Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

(Note to the Canadian BBS denizens who have been cutting and pasting our posts regarding this incident, without permission and without credit: Do not cut and paste our copyrighted original material, instead, post a link.)

AMA Pro Racing officials black-flagged racer Sandy Noce out of the restarted 250cc Grand Prix race at Mid-Ohio despite uncertainty that they had the right rider.

Over their radios, officials discussed the accusation–made by an official working his first weekend as a grid marshall–that Noce had returned to the paddock and switched to a back-up bike during the red-flag period. Before Noce was black-flagged, another grid marshall actually went to Noce’s trailer, found his spare bike inside with rain tires mounted and the engine cold, and reported her findings over the radio.

Officials also ignored statements by a Superbike racer, Mike Walsh, that Noce’s TZ250 had been in his sight on pit lane the entire time.

Despite the uncertainty, officials went ahead and black-flagged Noce, who was running in sixth place and gaining on fifth place at the time.

The error was discovered after Noce pitted and the new grid marshall–who had stood next to Noce’s bike on pit lane during the entire red-flag period and had actually spoken with Noce during that time–realized his error.

“They mistook me for someone else who went back into the pits because my bike was white and his bike was white,” said Noce by telephone Thursday. “They thought I was him.

“In the end they did award me sixth-place points and money, and gave me my entry fees back.

“I did another lap the first time I saw the black flag, because, when you’re racing and you know you’ve f–ked up and you get the black flag, we’ve all done it, you know. In this case, I didn’t know of anything I’d done.

“The first time they black-flagged me I just cruised down the pits at about 40 mph and nobody met me, so I went back out. The second time they black-flagged me, the flagger was just violent with the flag and the number board, like he was shaking with rage. They really wanted me to come in, so I came back in, and they told me to go over there and talk to that official.

“The official who had me black-flagged was guarding the same pit exit where we were, and we were talking (during the red flag). It didn’t take him a second when I pulled in the second time to realize he had made a mistake. He said ‘Oh, shit! Wrong guy! I’m really sorry.’

“I freaked out. ‘You’re sorry!?’ I said.

“I lost it.

“Maybe I would have been eighth, maybe I would have been fifth, maybe I would have crashed. They never gave me the chance to know. It would have made more sense to let me finish the race and then sort it out.”

When not racing, Noce is the Dunlop race tire distributor for Canada.