R/r Rule Clarified
(Posted 16/03/08)

Many fans have been confused by recent changes to the rules on rider replacement which saw Glasgow able to utilise it for Ross Brady whilst Berwick had to use a Conference League guest for their broken collar bone victim Manuel Hauzinger.

Michael Max explained the reasoning to the crowd during this afternoon's meeting and it all hinges round timing.

When a team declares their 1-7 and submit it to the BSPA, it takes three days for it to come into effect. It is not until those three days are up that a rider becomes part of the official 1-7.

In Glasgow's case, their team had been declared weeks earlier and so rider replacement was permitted for Ross Brady.

However, Berwick only submitted their 1-7 to the BSPA on Tuesday and Hauzinger broke his collarbone 2 days later on the Thursday. He was therefore not deemed to be part of the declared 1-7 at the time of his injury and therefore Berwick had to use a Conference League guest.

Although Berwick understandably feel aggrieved by the difference, they have already had the benefit of not one but two seemingly illogical re-gradings with Magosi being reassessed to 5.00 allowing him to ride at reserve and now Aarnio has similarly had a random reassessment down to 5 points, effectively giving Berwick 4 more points for team building. They have definitely come out on the 'gain' side of the strange decisions so far this season but all it really does is highlight the need for more clarity and openness from the BSPA regarding rules and regulations.