Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
The sport revolves around Rossi.
If there is one thing we have learned about how DORNA operates in recent years, it is that 11th hour manipulation of the rolling rulebook is a handy tool to influence the sport in peculiar ways, often in a predictable theme.
After the news came out that Rossi had dropped his CAS case to have his penalty removed, it seemed at first a seemingly moot point. The ramifications did not immediately seem clear at the time. Except that Rossi’s penalty points would remain in place for a calendar year.
The rationale of carrying these penalty points over time is to discourage the offending behavior for which points are issued and accumulated in the first place. The idea is simple and intuitive, the two elements of time & accumulation tally remain to ensure that if the perpetrator continues this undesirable behavior the tally serves as a probationary period where further violations result in progressive punishment. The function of the penalty system 'seemingly' prompts Rossi (or rider in question) to be mindful about his actions and ride responsibly under the threat of additional sanctions if he chose to trample the principles and rules of fair competition.
The purpose of this penalty point system, ironically introduced in anticipation of Marc Marquez's reputation, which turns out to be useful to protect Marc Marquez from Valentino Rossi going forward, was introduced as a way to register infractions and the accumulation of which triggers certain sanctions. It is a way to catalog and register the severity of violations to punish riders who pose a danger or disregard the rules and principles of competition over time.
So what happens then if you eliminate or erode the fundamental elements necessary for this system to function, particularly: the probationary period & accumulation of points tallied? If you erode this dynamic the system loses its teeth, it's relevance, it's effectiveness and most importantly the message it's attempting to convey to the participants.
Rule change: DORNA have saw fit to erode this important dynamic of probationary period and accumulation by writing into the rulebook that a rider (with Rossi in mind no doubt) does not have to serve the sanction that was previously assigned to a specific points accumulation. For example, 4 points meant you started from the back of the grid. 7 points (edit) from the pit lane, 10 points a race ban, and so forth. DORNA have introduced a new 11th hour rule as follows: a rider may only serve a penalty once. Therefore, when Rossi's 1 penalty point expires, it will effectively mean the other 3 expire with it! If he were for example to accumulate 1 point after the 1 that expires, he would not have to start from the back of the grid as normally a rider would with 4 points. Which begs the obvious question, what points were responsible for the penalty to start from the rear of the grid at Valencia, the 3 points from Sepang or the 1 point from Misano? Neither. The penalty was a function of the accumulation of 1+3. Therefore the deterrent of the 3 remaining points should continue to serve as the ongoing restraining element vital to such a system. This probationary & aggregate component has now been eliminated!
The probationary period component has now been altered, eroded, weakened, effectively erased. The "reasoning" as weak as it is, attempts to advance a sophisticated lawyering notion that a rider who has served a penalty should not serve it again. However, this "reasoning" only serves to undermine the fundamental elements of this penalty system (one that already could be easily manipulated in favor by issuing an arbitrary minimum number of points).
The 3 points Rossi received for deliberately eliminating a fellow competitor through a violent action found to 'cause a crash' could be argued was lite, innocuous, well below the harsh necessary sanction for such an extraordinary violation (shelving the fact he was allowed to keep the 16 points ill gotten and a podium in the record books). But now DORNA have further made the sanction carry less of a punishment and less deterrent.
The penalty system was a system based on two key elements working in concert, a probationary period and an accumulation component. It is supposed to be blind to whom is the recipient as it serves to admonish a pattern of undesirable behavior and an ongoing deterrent. If the 3 points that remain after the 1 point expires does not serve as an 'ongoing deterrent' (after all, the recipient earned those points through a serious violation) then what is the point of having a system with an element of 'memory' in the form of tallying the accumulation of infractions?
It's further evidence that the League's executive or executives and marketing advicers sit at the table decidedly making rules changes in narrow focus for peculiar affect.
THE ROSSI RULE
(I'm going to coin: The Motorhome Rule)
Such a fitting nickname to a new piece in the shifting sand known as the GP rulebook, to go along with the Rossi-centric theme that has being going on for years.
Edit: 7 points result in a pit lane start.
If there is one thing we have learned about how DORNA operates in recent years, it is that 11th hour manipulation of the rolling rulebook is a handy tool to influence the sport in peculiar ways, often in a predictable theme.
After the news came out that Rossi had dropped his CAS case to have his penalty removed, it seemed at first a seemingly moot point. The ramifications did not immediately seem clear at the time. Except that Rossi’s penalty points would remain in place for a calendar year.
The rationale of carrying these penalty points over time is to discourage the offending behavior for which points are issued and accumulated in the first place. The idea is simple and intuitive, the two elements of time & accumulation tally remain to ensure that if the perpetrator continues this undesirable behavior the tally serves as a probationary period where further violations result in progressive punishment. The function of the penalty system 'seemingly' prompts Rossi (or rider in question) to be mindful about his actions and ride responsibly under the threat of additional sanctions if he chose to trample the principles and rules of fair competition.
The purpose of this penalty point system, ironically introduced in anticipation of Marc Marquez's reputation, which turns out to be useful to protect Marc Marquez from Valentino Rossi going forward, was introduced as a way to register infractions and the accumulation of which triggers certain sanctions. It is a way to catalog and register the severity of violations to punish riders who pose a danger or disregard the rules and principles of competition over time.
So what happens then if you eliminate or erode the fundamental elements necessary for this system to function, particularly: the probationary period & accumulation of points tallied? If you erode this dynamic the system loses its teeth, it's relevance, it's effectiveness and most importantly the message it's attempting to convey to the participants.
Rule change: DORNA have saw fit to erode this important dynamic of probationary period and accumulation by writing into the rulebook that a rider (with Rossi in mind no doubt) does not have to serve the sanction that was previously assigned to a specific points accumulation. For example, 4 points meant you started from the back of the grid. 7 points (edit) from the pit lane, 10 points a race ban, and so forth. DORNA have introduced a new 11th hour rule as follows: a rider may only serve a penalty once. Therefore, when Rossi's 1 penalty point expires, it will effectively mean the other 3 expire with it! If he were for example to accumulate 1 point after the 1 that expires, he would not have to start from the back of the grid as normally a rider would with 4 points. Which begs the obvious question, what points were responsible for the penalty to start from the rear of the grid at Valencia, the 3 points from Sepang or the 1 point from Misano? Neither. The penalty was a function of the accumulation of 1+3. Therefore the deterrent of the 3 remaining points should continue to serve as the ongoing restraining element vital to such a system. This probationary & aggregate component has now been eliminated!
The probationary period component has now been altered, eroded, weakened, effectively erased. The "reasoning" as weak as it is, attempts to advance a sophisticated lawyering notion that a rider who has served a penalty should not serve it again. However, this "reasoning" only serves to undermine the fundamental elements of this penalty system (one that already could be easily manipulated in favor by issuing an arbitrary minimum number of points).
The 3 points Rossi received for deliberately eliminating a fellow competitor through a violent action found to 'cause a crash' could be argued was lite, innocuous, well below the harsh necessary sanction for such an extraordinary violation (shelving the fact he was allowed to keep the 16 points ill gotten and a podium in the record books). But now DORNA have further made the sanction carry less of a punishment and less deterrent.
The penalty system was a system based on two key elements working in concert, a probationary period and an accumulation component. It is supposed to be blind to whom is the recipient as it serves to admonish a pattern of undesirable behavior and an ongoing deterrent. If the 3 points that remain after the 1 point expires does not serve as an 'ongoing deterrent' (after all, the recipient earned those points through a serious violation) then what is the point of having a system with an element of 'memory' in the form of tallying the accumulation of infractions?
It's further evidence that the League's executive or executives and marketing advicers sit at the table decidedly making rules changes in narrow focus for peculiar affect.
THE ROSSI RULE
(I'm going to coin: The Motorhome Rule)
Such a fitting nickname to a new piece in the shifting sand known as the GP rulebook, to go along with the Rossi-centric theme that has being going on for years.
Edit: 7 points result in a pit lane start.
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