James Stewart rights his bike on TV with the aid of the Asterisk medical crew. Ooops.
Dear MXA,
I read your “Ask the MXperts” answer about Mike Alessi pulling over, and decided to ask a question of my own. Shouldn’t James Stewart be disqualified for receiving outside assistance to get back on his bike after his Daytona Supercross crash. Don’t the rules state that the rider cannot receive any help outside the designated mechanics area?
Yes, the rules do say that “assistance by crewmembers” is only permitted in the designated area, but the rest of the rule reads as follows:
"Outside assistance to a rider on the course is forbidden at all times except when the assistance is given by flag marshals or officials placed by the Race Director for the purpose of control and safety...."
This is normally meant to mean that flag men and AMA officials can help get an injured rider or bike off the track to protect the safety of the other riders or the fallen rider. Stewart should not be disqualified because, until the AMA makes a clear call on who is an “AMA official” and what their actual duties are, no one knows who’s official and whose not.
It is obvious in this case that the Asterisk Medical Crew overstepped their authority...and in fact, forgot that they are there for medical help, not mechanical help. To the untrained medical eye, Stewart looked confused (he even thought that a Tuf Block was his bike at first). He was staggering around and disoriented, but the Asterisk crew never looked at him...instead they righted his bike, picked him up, patted the seat to show him where to sit and got him back in the race. In essence they sent a rider out on the track who might well have crashed or caused another rider to crash because of an undiagnosed condition. Luckily, Stewart stayed up and cleared his head—no thanks to his medical help. Shame on Asterisk. That was wrong on so many counts. They need to go back for remedial training on what they are actually at the races for.
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