In the past, this rule provided for disqualification of the rider by the Race Direction. Many people felt that it was unfair to apply the rule to the letter because, in the majority of cases, the rider actually took quite a number of seconds to return to the track. Accordingly, in the 1980s, the jury members tended to interpret the legislator’ intention: given that main point was to avoid a rider obtaining an advantage, they sometimes chose not to penalise the rider. In the early 1990s, an additional phrase was added to the rule by way of clarification to the effect that it was applicable only when the rider did not gain an advantage. This reflects a basic principle that underpins many of our rules.
The regulations contain other provisions that would repay examination from a legislative point of view. For example, after a red flag, it is stated in the rules that the riders must return to the pits within five minutes without taking any shortcuts. In the majority of cases this is simply not possible in such a short time. Perhaps it would be worth interpreting the rule in such a way as to take the legislator’s intentions into account. In particular, why only five minutes? Why not thirty, for example? Especially when there is no other competition to follow.
As regards advances in motorcycle technology, it should be borne in mind that many of these developments are subsequently applied to motorcycles sold commercially so as to make them better products. Technology is a marvellous thing and brings us a host of benefits. Nevertheless, in motor sport, an excess of sophistication may lead to the formulation of abstruse rules that most spectators do not understand, and which detract from the spectacle by making the competitors’ driving skills more difficult to appreciate. Fortunately, this is not the case with races on two wheels.
For all these reasons, it is important that the rules of any sport should be clear and simple so that even a child can understand them.
