Chaz Davies wins Daytona 200
Shock win for young gun Brit in his first Daytona 200 race as Josh Hayes disqualified by AMA officials
CHAZ DAVIES has become Britain's first-ever Daytona 200 winner by default after initial victor Josh Hayes was disqualified by AMA officials when they found his race-winning machine to be in violation of the AMA Road Race rulebook.
"We've appealed their decision and basically that's our side of it,"
Rick Hobbs, Hayes' crew chief said. "We've appealed the technical
inspection and also the penalty, disqualification." He added, "At
this point we're not going to make any statement on what our version
is until we file the appropriate paperwork with them."
The crankshaft on the race-winning Honda was found to be "polished,
surface treated and metal was removed from it," AMA Pro Racing said
in a press release announcing the infraction. "This is in violation
of the 2008 AMA rulebook section 5.4."
The release cites a section of the rulebook which states that for
multi-cylinder liquid-cooled machines, homologated crankshaft "may
not be altered from the originally homologated model except that the
"Bearing surfaces may be polished or surface treated."
The press release was issued late Saturday night, well after team
owner Kevin Erion had left Daytona International Speedway. He was
told by a team member of the infraction just before returning to his
home in California.
The appeal process begins with the filing, which "must be received at AMA Racing headquarters by 5:00 p.m. on the third business day after notification to the participant via fax, telephone, or mail of the ruling or incident in question," according to the AMA Road Race
rulebook. The appeal board, which is chosen by the Senior Director of Racing, consists of three people "with no material interest in the matter at hand," the rulebook states. The appeal must take place
within 45 days of the incident.
