider in practice session two and so on, or have riders with AMA numbers ending in odd numbers go out in session one and even ending numbers in session two, or use a Ouija board. Anything is better that this.

(2) Rumors and accusation of course cutting were rampant at Hangtown. The privateers were angry and frustrated by their treatment. And, yes there was course cutting.

(3) In the 450 class, the top ten in points are automatically seeded into Sunday’s timed practice, but in the 250 class the top ten are not seeded, but have to request to be seeded (and can only ask once during the season). What is this about? Are the 250 riders second class citizens? If the 450 top ten in points are seeded why aren’t the 250F top ten? It’s unfair, discriminatory and arbitrary.

(3) The Last Chance Alternate races are a mish-mash of bad ideas. The idea of getting two spare riders for each class is fine (although they could easily be chosen by the 41st and 42nd fastest lap times from Saturday). But the AMA wants to let the 41st through 80th riders get a chance to race for the experience. The 250 class alternates are chosen by a 20-minute-plus moto on Saturday afternoon, while the alternates for the 450 class have there 20-minute-plus moto on Sunday morning (a plan which makes the pits have to accept an extra 40 riders on Sunday…and pit crowding is a big deal with the AMA).

The alternate idea is all well and good, because the alternates are needed to fill the spots of riders injured or broken on Sunday. However, the 250F alternates are not allowed to ride any practice on Sunday (and the first time they see the track is when they go to the line for moto one). The 450 riders, who have their Last Chance race on Sunday morning, actually race against 39 other riders without any practice on Sunday (they do get a parade lap). Steve Whitelock says that they don’t need practice because the track is the same, but that isn’t true. Mt. Morris had several sections changed over Saturday night.

Whitelock also says that he won’t let the alternates practice with the 40 riders on Sunday because he is afraid that one of the alternatives will ram a qualified rider to get his spot. Okay, we accept those concepts as semi-valid, but they are also semi-stupid. You cannot send riders out onto the track without any practice…they are a danger to themselves when they charge into the middle of the pack without knowing what’s coming up and a danger to the riders they are racing against. As for the alternates trying to take a rider out so that they can get in, that should be easily handled with a small “Alternate Rider’s Meeting” in which the alternates are told the consequences of doing anything untoward in practice. And by “consequences,” we mean a harsh penalty, like the ones imposed on privateers, not the paddy cake penalties imposed on factory-backed riders. Instead, Whitelock says that before he’ll let the alternates rider Sunday practice that “I won’t have any alternates at all,”

(4) No offense to the Last Chance riders, but they don’t need a 20-minute-plus race on Sunday morning to choose two “maybe” guys for the race. Four laps would be plenty…on the other hand if the 450 Alternate race was held on Saturday, when the 250 alternates are chosen, the moto could be 30-minutes plus.

The 450 alternate race is held on Sunday (with no practice) and the two alternates are also not allowed to ride timed practice after their alternate race. Either way, Sunday’s program needs more free time in it, especially since the AMA wants to riders to attend autograph signing sessions that take place between practices. To fix the Sunday time conflicts, the 450 Last Chance was moved farther into the program at Mt. Morris and timed qualifying was moved forward.

(5) Steve Whitelock says that he wants “the National tracks to be smoother” and both have they been (especially during timed practice). In the outdoor Nationals the two 250 timed session go out first and then the 450 sessions. By the time the 450 riders get on the track its not so smooth anymore (and lap times in all the second practice sessions prove this). In fact, at Mt. Morris Broc Tickle set the fastest lap of the day on the very first lap of timed practice (he was the first rider to come around and his lap stood the rest of the day). On a smooth track with no lines, berms or bumps, Tickle played his cards right.

But is this right? Should there be some lines on the tracks so that the first rider out doesn’t have a giant advantage over the riders who follow. The simple way to fix this would be to have 15 minutes of Open Practice in the morning (time for which could be made by shortening the 450 Last Chance race or moving it to Saturday afternoon). No one would be forced to go out in the untimed free practice session, but many riders would in order to check their jetting, gearing and suspension set. Then, after the 15-minutes of free practice, the timed session could start. Whitelock is adamantly opposed (to everything), but to any form of free practice.

Note: Timed practice can work. But, it is another AMA idea hatched before its time and without enough thought. Before we get any farther into the season, the AMA needs to sit down and evaluate how it is going, with an eye towards whether it is achieving the desired results in terms of entertainment, fairness and common sense.

If they don’t, at least they got a girl to hold the starting board!