Photo: Adam Roberts/CSBK
The official results of Sunday’s CSBK Pro Sport Bike race have been overturned, after a formal protest.
Sunday’s Pro Sport Bike race was red-flagged after an incident between leaders Sebastien Tremblay and Dylan Bauer. Tremblay and Bauer went down as Bauer tried to get inside for a pass. When all was said and done, the race was called and Tremblay was declared the winner.
This did not sit well with some viewers, who questioned how the racers who crashed out could take the top two podium spots. The next three racers in the finishing order (Tomas Casas, Will Hornblower, David McKay) protested the decision to the Motorcyclists Confederation of Canada, and the MCC’s Competition Council handed down a decision last night.
After taking into consideration the CSBK officials’ judgment after the incident, the MCC overruled the trackday decision and bumped Tremblay and Bauer to the back of the finishing order, meaning Casas, Hornblower and McKay are now ranked as finishers 1-2-3. This keeps Hornblower in the overall Pro Sport Bike points lead, with McKay behind him, and moves Casas up to sixth.
You can see the CSBK release regarding the MCC’s decision here, and the subsequent explanation of results in the presser below:
Press release
MCC announces Pro Sport Bike appeal verdict; Casas named round two Sport Bike winner
The Motorcyclists Confederation of Canada (MCC) announced on Tuesday that the provisional results of round two’s Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike race will be overturned, with Tomas Casas now awarded the victory last Sunday from Grand Bend Motorplex.
The original ruling by Canadian Superbike Championship officials saw race leader Sebastien Tremblay awarded the win and pole-sitter Dylan Bauer finish second, despite the two being involved in a collision resulting in a red flag stoppage.
A formal, written, on-time protest was then submitted minutes after the second National race by Pro Sport Bike class front runners David MacKay, Tomas Casas and Will Hornblower. This trio opposed the at-track decision, leading to the MCC and its appeal committee deciding the fate of Sunday’s race and its impact on the championship.
In a release sent to CSBK officials, their decision was announced as follows:
“After careful consideration the MCC Tribunal decided to uphold the protest and overrule the at track decision. The two riders involved in the race stopping incident (competitors who fell) positions will be placed respectively at the end of the results and all other competitors will move ahead two positions.”
The ruling will mean that Tremblay and Bauer will now be officially scored as the 15th and 16th place finishers, respectively.
“The decision was not black and white,” the release continues. “We do not believe that Dylan Bauer’s actions were intentional, but we did feel that he was the ultimate cause of the red flag. We felt that Sebastien Tremblay was the unfortunate victim however his crash did contribute to the red flag and subsequent end of the race. Based on the rules as written, the two riders (Dylan Bauer & Sebastien Tremblay) were deemed to have caused the race stopping incident and as stated in F(7) will be placed at the back of their respective lap.”
The final decision will now carry significant implications for the Sport Bike championship, with points leader Will Hornblower and current runner-up David MacKay ultimately joining the podium for the second time in as many races.
The original results would have meant an eleven-point lead for Hornblower over Tremblay; Hornblower will now instead lead MacKay by 17 points, with Tremblay sitting tied with Bauer for tenth in the championship.
Two-time defending class champion Casas will also draw back into the title hunt, as the win brings him to sixth in the overall point standings and within 14 points of the top three, as opposed to an original 29-point deficit for the Parts Canada Yamaha rider.
However, the results all but signal the end for Tremblay and his 2019 Sport Bike hopes, as the injured Turcotte Performance Kawasaki rider now finds himself 61 points behind the series lead with five races remaining.
Though nothing is confirmed, a team member had indicated that Tremblay may not finish the year in the Sport Bike category, instead electing to focus on the Mopar Pro Superbike class when again healthy.
The final revised results will shortly be found on the series official website at www.csbk.ca, as well as the updated class standings.
This just in –
Thank you for your question, the MCC tribunal was created in the spring of 2019 at the request of management at the Motorsports Racing Corporation (Canadian Rockstar Arena Cross Series and Supercross Motocross series). The ask came at the request of their race teams to have a fair, impartial and arms length tribunal ready to provide dispute resolution when it is not possible to do so “at the track”. MRC formerly CMRC, Canadian SuperBike, and other major motorcycle racing organizations have been members of MCC for many years. MCC and the Competition Council members agreed to accept the responsibility because collectively we have the expertise from the leaders of the major racing organizations along with other impartial motorcycling experts in Canada already assembled, who are ready and willing to take on the responsibility.
When CSBK had the unfortunate incident in Grand Bend last weekend, the promoters of the series asked MCC’s Tribunal to review and rule on the registered protest. MCC’s role is to provide an impartial and unbiased decision on a dispute, within 72 business hours for the incident. Each time the Tribunal is asked to make a ruling the panel selects from among its members the ones who do not have any interest or real/perceived conflict in the outcome whatsoever.
The MCC Tribunal does not interfere in the decision making process for any race organization in Canada, unless specifically asked to do so by the race promoter.
MCC is much more than Competition motorcycling, in fact, MCC is “the Voice” for on-road, off-road and competition motorcycling in Canada and our members are derived from the Canadian provincial motorcycle organizations and most of the national race series organizations from across the country. I would invite you to check us out at motorcycling.ca.
In this case they were used as an independent body to make the decision, because the decision that was being protested was one that was made by CSBK at the track.
I’m curious as to what exactly the MCC has to do with all this – are they somehow the overseeing, sanctioning body ?
One might have thought something like this could have been handled internally by CSBK ?
Anyone, Bueller ???
I was contacted by a representative of the MCC clarifying their position and responsibilities in all this – expect a new press release shortly.