Cog Conspiracy?

SRT-USA penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct AND now leads RA championship?
That sounds like my kind of penalty!
Who has the real story?

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Ted Mendham
www.rensport.net

The SRT-4 was so fast, it traveled ahead in time to win, but that was considered unsportsmanlike. At least that's what I heard on NASIOC. =)

or is that Subaru rally team? I'm so confused!

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2007 09:20AM by fiasco.

from SS:

Originally Posted by Lawrence Partington
By my unofficial scoring Pastrana and Block are now tied for the RA champioship lead just one point ahead of Pinker. Should make for an exciting finale at LSPR

actually, that's not the case. srt usa was cited for unsportsman-like conduct, given a fine, 1 year probation, and all drivers and co-drivers were docked 5 points. not sure why, but i heard rumors so i won't flame them. though, someone who knows should start a new thread and tell us.
__________________
-Mark Malsom
www.nocoastmotorsports.net

Was there a penalty?
Will it stick?
Championship points?

Either this is all BS or RA should clarify.
We internet pundits love a good controversy!

Maybe SRT-USA hired Nigel Stepney?

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Ted Mendham
www.rensport.net

What's the deal with canceling stages because of mud?
If it's going to be bad because it might rain, and seems it occassionally rains there in Colorado, and the geniuses know it turns to gumbo/ and they have to cancel, sounds like it's an unsuitable road to use, since it DOES rain.

Maybe unrelated and maybe not re the Spplemental Regs with the NO COMPETING STICKERS---or will not be allowed to start" hard ass bullshit---later revised after justified HOWLS of derision and redicule--- seems our old favorite "behind the scenes slime ball" who has the licks to get the job done" Kurtie Spitzner was Rally Master.

Cancellations of stages last years all over the place, Wild West forest miles all cancelled , HALF of Cog milage cancelled.
Are these the same gang that was going to put on USAs WRC round as announced in the Press a few years ago?

I guess driving half way cross country and paying a thousand bucks is a big crapshoot if you expect to drive for more than an hour, maybe.

Meh, it's only money.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

John,
Yer and my bro Kurt has been hooked up with Rally Colorado fer a while. Not really news.

Most everyone hates losing stages.

The professionals are pretty quiet about this one though. The quieter they are, the more it smells to me.
Ted

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Ted Mendham
www.rensport.net

tedm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> John,
> Yer and my bro Kurt has been hooked up with Rally
> Colorado fer a while. Not really news.
>
> Most everyone hates losing stages.

I imagine them's that actually pays for travel and entries out of wages hates it even more'n t'others.
>
> The professionals are pretty quiet about this one
> though. The quieter they are, the more it smells
> to me.

What Professionals?

As for quiet and stinking, when Kurtie was (somehow) Rally boss, how many times was there a huge mess and the inappropriately named Spitzners' answer was DEAD SILENCE----and instructions to the Board Memebers "Never post on SS.com".

Somebody once said "How do you know if Spitzner is lying?......."
You know the answer.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Since the competitors have all paid road use fees, do they get these back if stages are cancelled?
I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but I rally in Canada and haven't run into this yet.

-Martin.

There was a slight chance of rain on Sunday. There is one stage that goes to complete crap if it rains, and another that stays okay, unless it rains hard.

One stage was cancelled on Saturday because competitors didn't want to run it without a real zero car (they ran a Suburban ambulance as zero car). It's disputed which competitor it was, but I first heard it was Block, then later Tanner. Tanner's crew changed tranny and rear diff so he'd have good reason to want to skip any stage possible. Word on the radio though was that is was Block though.

The weather was calling for 70 degrees and scattered storms possible. The scattered storms were worse than expected and hit the northern stages hard. Those stages become slippier than snow and ice when wet, which we have ran on at Cog before. The amount of water on them yesterday would have changed the stage to an exercise in rally car rescue operations.

Oh, and not to forget, the stages have good exposures and no trees to catch your car or slow your descent.

At least one or two cars each year have been complete write offs at Cog. You just keep rolling and rolling and rolling. A SRT USA WRX, a Corrado, a Jetta, a Civic, a Sentra, an Evo, a STI, another WRX, another WRX, a Volvo, and a Golf have all been claimed by this rally that I can think of off hand.

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Grant Hughes



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2007 12:27PM by NoCoast.

Again, from SS.com stage cancellation thread:

"The SRTUSA team has been found in violation of Article 8.5.C.1 by Rally America and has been penalized 5 points in the championship standings, and given 1 year of probation."

What's up with this?

Do you think the penalty will hold?

I think Ron Dennis would make a statement. And, I think SRT-USA are the closest thing US rallying has to a professional team.

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Ted Mendham
www.rensport.net



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2007 01:30PM by tedm.

"There are a bunch of RA forums that are only visible to subgroups of rally folks (like organizers)".

Is there an RA Steward's forum that explains penalties?

Doug didn't even know about a penalty?
The championship must not matter much to anyone.

Any word anywhere from Christian yet?

That's why I love RA, everything looks freat until a day later when the "real" stories start coming to light.

{freat was a typo until I went to fix it and discovered I made up a fucking great new word - accidentally}

freat=fubar? ;-)

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Ted Mendham
www.rensport.net

Hmmm, Christian and his posse quiet like Catholic Priests moving on to a new parish (LSPR). It's not like them. Mostly, they like to empower the little people.

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Ted Mendham
www.rensport.net

I am sitting here with my attorney Raoul Duke who is going through the 2007 RA rulebook. He says that the only penalty that he can find specifically calls for a loss of 5 championship points is Art. 8.2. OTHER PENALTIES C. ADDITIONAL PENALTIES 12. "loss of 5 championship points for second offense of tampering with event equipment during a Championship year", which is on page 63

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Ted Mendham
www.rensport.net

tedm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am sitting here with my attorney Raoul Duke who
> is going through the 2007 RA rulebook. He says
> that the only penalty that he can find
> specifically calls for a loss of 5 championship
> points is Art. 8.2. OTHER PENALTIES C. ADDITIONAL
> PENALTIES 12. "loss of 5 championship points for
> second offense of tampering with event equipment
> during a Championship year", which is on page 63

That rule was specifically written to prohibit teams from turning off the TV cameras to prevent recording of their cheating, most commonly using pace notes.





Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2007 10:35PM by CommanderSalamander.

CommanderSalamander Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> That rule was specifically written to prohibit
> teams from turning off the TV cameras to prevent
> recording of their cheating, most commonly using
> pace notes.
>
>
>
Thank you for this first bit of insight on a likely possibility.
>
>
> Edited 3 times. Last edit at Sep 25, 2007 by
> CommanderSalamander.

Edited 3 times??

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.