<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Stevo @ Jul 21 2009, 08:57 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>He'd have probably got off with a warning if it wasn't for him taking out Sylvain at Donny. It's just a shame the 5 guys he took out in this one got excluded from the result too - especially as it robbed Simon Andrews of what looked like being his well deserved first win.
Could this guys luck possibly get any worse?
I'm not too sure what Stuart Higgs was on about when he explained that rule, as I'm sure in the past they've usually only DQ'ed the guy that caused the red flag to come out.
Very true, but the Donington incident was claimed by Brookes to be brake failure which was supported by his team but not accepted by stewards. the fact that it happened on a warm-up lap no doubt played into stewards mind but many riders approach warm-up laps differently, some take their time whilst other rush.
But, as for the Mallory incident I am happy to argue that Brookes did not take out 5 riders but 1 (Andrews). All remaining riders fell in their own incident which yes was caused in part by Brookes off but he did not impact them nor did he force them off track.
There is some argument that the riders fell on fluid dumped by Brookes machine but in that case why only those five bikes fell is interesting given that the fuluid would have remained on track and as shown in the video, other bikes make the turn successfully.
In a separate forum I have discussed with others the accident as when you stop the video at 17 seconds ir is clear that there had been another fall on that corner recently (note apparent fluid line at Brookes' body and mark in grass at end of that line).
There is no doubt that Brookes got in a little hot but the accident was caused by his loss of control under heavy braking as the rear of the bike hit the bump which put the wheels out of alignment and, well the rest is obvious. Yes it was an accident and a racing one at that but the vitriol that has been poured at Brookes in some forums (not here) is a disgrace as racers are meant to pass, racers will take risks that sometimes don't pay off - that is all this incident is.
As for the Red Flag, well the cause needs to be identified as from my understanding it was not Brookes/Andrews but the following riders that caused the Red Flag as they had blocked (well almost) the track. But as you say the issue they had was the Red Flag rules that applied as in BS the riders must return to the pits within a specific timeframe (happy to be corrected) and all riders failed to do so. In some countries (Australia as the example) the rules allow all riders with the exception of the cause of the Red Flag to restart.
Whether the offence deserved a 2 race ban is arguable as it is something we see often at races and yes, many riders make the same mistake but what is done is done. Now the issue will be consistency by the stewards and whether they will continue to suspend riders (repeat offenders) irrespective of whether it be a lowside, highside etc. That is where my interest lay, we have a precedent that has now been set so will it be followed.
Garry
