Yamaha on Chisholm Supercross Controversy

Monday, April 27, 2009

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“I know I made a mistake during the race and take full responsibility for my actions. It was never my intention to make contact with James Stewart or Chad Reed." - Kyle Chisholm

L&M's Team San Manuel Yamaha rider Kyle Chisholm was black flagged and asked to leave the race track for a move race officials felt was unsportsmanlike at round 16 of the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series, an FIM World Championship, April 26th, Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Upon further review, the FIM ruled that Chisholm interfered with another racers progress. As a result, he was disqualified from the Salt Lake City Supercross main event, fined and not allowed to race the series final in Las Vegas, NV this May 2nd.

According to Team Manager Larry Brooks, “We've discussed the incident at length with Kyle and firmly believe, as a Team, that he would never do anything intentionally unsportsmanlike that would jeopardize himself or another rider. I really believe Kyle when he told me, and the FIM, that he had made a mistake on the track.” Brooks added, “While I am certain that Kyle's error on the track was a result of a personal error in riding technique, we have to support the FIM's ruling.” “I know Kyle is truly regretful for the concern he's caused his Team, sponsors and race fans; it's an unfortunate situation for everyone.”

Chisholm, after working his way through a tough section of the track, found himself in between San Manuel Yamaha teammate James Stewart and competing rider Chad Reed. Kyle came into a corner with too much speed, applied the brakes, trying to stop his forward momentum, and accidentally struck the rear tire of his own teammate Stewart before catching the foot peg of Reed's bike. As a result, Chisholm himself was thrown off his Yamaha and into the tuff blocks; he remounted and subsequently asked to leave the track by AMA officials.

From Kyle Chisholm “I know I made a mistake during the race and take full responsibility for my actions. It was never my intention to make contact with James Stewart or Chad Reed however, I must respect the ruling of the FIM and accept the consequences as a result. I want to express my sincere apologies to our Team, our sponsors and to race fans everywhere.”

At this time, Brooks is undecided as to what further actions the Team will take regarding the incident.

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Comments

Triple Jump - Chishlom's Decision/Cheat May 2, 2009 08:05 PM
Plain and simple-Chishlom-was helping his teammate but the question is why, only Chishlom knows that for sure but for most of us the incident was deliberate, at least that's my opinion. The disregard for the rules, the straight line, and the roost tells the story, no discussion. Now what should be done-in my opinion the team should lose any and all points won in this race, fined, and Chishlom should be banned from AMA Racing forever.

derek forrester - mx is a growing sport and if stewarts team doesnt man up- it wont grow May 2, 2009 12:50 AM
Chisholm did not take a race line to advance his finish. Anyone who rides MX can review the tape and see him offset his hips and weight on the wrong side of his line. I have it paused now on HiDEF in 4:3 and see his butt off the tank when his line said it should be on the seat. I will not rest to destroy the name of FIM, Yamaha and whoever took over the AMA if Stewarts team is not penalized. rubbings racing but BS is BS

The rooster - salt lake supercross May 1, 2009 06:22 PM
I like Reed and Stewart "it's Motocross" The Mud The Blood and the beer. Anything can and will happen Reed shouldn't have been so trusting of a lapped rider.specially a blue bike. The reason Chisholm was being lapped was because he is not as good or fast as Reed. and as for reeds comment at the end his team mate gets hole shots and its on that will only happen if he makes it to the main, he didn't in salt lake.. ride ride fast as you can you can't catch him he's a bubba Stewart man.... well as long as he doesn't crash hahaha

ridrKid - reed stewart May 1, 2009 06:04 PM
This is Chads last year to win a championship, with Bubba and all the young stars coming up. He only won championships when RC and Bubba were out. Reedy only looks good now because Bubba is riding more cautious, afraid of giving it to Reedy. JUst race GUYS....forget all the drama!!

JAY - Saly lake supercross May 1, 2009 12:36 AM
i'm a fan of both and have seen dirty riding before and to say it was planned is just an excuse to say reed sould have won reed had been riding a bit dirty at the race and if james would of crashed on the tough blocks would the tables of turned, that stunt cost james several seconds and he caught back up.no excuses why reed couldn't catch back up.james has been on fire and lately hes been being more cautious and thats the only reason reed has looked strong.James would of won and will win at vegas. so stop crying you reed fans.enjoy vegas.

Max - A "roost" is worth 1000 words April 30, 2009 04:18 PM
If you have the race on tape, play the incident on frame by frame slow motion (I did several times), it looks like Reed is going to slip around the outside untouched, then you can see a roost of dirt fly off Chisholm's rear tire! He cracked on the throttle to make sure he hit Reed, absolutely no question, dirt does not spit out from your back tire if you're braking. The guy was getting lapped and had no business even getting that close.

Nathan - What cant people understand? April 30, 2009 02:51 PM
Yes, Reed did make contact with Stewart during the race, he was fighting for the lead. Chisholm made contact with Reed, Chisholm was being lapped and violated the rules by t-boning Reed, simple as that. He had no business in coming into Reed, its complete crap.

jeff - salt lake city April 30, 2009 01:59 PM
chislom is a dirty rider. you can watch the video and when reed and stewart pass him he speeds up over that next section and straight lines into reed ......and he wants to say it was an accident that was planned

rick - reed April 29, 2009 09:32 AM
how bout reed tryin to run james off the track??? that wasnt dirty riding??? cmon!!!

BP-Salt Lake SX - Chisholm--who's that guy? What a disgrace! April 29, 2009 08:16 AM
I am not a fan of Stewart or Reed however they are both incredible talents. James is probably one of the most exciting riders to watch but other than that I am not a fan. So this is life after RC, we finally have a legit battle and some moron back marker probably made the worst decision of his short career ( and likely soon to be shorter). My point is Kyle just ruined the Championship! How does he sleep at night being such a loser and a cheater. Stewart is by far the faster of the two, he is also a mental midget. Reed was finally aggressive and was treating the fans to great battle to have his concentration broken by a cheat. It is just a disapointment that something like this will ultimately put a question mark on the title if Stewart wins this weekend. Maybe Chad should make sure his team mate actually can make the main to give him some help this weekend!

why - cheaters April 28, 2009 06:51 PM
stewart knows he cheated. where was his million dollar smile? ooo i know it was behind a wall of lies! all u stewart fans just keep take n up 4 him u cant run from the truth he cheated!!!!

Lee - Bubba the cheat April 28, 2009 06:29 PM
Look at the line he took it was not a race line. He cut straight across the corner in a perpendicular path to the corner and Reed. You can not make that corner at that angle. And is you look at his rear tire it is spinning kicking up dirt not sliding and locked up like it would be if he was on the brakes. Bubba is the Tanya Harding of Supercross, he should have points docked.

Tyler B. - Racists, all you SX fans. April 28, 2009 04:34 PM
You guys must be those racists that Bubba is going to talk about tonight on ESPN. How could you think Chisholms topedo-like launch into Reed was intentional? (sarcasm)

Dtay - Stewarts (PLAN B) April 28, 2009 02:15 PM
If you can't win, have someone else do it for you!! Team work should equal team penalty! NICE PLAN B STEWY

Evan - $5,000 no problem April 28, 2009 12:50 PM
Is that all $5,000 and you too can buy the title. Well at Vegas I hope that Mike Alessi jumps off his bike and tackles James Stewart then walks off with a check for $5,000 made out to the AMA Kyle Chisholm pay back fund. The team should have lost points. This is the best season in years dating back to Carmichael vs McGrath and now it's over. Too bad for the fans!

Joe - Kyle Chisholm April 28, 2009 12:46 PM
Why was Kyle so far back in the race anyways. It was almost as if he were sitting there waiting for the leaders to come around so he could disrupt Chad Reed. I hope that if James wins the championship, they mark it with a big asterik.

matt - salt lake supercross April 28, 2009 12:29 PM
I cant believe yamaha is defending what kyle did. From what I saw there was no question it was intentional. James is on fire and may have won the title anyway but thanks for screwing up a great title fight. I was pulling for Reed not because i dont like stewart but i think Chad deserves it. At the same time if James would have won there is no argument he also deserves it after an incredible comeback. Sad to think James will probably win and no one will really ever no if hes the true champ.

MX Mom - salt lake supercross April 28, 2009 10:59 AM
Look at the tapes again guys.. chisolm received the blue flag at least four times prior to the first incident where he let James passon the turn then pulled out causing Reed to get off his line and scubbing time off his speed, then he proceeded to "race" Reed into the corner and scrub more time. Not even Lawrence would have pulled that. In the article he apoligizes to James- his team and SPONSERS not one apoligy to Reed or his team.

MTGR - Corporate backpedalling April 28, 2009 07:50 AM
No team at this level, in this position, at this stage of the year has NOT discussed how their 2nd rider should react to being lapped by the title contenders. If San Man Yam did not do so they should be disqualified on that alone! This latest release is just an attempt to cover their corporate a***s. Have the 2nd guy fall on a sword with full blame and claim ignorance to distance yourself from it. Video of the hit and common sense just don't support it. Whether you like Reed or Bubba or think they are both babies (which I do) you have to agree something is not right here or these discussions would not still be going on. F1 fined a team 100 million and took away their teams' points for a whole season based on just the SUSPICION of gaining an unfair advantage in an unethical way - the Chisholm take out is on film! The AMA/FIM need to do something to set an example here or the whole sport looks like a joke and Suzuki has no choice but to play by the "real rules" the organizers' lack of action would suggest.

Andy-Kentucky - Salt Lake Supercross April 28, 2009 07:31 AM
The bottom line after watching the footage about 10 times; the act was malicious and planned. AT MINIMUM the team should be stripped of the points gained from that race, plus the suspension of chisholm. If anyone thinks that wasnt planned and executed from the top down...... At any rate, Las Vegas is gonna be the race of all races! I agree with andy. Stewart will have a huge target on his back at vegas. In closing, I think Chad showed a tremendous amount of class on the podium! Back in the day.....It would have been on for sure!!

MTGR - Do the right thing April 28, 2009 07:27 AM
What I don't quite understand is- if the Bubba-Boys are so sure Stewy will win no matter what why would they be so opposed to his team being disqualified for illegal team tactics or because he got a possible unfair advantage? So he goes into Vegas even on points or even behind Reed, so what? Clearly he will just dominate and Reed can't beat him so he will still win the title anyway right? Don't they want it clear that he is so fast that even with the odds against him he will still win? (Like RC still did even when they took away his points lead because his fuel had traces of lead). Or are they admitting Stewy can't handle the pressure and he might come apart like a cheap watch? That has never happened to Stewy before - as long as you exclude his entire career to this point that is.

joe - salt lake super cross April 28, 2009 07:11 AM
chad reed is a cry baby. he will always be second to steward and 3rd if ricky was out their. he,s good but not at there level

andy - salt lake supercross April 28, 2009 04:29 AM
It easily could have cost him 3-4 seconds. Anyone that has ever raced will know that. While the bump may have only been a 1/4 second you will loose your concentration just long enough to drop back. Stewart showed in his interview that he was nervous and scared. If he knew about it we never will. As a "team" they should all be fined or penalized just as in any other sport. Chisholm is not a beginner and full well knows you do not interfere with those that are lapping you. With him knowing that it could have only been on purpose. Add to that the point that he is not going to challenge the FIM ruling. If you were not guilty wouldnt you be fighting back. Stewart has remained silent in all of this and that shows a lack of character. He needs to be a man and confront the situation instead of hiding from it. I doubt he will. I do see every pro rider on the track this weekend giving all they have to block Stewart and keep him in the back of the pack. It is very unlikely that Stewart will finish in the top 5 in Vegas.

Tessier - Come on now April 28, 2009 04:13 AM
Chishlom certainly didn't cost Reed 3-4 seconds more like 1/4-1/2. The big impact was that he got in Reeds head and broke his concentration. This is the first race that Reed and Stewart really had a good dog fight that wasn't because Stewart was crashing. Reed may finally have something for Stewart lets just hope it's not to late.

Are you kidding . . . - Salt Lake Supercross April 27, 2009 11:40 PM
I agree with Dan, Chad Reed was robbed!!! Chisholm's little stunt cost Reed 3 - 4 seconds. Reed took the checkered 3.50 seconds behind Stewart. Let them go head to head and may the best man win. San Manuel . . . . disgraceful!

Simon - salt lake supercross April 27, 2009 10:37 PM
I watched the race and it looked like a mistake to me. He almost took out James and the tap he made to Chad may have slowed him down a 1/4 second at most.

dan - salt lake supercross April 27, 2009 09:30 PM
Kyle Chishlom's actions were the result of following orders from Team San Manuel Yamaha. It was obvious to everyone who watched. It was a disgrace!! A team who encourages that type of desperation should pick a different sport, maybe dog fighting is more their style. You could even see the shame in James Stewarts face in the post race interview.

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