Posts
644
Joined
6/26/2014
Location
Southern MD, MD
US
Edited Date/Time
4/19/2018 8:22am
Paging vital keyboard experts! Friends and I are having a discussion on the starting gate rule in MX that states you cannot prep in front of the gate. Can someone post the actual verbiage in the rule book?
View point 1: you cannot cross the gate. The “gate” being the physical part that drops. You can lift up the metal plate under it to get the dirt off, but you can’t step over the gate.
View point 2: rider in the picture is OK because while he is in front of the gate, he’s standing on that metal plate and at no point did his feet go in front of the pin.
So it really comes down to what specifically is considered the “gate”. Which part of the “gate” can you not go across while prepping? Let’s hear it.
View point 1: you cannot cross the gate. The “gate” being the physical part that drops. You can lift up the metal plate under it to get the dirt off, but you can’t step over the gate.
View point 2: rider in the picture is OK because while he is in front of the gate, he’s standing on that metal plate and at no point did his feet go in front of the pin.
So it really comes down to what specifically is considered the “gate”. Which part of the “gate” can you not go across while prepping? Let’s hear it.
To clarify the question about what is defined as “gate”...
Anything that is metal and part of the material that constructs the gate, is considered the gate. So, the rider pictured is fine as long as the boot is not touching the dirt on the track side of that flat metal strip that is part of the gate frame. The metal strip can be wiped off with your hands or feet without a problem and be within the rules.
NOTE: to eliminate anyone from freaking out... instruct your rider to simply lift the bar part of the gate straight up from the pit side of the gate bar and clean that flat metal frame with their hands. Lifting the bar straight up also allows you to clear dirt away between the frame and the bar that drops to ensure it fully drops flat.
New rule this year states that the front wheel cannot be further than 12 inches behind where the gate bar drops because many tracks don’t have a proper back stop and to stop mini riders from creeping to get a running start.
I’m an AMA ref, btw.
https://youtu.be/pWRX7iWzet8
The Shop
Wonder how far exactly Vince is from gate....
In a local race a couple of years ago, some racer's dad was in front of the gate making the sand all smooth. When I mentioned that he was not supposed to be doing that, he asked me if this was a pro race. LOL
I wanted to scream, NO FARMING IN FRONT OF THE GATE!! LOL
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