Senior KX Rider
Super Power AssClown
- Nov 9, 1999
- 8,575
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racerx
August 11, 2005
Was Oscar Diaz in the Right Class?
Racer X has learned that MX Sports and AMA Sports have opened an investigation into the status of double-C-class champion Oscar M. Diaz of Costa Rica. Diaz dominated two of the C-class races at the 24th Annual AMA/Air Nautiques Amateur National Motocross Championships, winning five of six motos altogether. At one point, Florida-based race announcer Wes Kain mentioned that Diaz had only been racing for two months. That raised a lot eyebrows, according to MX Sports' Tim Cotter, "especially in light of what happened at the Attack MX race with the kid from England."
Cotter was referring to Alex Snow, the "Novice" rider who made off with the brand-new pickup truck that was awarded to the race winner, only for the organizers to later discover that Snow was a professional rider back home in England.
In the Diaz case, MX Sports is looking into at least three different mentions on Costa Rican motocross websites that an "Oscar Diaz" has been racing since at least 2002. According to MX Sports' supplemental rules: "In AMA districts where points are not kept in the C class, riders are not eligible for the C class at the National if they have raced prior to 2003."
For instance, according to the Moto Club Inform website, an Oscar M. Diaz was racing "Pre-Expert" in 2002.
"As a rule of thumb, we usually do not accept protests on class eligibility once a rider makes it to Loretta Lynn's," says Cotter. "By then there has been plenty of time for people to offer protests. However, because Diaz was listed as being from Lake Worth, Florida, his Costa Rican stats weren't checked. But this is an internal investigation, and we feel that we owe it to the other 41 riders in each class at that event to check Mr. Diaz's record further."
August 11, 2005
Was Oscar Diaz in the Right Class?
Racer X has learned that MX Sports and AMA Sports have opened an investigation into the status of double-C-class champion Oscar M. Diaz of Costa Rica. Diaz dominated two of the C-class races at the 24th Annual AMA/Air Nautiques Amateur National Motocross Championships, winning five of six motos altogether. At one point, Florida-based race announcer Wes Kain mentioned that Diaz had only been racing for two months. That raised a lot eyebrows, according to MX Sports' Tim Cotter, "especially in light of what happened at the Attack MX race with the kid from England."
Cotter was referring to Alex Snow, the "Novice" rider who made off with the brand-new pickup truck that was awarded to the race winner, only for the organizers to later discover that Snow was a professional rider back home in England.
In the Diaz case, MX Sports is looking into at least three different mentions on Costa Rican motocross websites that an "Oscar Diaz" has been racing since at least 2002. According to MX Sports' supplemental rules: "In AMA districts where points are not kept in the C class, riders are not eligible for the C class at the National if they have raced prior to 2003."
For instance, according to the Moto Club Inform website, an Oscar M. Diaz was racing "Pre-Expert" in 2002.
"As a rule of thumb, we usually do not accept protests on class eligibility once a rider makes it to Loretta Lynn's," says Cotter. "By then there has been plenty of time for people to offer protests. However, because Diaz was listed as being from Lake Worth, Florida, his Costa Rican stats weren't checked. But this is an internal investigation, and we feel that we owe it to the other 41 riders in each class at that event to check Mr. Diaz's record further."
