A lot of the problem stems from the stewards likely feeling they needed to justify their decision not to make a DQ in the race. They made a poor "non-decision" there and felt compelled to justify it with their "equal fault" issuing of suspensions.
More and more, it seems, stewards are making their decisions based on the "did it or did it not alter the race outcome" concept. To be sure, subjectivity is part of their job, but it's gotten out of hand, imo.
I rarely see any DQ's any more for incidents other than those that occur in the homestretch which is wrong. To a great extent, a foul is a foul, wherever it occurs during a race. By not punishing riders for these fouls, the stewards only encourage this kind of bad race-riding tactics.
"Every man is given a spoon. Any man who loses his spoon spends a night in the box." Where's Boss Karl when we need him?
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