AMA clarifies Duhamel situation

By John Hopkins

DAYTONA BEACH, FL -- The AMA has acknowledged that Canadian factory Honda rider Miguel Duhamel should not have been allowed to continue in Saturday's Daytona 200 by Honda after he pitted with a clutch problem at the end of the opening lap.

The Montreal rider was permitted to rejoin the race on his back-up CBR600RR, but was black flagged near the finish after it became clear he shouldn't have been allowed to continue.

In a rule introduced this year, a rider is allowed to restart a race on a back-up bike before two laps have been officially completed, but only in a red flag situation.

"At the time that Duhamel changed motorcycles, an AMA race official, who is not the AMA Chief Steward or the Race Manager, was asked by the Honda team if there was time for the bike swap and the race official incorrectly indicated that there was time," stated a release from the AMA. "Riders and crew chiefs acknowledge that they have read and understand the rules as a condition of AMA competition."

"After an exhaustive review, it became clear that the conditions stated in the rules that permit a bike change were not present," said Keith Kizer, the AMA's senior director of racing, in the press release. "We apologize to Duhamel and the Honda Racing team for allowing him to continue racing but we wanted to provide Duhamel any benefit of the doubt before issuing the black flag."

Duhamel was classified 67th in the race with one lap completed, last among those who started the 69-lap event.

Scott Decker of Fort Saskatchewan, AB was classified 57th in the race after completing 18 laps on his Suzuki GSX-R600X.