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Really splitting hairs here. He’s off a little maybe.
Look how close he is to Roczen and how much space between him and Plessinger. Probably off center by several inches.
Dude if look at your picture using the worn paint as center on the gates, yes Cooper is lined up off centey to his right.
What advantage did he gain?
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If you look at the picture, yes Cooper is lined up off center to his right. Now using the worn paint on the gate as center both the #7 and the #18 are lined up off center to their left. You want to throw them all out or just pick on #32?
Good grief...
If that is several inches then I have an 8- inch cock
Nothing to see here at all.
Now if it was Jett on the other hand....
Those gates seem wide. I don't remember having more than 3-4 inches on either side.
Yeah I was gonna say..
had this been a top guy, 20 pager because it’s a clear cut violation of the rule. But because it’s a mid pack guy with no following the popular response is “KARENS! Let em race!” Now I don’t think the rules should be applied retroactively but it’s foolish to look at this and go “nothing to see here.” They got away with it and it is what it is. But 100% you can’t do that shit.
He could definitely be lining up off-center just enough to miss a big rut
Possibly trying to avoid a rut/hole at gate exit….
Makes sense 👍
If Roczen doesn't care...
My memory is failing me at the moment but I remember someone in the recent past getting forced to last gate pick or a penalty was in place because on the sight lap, they did a huge burn out in front on the gate to clean out the rut in front of the gate. I’m pretty sure it was Mike Alessi but it could’ve been a MCR guy. The rules state you can’t touch the dirt in front of the gate but they tried to be clever and got caught in the moment. And that was fair! Just like if they got caught in this moment, it would be fair to penalize them.
Imagine being the dude next to J Coop and being like “why is his elbow on me right now?”
Just happened to Breece
I think its just the angle of the pic... plus, Cooper is closer to the gate than AP is, so it adds to the illusion. If you look at Coopers rear wheel, its in the center of the cleaned off grate. Also, it was muddy conditions, so they would have cleaned the hell out of the grate, so he wouldn't intentionally line up off of it. Also, also, highly likely the rut exiting the gate is in the center so furthering the point of him not intentionally lining up off center.
Pit Row
So you’re saying it’s highly likely there was a rut in the center of the gate and you can’t possibly see the reason why someone would want to try and offset themselves and it’s probably just an optical illusion even though tie riders surrounding him appear to be centered on the gate?
The rule states...
The center of the gate is not marked, there is no tolerance for how close to the center the bike needs to be, this rule like many other AMA rules is unenforceable.
If the AMA wanted to make it enforceable, they could paint 2 lines a tire width apart or slightly wider apart, in the center of the gate, if the tires are outside the line, the bike is not in the center, and the rider could be penalized.
The rule is pretty simple. You have to line up in the .middle of the gate. Doesn't matter how the rut is in front of the gate or where the rut is. Just gotta line up in the middle.
Not saying he gained an advantage. Just pointing out the AMA missed a call. I've seen them make riders move to the center many times.
It's not an optical illusion, take a look at where his feet stands are placed on the start grate.
He was getting away from AP's flatulence.
Jett is just as much off center but in the other direction
Well Cowboys have been known to eat some beans while on the range
You say that like that’s big???
This is what I was going to say.
Say what you will about NASCAR, but they would define how far off a clearly defined "centerline" the rider could be and still be "centered". What is the tolerance? Because I'm certain no one is perfectly centered within a millimeter, so at what point are they not centered? 5mm? 8mm? 25mm? Organizations like NASCAR, Indy, F1, where there are tremendous amounts of money at stake, clearly define limits so they can be measured and a violation is demonstrable to all parties to avoid the appearance of favoritism toward a party. Car too low? Got a measurement for it. Spoiler at the wrong angle? Got a template for it. Is it perfect - no system is - but they have a rulebook with waaaay more specifics than most would care to know about so everyone knows what they can and can't do.
AMA - Not centered in the gate? Got a photo taken from an angle of the rider and then they get an anonymous janitorial staff to vote on what constitutes centered. Sounds fair to me.
Without black and white limits it's another ambiguous term left open to interpretation, possibly resulting in the impression of favoritism on the part of the enforcing agent by those affected by a ruling.
Good thing this is the only ambiguous rule in the AMA rulebook. Can you imagine if they had a whole bunch of them like this?
I like your thinking, but By Gosh, more duties for the AMA?
The rule is not that simple. I’d bet that on any 20-22 bike start, not a single bike is perfectly centered on the gate. There’s no definition of ‘the middle of the gate’ so that’s a pretty vague range. If you can absolutely prove that every other bike is perfectly centered (down to the millimeter) on the starting gate, then you might have a very small point. Otherwise you’re just being a jackwagon.
The other thing I like about that rule is the last sentence - "Riders may not start at an angle".
Okay... then everyone is violating the rule - because even if you're exactly perpendicular to the gate you are at a 90 degree angle... which is still an angle.
I know what the intent is, but the way it's written is, umm, lacking? The more I read the AMA rulebook the more I laugh at the effort put into it.
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