Last year at Road Atlanta, John Hopkins sat on an ATV in pit lane instead of instructing students in Team Hammer Advanced Riding School sessions held the Thursday before the AMA Big Kahuna Superbike National.

The reason? Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Hopkins was banned from participating in any on-track activities the week before the race because he was in the top 10 in points in AMA 600cc Supersport.

Rookie Hopkins had finished ninth in the restarted 600cc Supersport race at Daytona 2000, and so had to miss Thursday practice at Sears Point, a track he had never raced on. Then, when Sears Point was rained out, leaving post-Daytona points unchanged, Hopkins had to skip Thursday at Road Atlanta as well.

AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition Merrill Vanderslice denied a special appeal asking that Hopkins be allowed to instruct in the school–which he is required to do and is paid for under terms of his team contract–on a stock Suzuki GSX-R600 streetbike complete with OEM tires, stock pipe, stock suspension, turn signals and lights.

And when Team Hammer Track Ride participants head onto the track this Thursday at Road Atlanta, they’ll do so without Hopkins’ teammate, Grant Lopez, who is currently top-10 in AMA 600cc Supersport points.

The practice and on-track-activity restriction applies to riders who are in the top 10 in Superbike points as well as 600cc Supersport points, but does not apply to riders in 750cc Supersport, Formula Xtreme, 250cc Grand Prix or Pro Thunder, for reasons which have not been publicly explained by AMA Pro Racing.

Yet, according to a press release issued by Road Atlanta, the top-10-in-points rule apparently does not apply to AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin, currently leading the Superbike points.

The press release, issued by “Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School, Road Atlanta” started out as follows:

“The Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School at Road Atlanta will feature the Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike team racers as Guest Instructors for its school dates May 15th and 16th preceding the Big Kahuna AMA Superbike event.

“The Tuesday May 15th school will feature Mat Mladin and Jamie Hacking, in addition to the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School’s already capable staff of instructors…On Wednesday the 16th, Aaron Yates will complete the team.”

In related news, during the Superbike race at Sears Point, Mladin ran data acquisition equipment specifically prohibited by AMA rules, with the blessing of AMA officials who said the equipment was allowed so television coverage of the event could include an on-screen graphic representation of the acceleration, braking and rpm turned by Mladin’s GSX-R750.

Similar graphics have been used in TV coverage of car races, in series which allow the use of data acquisition systems during races.

AMA Pro Racing’s stated purpose for banning the use of data acquisition systems is to prevent the use of traction control. AMA officials have not explained why a system set up to transmit real-time data for TV broadcast use cannot also be used to provide data to an electronic traction control or traction enhancing system.

Several teams in the past have been fined for leaving data acquisition sensors in place during qualifying sessions, after mechanics using the system (legally) in practice have forgotten to remove sensors prior to qualifying.

All of which may prove that whether or not a rule in the AMA Pro Racing rulebook applies to a given rider depends upon who he is and who he rides for, rather than what the rule actually says or the history of enforcement of that rule.