A M E R I CA N F L AT T R AC K C E O M I C H A E L LO C K
P118
INTERVIEW
the U.K. Spain has its own flat
track league, and is obviously a
motorcycle mad country. We've
had a couple of Spanish riders
come and do selected races,
so we're getting some interest
there. But the countries that re-
ally consume AFT are bike-mad
countries where their youth use
motorcycles as a primary form
of transport, as well as being
emerging economies with a
good wireless infrastructure.
So do you envisage run-
ning an AFT round in a foreign
country, outside the USA?
I'd love to do that, and I'm
actively working on it.
In the same way that right
now 75% of the world's manu-
facturers have got some kind
of street scrambler in their
lineup, three years from now
their likely must-have will be a
street tracker, especially after
the impending debut of the
Indian FTR1200. How does
AFT respond to that?
I think you're right and, look,
there's no doubt that'll help us,
and if in turn we can help the
marketplace, then we've got
something more than a fad.
Because I've looked at the café
racer thing, and of course the
scrambler thing, and they're
pretty much fun bikes, and in a
motorcycle world that's maybe
become a little stale, it's nice to
have a new design aesthetic,
a new riding experience that's
cool and different. CN
we livestream all our racing on
Fanschoice.tv with the same
footage that we're shooting for
our NBC show—it's not edited,
obviously, because it's live—and
that's free to air, anyone in the
world can watch it on their cell
phone if they want. We're finding
that people in many countries
outside the USA are doing that
now, so there's a familiarity with
our stars, and our bikes.
Can you identify which
countries?
Certainly, but be ready to
be as surprised as we were.
The number-one market for our
livestreaming is naturally the
USA, but India, Thailand and
Brazil make up the next three,
and not so far behind! Of the
European countries, the U.K.
and Spain are way ahead of
everywhere else. Partly that's
because we have a British rider
in our series this year who's
doing quite well, a young lad
from Yorkshire named Oliver
Brindley who's racing in the
Singles Championship, got a
podium at Springfield, and is
a hot prospect for the future.
So that's peaked interest in
At less than 100
pounds, Shayna
Texter has distinct
advantages and
disadvantages on the
track, but she always
keeps it interesting.
