USA team protested Australia

Then it’s the result you have a problem with and not the cheating.

I don’t think the rulebook should be used as a chess piece to enforce it to your own liking. If rules are broken, all the riders that broke it should have the same protest/punishment, no matter where they finnished the race.

Time for both sides of the pond to eliminate grates and starting devices.  Packing your gate and getting a holeshot used to be an art form.  Now its robotic especially when you couple in electronics.  

I think they should be penalized. But only a few points. 4 seems like a good and fair number. 

For some, in any PROFESSIONAL sport, rules are rules. You break them, get caught, you are disqualified. Is it any way to win, no. This just sets precedence for others to reference this as OK. Who bears the fault? The promoting organization that is in charge carriers the responsibility to police and adjust accordingly. Maybe next year, 250 riders should run big bores and plead ignorance if they get caught and still be awarded.

The cost of logistics. Shipping bikes, parts, hotels, flights, food. Time and money. Fans supporting countries and you think Cheating would be ok because it’s an exhibition race? People (you) with that mentality suck

 

Just throwing it out there, but maybe they didn’t see Prado doing it which is why they didn’t protest? 

I protested my grandma once to win a pie eating contest.

If riders aren't getting a purse payout or paid via contract for this event, then it's an exhibition race.

The Harlem globetrotters cheated all the time and people still loved to go watch their exhibition games.

It’s not Team USA’s job to police the racing.

What I meant is the rules are silent on whether you can wipe the mesh or not. 

It's not clear whether the protest was about wiping rain or mud off. I think the organisers should provide clean/mud free meshes for each race but there's not much they can do about moisture if it's pissing down with rain and it would get a bit silly if riders were allowed to dry their mesh seconds before the gate drop.  

This ^

.....or maybe they could get Lisa Leyland to wipe off the mesh. She's a dab hand at cleaning bathrooms.

Stop it! Be grateful for what you got, a superb second place. Fans are diminishing what Team USA achieved by jumping on these threads. If you need to win that bad you're very sad individual's.

Congratulations to Team Australia and re-group for 2025 at Ironman.

*

While I do see your point everyone knows the start is one of, if not the biggest factor of who wins or places well in a race. There cannot be interpretation of what’s legal and not legal regarding a start. For the record I don’t think it would’ve changed anything regarding who won but it shouldn’t even be a controversial thing if the sanctioning bodies were crystal clear on it. 

Brian Deegan is studying this video for next year.

The Olympics' do not have prize money paid out . The AMA could pay riders the same way that the US Olympic committee pays athletes , so it is very similar as far as official prize money  Is it one giant exhibition game? 

For the riders competing , the purse is National pride, and winning for Your country. 

Yes, the Olympics are an exhibition.  Have you ever tried buying food with national pride?

Professional sports pay their athletes. 

Exhibitions are fun and entertaining but when professionals show up to an exhibition and start arguing about the rules, then it's textbook mini-dad behavior.

I'm confused, so your stance is that the MXdN shouldn't have rules?

Rules are expected, protesting another rider is silly at an exhibition.

 

Still confused, so they should have rules but if somebody doesn't follow them nobody should care?

You two apes really got to work this out.....

The event promoter and/or their official /referee should enforce the rules of the competition.  

That is independent of a protest.

Ok, so the rules SHOULDN'T matter. Got it. I think. 

Should've just let Webb ride his 450 in the MX2 class then, yeah? I mean if he did and someone protested, just call them a mini dad...

While I do believe that Crush has interpreted the rules the way the FIM intended them to be. I do not think they are crystal clear.  And could be interpreted differently. So I agree that they should rewrite the rule to make it  clear. 

Not being allowed to enter the grate area at all would not make sense. So I would assume that was only while You are looking at a gate to pick  one. After you pick the gate,  there seem to be no clear rules. If You assume that after You pick the gate that You can enter the starting area. You could also assume that You can have a crew member enter it, touch the gate, use tools, etc.   You could even interpret the rule that building a ramp was OK if there was a grate. Since it only restricts it when there is not a grate.   

  Since there is nothing saying that any of the rules apply to both types of starts there is a LOT left to interpretation .  Some people read the rule book to see what is Not allowed so they do not break a rule. Some read it to see what is not specifically   against the rules  so they can do things that may violate the spirit of the rules, but not the rule itself.  . How You interpret the rule may depend on how You are reading the rule book and how You want the rule to be interpreted.      I can see a lot of room for clarification . 

With all of that said, I can se why they would have protested. But I would not want to win like that. especially with how the race itself went. If Hunter had gotten a massive holeshot. Or started in front of a US rider and knocked them down , and cleaning the grate was a clear reason why he was able to get the jump  to start that or a similar chain of events. I might feel differently.  But not with the way the race happened. I'm glad that it did not impact the results.  I also think its good that the US managers were looking for every way possible to win.  I'm happy for Team  Australia and Team USA  as well as Tim Gaiser . Such a great race to watch. 

If I'm watching my kids Little league game I expect the umpire to enforce the rules of the game. I don't expect the coach to protest one of the players for a rule violation, if it was egregious then the umpire would have noticed. 

If my kid's team gets their college education paid for winning this game, then I would expect a the coach to protest if a player violated a rule that could impact the outcome of the game.

I can see Your point. And technically You are correct I guess about being an exhibition.  I disagree with Your opinion on the Protest. Not that I agree with the protest either. 

Have You ever been to an MXON?  I've only been to 1. But I was a member of the Irish MXON team and the environment of the race. The intensity of the racers, the pressure the riders feel. The pressure that everybody that had a job to do as a part of the team. The support from so many fans.    That along with so much more makes calling the race an exhibition an insult to everybody who is trying so hard.

  And  While I have not used national pride or service to buy my own lunch. My  brother, my Dad, my grandmother and grand father have all received some free lunches as a result of their service for the country and the people that respect that service , that offer free meals for Vets. I'm not saying that the MXON is on the same level as being in the military , but its a similar thing. There are things that You can not put a price on.

  I do think that riders should 100% not have to pay to go. And there should be some sort of prize money. There is a lot of money being spent at MXON's. There has to be a way to give back to the riders and teams that make the event happen.   

 Racing  in the MXON is also something that money alone can not buy. 

Just want to clarify, I do not want or  would agree if the results changed. I think rules should be clear to all competitors and enforced accordingly. As far as fastest team, Just ask James Stewart about the fastest always winning. Crap can happen at all points of a race.

I'm not saying MXdN is diminished in any way because it's an exhibition, It actually makes it even better because the top professionals in the world are willing to compete without a financial incentive.     I think it shows a lack of maturity to file a protest at an exhibition.          

Man at first glance I really mis-read that product name, wow. lol