AMA rules say no traction control but clearly James is running wheel sensors. So should the officials force the issue and tell him to remove them and the computer they are attached too?
Nope. But how does one prove the true purpose? Satellite receiver on the back of the bike, wheel sensors hidden from view. Could mean live fuel / air tweaking during the race and traction control. Could be seen as an unfair advantage by the privateers. I say do R&D off the track.
That's what I don't get. Why flirt with the rules and possibly get disqualified for something like this? Teams are going to bitch and rightfully so. Keep the R&D tricks off the racetrack. No reason to have wheel sensors other then TC. Data collection my ass.
I would suspect those bikes are inspected by the AMA prior to the races. If so and they pass teck I wouldn't see how he would be cheating
I like Stewarts answer to the traction control question. "man you guys are crazy" "obviously it didn't help, I think you guys were looking at a piece of dirt" He wasn't supprised the questioned was asked and he didnt deny it was TC. Just basically ignored the question and smiled. looks like more drama.
Just off the press: AMA officials located traction control device on James Stewart, it was located hidden in his right wrist and cleverly disguised as a wrist muscle which in turn connects to the brain.
That joke circulated years back when Mladin was accused of hiding TC. AFAIK they never found it on his bike either.
It came down to a definition of traction control. They weren't running wheel sensors, but they were doing rate of change torque management for years. Bazzaz developed all of that tech while leading the electronics work on Mladin's bike. When people were bitching about him having TC, he had TC.
I can't believe Erin Bates just outright asked him about his TC right there on the podium. Even if he had it, did she really think he would cop to cheating in front of the crowd on national television? What a dummy. I think that the tech inspectors would catch it if he had it. If he had something disallowed on his bike, you would think the officials would forbid him from racing until it was taken off. Bubba Stewart is a big deal, but not so big a deal that he gets his own set of rules.
Bubba is not the only one using sensors and GPS. Scott had it on his bike last year and both Bubba and another rider had them on last week in A1. The better question is are the factory teams using traction control? If they are that would be a great advancement in technology but against the rules and as such cheating. I think Erin was correct in asking the question, just maybe not the right timing. Either way we havent heard the last of this. BTW to respond to the superbike question, yes Mlladin had TC when it was illegal and everyone knew it but it was hard to prove. Anyone in the stands could hear it and yet he always maintained he didn't have it, that it was only for data aquisition. Sounds like the same story to me. I personally feel Bubba is being forced to put it on his bike by corporate management and that it is indeed TC. The AMA should ask all bikes to take the sensors off, including the O2 sensors and fuel management systems. It is an unfair advantage and makes it nearly impossible for the non factory teams to compete, which is boring as shit. Bubba lapped riders all the way to ninth place, is this because he is super fast or using technology? Hard to say until those items are removed. If Bubba is that fast then he doesn't need all the tech crap and should be happy to remove it to squash the debate.
