2019 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK TWINS CHAMPION BRIAR BAUMAN
P110
Interview
Y
ou never forget your first championship. That is
especially true for the newly crowned American Flat
Track AFT Twins Champion Briar Bauman. His debut
season with the factory Indian Motorcycle Flat Track Team
was one for the ages—a career-best season with five wins
and 15 podiums to dethrone Jared Mees, one of the best
riders in the sport's modern era. Unbeknownst to others,
the Californian's dream season nearly went up in smoke
with an injury at a key point of the year. Undeterred, he
put his head down and stayed the course to clinch his
first Grand National Championship.
So who is Briar Bauman? Where did he come
from? After two years of Mees dominating the
premier class, many would've overlooked the
24-year-old as the guy to come out swinging in
2019 and take down the reigning champ. We
had a chance to sit with Bauman to look
back at those early days, his rise in the
sport and his standout year.
Over the past few years, the question in American Flat
Track was, who could beat Jared Mees? Briar Bauman
answered that with a career-best season in 2019 to
take the AFT Twins Championship
BY ANDREA WILSON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA WILSON