Your in a hole - stop digging
You may not think the regulation is a good one but as Neil pointed out it was applied correctly and was as intended for Cook (and others)
You are missing one important point - if Ford has bled Poole dry it has only been possible if he has made a decent profit to date
In most cases it seems the situation is the other way round.......
Its always the same - the No1 you want as a No5 . The No5 needs to be 3rd heat leader. The 3rd heat leader needs to be a 2nd string. The 2nd string needs to be at reserve. The No7 needs to be a 5 pointer
All easily solved - just needs a 50 point limit