IN
THE
WIND
P44
Honda Returns To Flat Track Racing
M
ore than 25 years after
earning the most recent
of its five AMA Grand National
Championships, American Hon-
da Motor Co. is returning to flat
track racing for the 2019 season,
this time through support team
Richie Morris Racing and rider
Mikey Rush. The team will cam-
paign American Flat Track's AFT
Singles Championship aboard
the 2019 CRF450R.
The arrangement will have
the Torrance, California-based
company providing support to
the veteran RMR team, which
scored 15 podium finishes dur-
ing the last two seasons in AFT
competition as well as earning a
second and a third overall in the
AFT Singles Championship in
2018 and 2017, respectively.
Thirty-one-year-old Mikey
Rush is an accomplished vet-
eran, a two-time Daytona win-
ner with more than a decade of
professional experience in both
the AFT Twins and AFT Singles
divisions under his belt. Hailing
from San Jose, California, Rush
is a top-level competitor who
rode a G&G-sponsored twin last
year until being called to fill in for
a top factory twins effort.
"Teaming with Richie Morris
Racing and American Honda
is an amazing opportunity for
me," said Rush. "Given the RMR
team's solid performances over
the years, along with the amaz-
ing support and expertise Honda
offers, we're looking to be
serious contenders for the AFT
Singles championship."
Additional RMR Honda riders
are expected to be announced
prior to the start of the 2019
season.
"The most appropriate word
we could use from a team per-
spective is honored," said Richie
Morris, team owner of RMR. "To
have one of the world's leading
engineering and racing compa-
nies partner with RMR in its re-
turn to American Flat Track after
30-some years speaks volumes
about our team and the series."
"Thanks to the past success
of AMA Grand National Champi-
ons Bubba Shobert and Ricky
Graham, flat track has long held
a special place in the hearts of
everyone at American Honda, so
it's exciting to be involved in the
sport once again," said Brandon
Wilson, Manager of Advertising
& Motorcycle Sports at American
Honda." CN
Richie Morris Racing will
receive Honda factory support
in the 2019 AFT Singles class.
