The American Motorcyclist Association has released a brief statement on the track condition at San Diego Supercross last weekend.
The response from AMA comes after dozens of riders reported extensive burns to their skin and eyes as well as widespread damage to bikes and equipment. Lime added to the San Diego soil has been the blame but the AMA response does not mention this.
The American Motorcyclist Association is coordinating with AMA Supercross Championship promoter Feld Entertainment to identify riders and equipment that may have been affected by track conditions at the Feb. 2 event at PETCO Park in San Diego.
“The well-being of our members is a top priority of the AMA,” said AMA Chief Operations Officer Jeff Massey. “AMA staff is monitoring the situation and working directly with Feld Entertainment as its representatives contact individual riders to assess the extent of the impact.”
UPDATE: Feld Entertainment, the promoters of Monster Energy Supercross, has released its own statement in response to the damage caused by the drying agent.
On Saturday, February 2nd at Petco Park in San Diego, Ca., Supercross riders were affected by a drying agent applied to the dirt track, which may have caused skin irritation and damage to their bikes. The wellbeing of our riders, their teams and our crew is always a top priority for us at all Supercross events. Given last week’s forecast of rain for Saturday’s event in San Diego, the track crew took normal precautions to ensure a safe and raceable track. Prior to the qualifying rounds and main events, they removed the protective tarp and applied a drying agent, a lime and sand mixture, to treat two areas on the track to try and remove moisture from the dirt. This process has been used safely for decades at Supercross to dry dirt and thereby reduce the risk of accidents for the riders. It appears that the unprecedented amount of rain on Saturday prevented the lime from mixing with the soil as usual. This resulted in splashing of the riders and their bikes, which may have caused skin irritation to some riders and damage to their bikes. We are currently reaching out to each rider who participated in Saturday’s race to assess the extent of the impact, ensure their welfare and get them back on their bikes racing. We are also reviewing our existing processes to deal with excessive water on the track to prevent a recurrence.