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The GECCO
October 13th, 2005, 02:28 PM
Motorcycle Roadracing Association Board of Directors Final Disposition Report
Written by Glenn Conser
MRA President

Date:
October 11, 2005

Regarding:
The events related to the October 2nd, 2005 Supertwins GTU race and season championship.

Concerning:
Dave Gallant MRA #31
Patrick Lansu MRA #77

Preface:
The MRA Board of Directors faced a very difficult task at their meeting on Monday, October 10th, 2005. They were charged with rendering a decision regarding an on track incident between two intense competitors that would essentially decide the outcome of a season championship. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that one of the participants in the incident is a member of the board, as is his teammate. Subsequently, the final decision as well as the method of arriving at that decision would be under an unusually high level of scrutiny.

There were two components of this incident that, while they were certainly related, were dealt with separately by the board. The first was the on track incident itself. Two bikes collided and one was unable to finish the race. Because these two competitors were in a very tight points race and this was the final event, this ultimately awarded the class championship to the rider that was able to finish the race. The second component was the reported actions of the downed rider in the pit area after the incident.

Immediately following the incident and in the eight days between the incident and the meeting, the board members collected as many written and verbal witness accounts as possible. Due to a previous commitment, Mr. Gallant was unable to attend the October 10th meeting and was given ample opportunity to express his views both personally and in writing to the members of the board. In addition to phone conversations with Glenn Conser and Ralph Forsythe, Mr. Lansu was given the opportunity to make a formal statement before the Board of Directors at the beginning of the October 10th meeting, followed by an informal question/answer and discussion session. After this discussion with Mr. Lansu was complete the board meeting was held in executive session, meaning it was not open to anyone but board members. It should be noted that as Dave Gallant's teammate, board member Mike Applehans voluntarily recused himself from any board voting regarding these issues, but was present and gave input during the meeting. It should further be noted that while Mr. Gallant was absent from the meeting due to other circumstances, if he had been able to attend the meeting he would have been excluded from participating in or even observing the part of the meeting that dealt with these incidents.


The decision regarding the on track incident:
It was noted by the board that incidental contact between motorcycles in a racing environment is inevitable, and the decision to penalize any rider for contact requires some tangible demonstration that either the contact itself, or the action that inevitably lead to the contact, was perpetrated with specific intent by the offending rider. This intent can be determined by either

* The previous establishment of a pattern of behavior by the rider that indicates he/she is inclined to such action

Or, in the absence of such a pattern

* By the irrefutable physical evidence (if any) and/or witness statements that indicate that the action was deliberate

After exhaustively examining and discussing all of the witness and participant testimony it is the decision of the Board of Directors that there is simply not enough evidence that the contact between Dave Gallant and Patrick Lansu was intentionally initiated by either rider. As such, there is insufficient reason to take any official action or impose any penalties on either rider.


The decision regarding the downed rider's actions after the incident:
It was reported to members of the Board of Directors that Patrick Lansu exhibited unsportsmanlike behavior towards members of the Morse racing team and other individuals. This behavior was also witnessed by some members of the board, including, but not limited to, Glenn Conser and Ralph Forsythe, both of whom instructed Mr. Lansu that his behavior was not acceptable and he was to refrain from continuing in such a manner.

It was noted by the board that such behavior, while certainly not commonplace, has occurred in the past and such behavior by itself has not traditionally resulted in the board taking official action nor imposing penalty. It was noted that in recent similar events that did, in fact, result in the board taking official action and imposing penalties, there were other actions taken by the concerned parties that were the primary factor in the decision to penalize the involved parties. Examples of such actions in those instances are physical violence and team members crossing a hot race track following an incident.

While Mr. Lansu has admitted to Ralph Forsythe that it is very likely that his behavior could have easily escalated to the point of physical violence had other parties not been present, the fact remains that no acts of physical violence occurred and there are no other extenuating circumstances similar to the other incidents that resulted in penalties being imposed by the board. As such, it is the decision of the Board of Directors that Mr. Lansu will be formally warned that such behavior is not acceptable and that further demonstrations of such behavior by himself or anyone associated with his racing efforts, even in the absence of other extenuating circumstances, may result in the board taking formal action that results in penalties being imposed that could include monetary penalties, suspension, forfeiture of points, revocation of MRA membership, or any combination thereof. There will be no other action taken by the board regarding this incident.