AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CEO MICHAEL LOCK: PART 2
P80
Interview
larger diameter for throttle bodies, because if they're
breathing through bigger holes, they need more gas.
So, we changed those two rules, but we changed
absolutely no rules whatsoever specific to Indian. We
did change some other specs, but it was the same for
everybody, so we went to a modern, unleaded race
fuel, from the old leaded fuel we'd been using for an
eternity. But otherwise we didn't make any changes to
the rulebook that specifically affected Indian. I know
there was a lot of noise about it, including an open
letter from Indian complaining about the changes. But
we didn't force Indian to change their bike in any way at
all—all we did was, we raised the performance ceiling
of the street-bike-based race engines.
Indian's complained about the change at the time,
and we had a lot of dialogue with them. Their main
complaint was about the change in the throttle bodies'
diameter, which they said meant they would never win
a mile again. Not that they would lose on the TTs, but
they would be uncompetitive in the miles—yet last year
they won every single mile, and often filled the podium.
So, I don't think that Armageddon actually arrived.
You've got three factory teams on the grid at the
moment, but it's now been confirmed that you'll
have KTM joining in in 2021, but with the bikes
branded as Husqvarnas. What are your comments
on that?
I'm delighted that we have another European brand
which has officially turned its attention to America's
oldest motorcycle sport, as a vehicle for positioning
and communicating its brand to American consumers.
As you know, Husqvarna in the USA is seen as a cool,
niche brand. I think it always has been, everybody's
"There is a manufacturer
which is actively developing
an AFT bike and is looking
at the logistics of putting a
team together."
