Mees Strikes Again at Atlanta Short Track
Reigning AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines Champion Jared Mees( No. 1 Indian Motorcycle Rogers Racing SDI Scout FTR750) stormed to his second straight win of the season( following his Daytona TT win in March) in a rain delayed Round 2 at the Atlanta Short Track on Sunday April 8. Mees mastered the tricky, slick conditions to secure his 32nd career premier-class victory. Kenny Coolbeth( No. 2 Nila Racing, Columbia Avionic Indian Scout FTR750) was second; Jeffrey Carver Jr( No. 23 Roof-Systems / Indian of Metro Milwaukee H-D XR750) was third. Demonstrating the progress being made with Harley’ s new machine, Jarod Vanderkooi( No. 20 Harley- Davidson Factory Flat Track Team XG750R) came fourth and short track master Henry Wiles( No. 17 Wilco Racing / Willy Built / Bandit Industries Indian Scout FTR750) fifth. The Atlanta runner-up result, combined with his DAYTONA TT eighth-place ride, sees Coolbeth move into second in the early-season points standings. Having recently announced that this will be his final AFT season, the series legend appears both motivated and capable of going out on a high note as he continues to gain speed aboard his privateer Indian Scout FTR750. Part-time series ace Johnny Lewis( No. 10 Richie Morris Racing Indian Scout FTR750) took sixth on his privateer Scout FTR750, with the second and third members of the Indian Wrecking Crew bumped down to seventh( Brad Baker, No. 6 Indian Motorcycle Racing backed by Allstate Scout FTR750) and eighth( Bryan Smith, No. 4 Indian Motorcycle Racing backed by Allstate Scout FTR750) one year after they
Photo Credit: Scott Hunter / American Flat Track
helped execute a works Indian clean sweep of the podium at the Dixie Speedway. Following a rather difficult opener, last year’ s AFT Singles title contenders came back strong in Atlanta with 2017 Singles Championship runner-up Brandon Price taking the win( Honda CRF450R); Dan Bromley was second( KTM 450 SX-F); Kevin Stollings third( CRF 450R). 2017 third-ranked Shayna Texter( Husqvarna FC450) and last year’ s champion Kolby Carlile( Yamaha YZ450F) finished seventh and eighth.
RACE NEWS
KTM’ s contingency offering for AFT Singles riders such as Dan Bromley, Sandriana Shipman and others totals $ 56,300 for 2018, and includes 2016-2018 KTM 450 SX-F models. An AFT Singles championship bonus of $ 5,000 is also included.
Japanese E-Bike manufacturer Mugen will race three Shinden Nana electric Superbikes at the Isle of Man TT Zero race as they go in search of a fifth straight and seventh overall win- with 2018 improvements said to include reduced mass and increased capacity as the performance of lithium-ion batteries gets ever better with less mass and greater capacity.
In addition to the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building, this year’ s INTERMOT‘ Customized’( Cologne, Germany, October 3-7) also features The Sultans of Sprint and‘ Essenza’-“ the essence of motorcycles”- sprint specials and race series