Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The Yamaha YZF-R7 was not on the 2001 list of motorcycles approved for AMA Formula Xtreme competition.

On September 7, 2001, AMA Technical Manager Rob King sent the list, (which several team owners and managers have unsuccessfully tried to obtain over the course of the last two season), to an AMA member who inquired about YZF-R7 elibility.

The fact that the R7 is not on the list backs up a statement made by King in a related e-mail that the R7 was allowed to compete under a special rules exemption in 2001 and would not be allowed to compete in 2002.

In that e-mail, also dated September 7, 2001, King wrote, “There was some confusion about how much you could modify a frame and still have it be a frame from a street bike. A compromise was reached and the R7 was allowed to race this year. Next year they will not be used unless Yamaha sells the R7 as a street bike.”

AMA Pro Racing declared the R7 illegal in 2000, yet refused to accept protests of the R7 in 2001.

In the July 2000 edition of Roadracing World, then AMA Pro Racing Communications Manager Bill Nordquist was quoted as saying, after Attack Racing was not allowed to run a YZF-R7 in Formula Xtreme at the May 2000 Sears Point AMA National, “The R7/R1 situation came up, along with other topics, but at no time did Rob (King) say it was a legal combination. The R7 is produced as a racebike, and is not supplied as a streetbike to customers.”

Several teams protested Damon Buckmaster’s YZF-R7 following the April 7 race at Fontana, objecting to the AMA’s changing stance on the bike and the fact that AMA Pro Racing officials said one thing in 2000 (the R7 is not legal), another thing in 2001 (the R7 is not legal but has a one-year exemption, and won’t be raced in 2002, and no you can’t protest it), and yet another thing in 2002 (the R7 is legal and you won’t win any protest so don’t bother).

The date and origin code in the lower left-hand corner of the list reads “3/6/01/rk” indicating that the list was last updated on March 6 of 2001, by Rob King.


You can find the complete list here.