Cycle News

FLAT TRACK AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 5/MAY 11, 2019 PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY/PERRIS, CALIFORNIA P70 Once Robinson had the lead the struggle was far from over, as first Bauman, then Halbert, challenged him. Pegram dropped all the way to ninth on the first go around. I was on a rocket ship or some- thing," said Robinson. "I just turned early, got hooked up and drove across the bottom. I told myself that I wasn't going to lift until I took the lead." Yamaha MT-07) repeated his Texas win to remain the only rider to win a Production Twins main event so far in the young season. Former Grand National Champion Joe Kopp (Latus Motors, Harley- Davidson XG750) came from behind to win the Roland Sands Super Hooligan main event. AFT TWINS Just as he had done in Texas, Larry Pegram (Indian Motorcycles/ S&S Cycle/Pegram Racing, Indian FTR750) got the holeshot and led the 17-rider field into turn one. Bronson Bauman (Indian Motor- cycle/Progressive Insurance, Indian FTR750), Sammy Halbert (Harley-Davidson Motor Company/ Vance & Hines, Harley-Davidson XG750R), Jarod Vanderkooi (Harley-Davidson Motor Company/ Vance & Hines, Harley-Davidson XG750R), Robinson and Henry Wiles (Bandit Industries/DPC Rac- ing/Wilco Racing, Indian FTR750) were right behind. Robinson changed that quickly. "I didn't get a good initial start, but I went from fifth to first down the back straight away. It was like CONTINUES TO IMPRESS, BUT… JD Beach (Estenson Racing/ Monster Energy, Yamaha MT-07) was coming off two of the biggest weeks of his career after winning in both the AFT Twins class and the MotoAmerica Superbike road race, and he continued to impress by set- ting fast qualifying time at 21.360. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there, and he finished the Twins main in 11th place. "I think our result didn't really show how much we improved with the bike," Beach said. "It was feeling good. In the semi, I felt really good. Every time I got on the bike, we kept improving it. I think we learned a lot tonight. In the main, I feel like we had a bike that we could have fought for a top five or so, or at least been close. I was feeling good in the race, and then I caught my foot in a hole go- ing into turn three, and it ripped it back hard. I think I got passed by about three guys or so. I took a few laps and kind of gathered myself a little bit. I thought my hotshoe came off, so I was trying to check for that. It was good. I kept trying to push through it, but my leg was pretty sore. I'm always out there looking to win, but I'm happy because I think we have learned some stuff with the bike, and the bike has gotten better. We're taking small steps. I'm looking forward to next weekend to get on the mile and see what we can do there." HEAT-LESS With the low turn out of riders in the AFT Twins class, the heat races were eliminated, and only two semi races were run. Only 19 Briefly... Racers had to fight among themselves along with the rough track.

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