Really? Black Flagged?
by Chris | Jun 03, 2009 |
I don’t claim to condone some of the shit Jason Lawrence has done over the last two seasons, but I am convinced he is getting an unfair rap. As I was standing with Jason and his mechanic as we all waited for the second 450 moto to stage, I witnessed everything that supposedly led to his gate penalty and ultimately, the black flag. That said, he got screwed!
In the first 450 moto, Lawrence busted his master cylinder… yes, you read correctly. As I heard one mechanic say, “I don’t think I could bust off the master with a sledgehammer.” So, you can imagine Lawrence, and his mechanic Toshi, were more than a little worried about the brakes in the second moto. The 450 guys all gathered behind the start gate after the second 250 moto, but the wait was excruciatingly long due to the live coverage. So, during the wait, Lawrence hopped on his bike and putted it back and forth tapping the brakes for about 20 seconds. With that, he returned the bike to Toshi and went about his business chatting with Josh Grant and Josh Hill. Within minutes, an AMA official pulled him aside and told him he was stripped of his fourth gate pick and would have to start from the 40th. Naturally, J-Law flipped. He yelled and mouthed off (as most of us would have done) and then threatened not to move from his gate.
Eventually, they coaxed him into his 40th gate, and everything seemed to be right with the world again… then he got black flagged. The word is that he jumped the gate, which is against the rules… but after personal inspection of the AMA rulebook, I found that jumping the gate does not warrant a black flag. It clearly states that “In the event of a rider jumping the starting device, he shall be penalized one lap.” Hmmm, one lap is a little different than a black flag.
I dug deeper. Where does it say Jason Lawrence can’t check his brakes while there is an indefinite wait for TV scheduling? And where does it say he is to be docked gate picks? I couldn’t find it.
Is J-Law wreckless? Yes. Did he deserve to race at Hangtown? Yes. Just sayin.
6 Comments for this entry
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About Chris Kinman
Editor at TransWorld Motocross. He presides over the website, writes features, and shoots photos for the magazine. When he is not tapping computer keys or slowing others down at the track, he can be found at one of the skateparks around Southern California.
June 4th, 2009 on 9:07 pm
Well I'm not to much of a Lawrence fan but fair is fair. If its not stated in the rule book then what gives them the right to make up rules….oh wait its AMA, that's right there just as bad as congress, lets make shit up as we go they would say….
June 4th, 2009 on 9:48 pm
What can we do to help J-Law? Seriously.
June 5th, 2009 on 12:41 am
j-law didnt just jump the gate, he slammed his bike into the gate intentionally and out of spite. That is why they blacked flagged him. Heck, he shouldnt have been there, he should have been in jail for stealing from the MC rig. He has brought all of this onto himself.
June 5th, 2009 on 1:11 am
Karma is a bizznatch, but i really feel for jlaw he is generally one of my top ten riders for every race i "predict"
June 5th, 2009 on 1:28 am
ahhh this sucks for j-law…im a huge fan and supporter of his and not just because of his antics, but his style on a bike and the way he shows that not all motocrossers are robots going threw the motions all the time. being a pro snowboarder it reminds me of the canadian snowboarder who won gold in the olympics in japan while having pot in his blood test, they stripped him of his medal temporarily but gave it back eventually, but if u talk to any real snowboarder out there they shoulda given him 2 gold medals for winning while high..just think how much he woulda smoked the competition if he was sober…just like j-law…the kids got more talent then almost anyone on a bike, noone out there can deny it, and he is getting screwed over pretty hard….if they ama lightened up and he was there on it every weekend..this championship would have a far different points battle i believe
October 15th, 2009 on 9:56 pm
One day you'll update your blog.