SHAWN GANN'S DISQUALIFICATION
Sat, 2008-09-27 22:35
An icepack falling from the body of his Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle
during a run was enough for the NHRA to disqualify rider Shawn Gann
from the event. They deemed the incident as a safety hazard.
Team owner Blake Gann said the team uses an icepack while sitting in the lanes to keep the gas tank temperatures down while they run. Such a procedure ensures a bike will perform at its highest potential when the time comes to run.
Gann said their team has a ritual when they fire the bike they automatically remove the icepack. He said a crewmember forgot this time. An icepack falling from the body of his Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle during a run was enough for the NHRA to disqualify rider Shawn Gann from the event. They deemed the incident as a safety hazard.
Team owner Blake Gann said the team uses an icepack while sitting in the lanes to keep the gas tank temperatures down while they run. Such a procedure ensures a bike will perform at its highest potential when the time comes to run.
Gann said their team has a ritual when they fire the bike they automatically remove the icepack. He said a crewmember forgot this time.
Before the next session, the NHRA made a sweep of the staging lanes and ordered any team covering their gas tanks to remove the items.
“Our crew man forgot to snatch it off and it fell off on the race track about the eighth-mile,” Gann admitted. “There’s not much of a performance advantage to riding with this on unless you want it to hit your rider and knock him off.”
Gann doesn’t understand why they were disqualified considering other teams have mistakenly launched with rock guards still attached to their bikes, as recently as last week and there was no punishment for such an offense.
Gann said the NHRA’s Elroy Adams, NHRA’s technical crew chief, handed down the disqualification at the scales.
“He was shaking the cool pack and telling me that it was dangerous and I was out of the event and another racer could have hit it,” Gann explained. “They picked it up right after the run.”
“He told me later that it all just struck him wrong. I don’t think he’s ever seen anything like that. We’ve been doing this for four years.”
Team owner Blake Gann said the team uses an icepack while sitting in the lanes to keep the gas tank temperatures down while they run. Such a procedure ensures a bike will perform at its highest potential when the time comes to run.
Gann said their team has a ritual when they fire the bike they automatically remove the icepack. He said a crewmember forgot this time. An icepack falling from the body of his Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle during a run was enough for the NHRA to disqualify rider Shawn Gann from the event. They deemed the incident as a safety hazard.
Team owner Blake Gann said the team uses an icepack while sitting in the lanes to keep the gas tank temperatures down while they run. Such a procedure ensures a bike will perform at its highest potential when the time comes to run.
Gann said their team has a ritual when they fire the bike they automatically remove the icepack. He said a crewmember forgot this time.
Before the next session, the NHRA made a sweep of the staging lanes and ordered any team covering their gas tanks to remove the items.
“Our crew man forgot to snatch it off and it fell off on the race track about the eighth-mile,” Gann admitted. “There’s not much of a performance advantage to riding with this on unless you want it to hit your rider and knock him off.”
Gann doesn’t understand why they were disqualified considering other teams have mistakenly launched with rock guards still attached to their bikes, as recently as last week and there was no punishment for such an offense.
Gann said the NHRA’s Elroy Adams, NHRA’s technical crew chief, handed down the disqualification at the scales.
“He was shaking the cool pack and telling me that it was dangerous and I was out of the event and another racer could have hit it,” Gann explained. “They picked it up right after the run.”
“He told me later that it all just struck him wrong. I don’t think he’s ever seen anything like that. We’ve been doing this for four years.”
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