VOLUME 57 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 15, 2020 P135
in 2020 as the team struggled to
get the most out of their developing
machine. Beach was cautiously
optimistic this latest performance
points to a stronger 2021.
"This test has been really
good," he said. "In the past,
we've tested a lot, but it's been
hard because it's only us at the
track. We'd feel like we're mak-
ing improvements, but we're only
going against ourselves, so it's
difficult to judge.
"But at this test, we look a lot
better than we did last year. It's
only one test at one track, but I
think we've made some headway.
We'll try not to get too excited
until we go racing."
Title contenders Jared Mees
and Sammy Halbert ranked near
the top of the charts on Tuesday
before heading home early ahead
of Wednesday's [faster] sessions.
Likewise, Johnny Lewis had
an abbreviated test aboard the
Daytona-winning number-10 Royal
Enfield Twins FT.
Another rider who only rode on
Tuesday was 2019 AFT Produc-
tion Twins champion, Cory Texter.
Despite his expectation that he'll
be back competing for a Produc-
tion Twins title with G&G Racing
again in 2021, Texter rode the
Wally Brown Racing/American
Suzuki RM-Z450 at Volusia.
With his team based on the
other side of the country, Texter
was eager to take part and more
than willing to help out WBR (who
will make a rider announcement in
the near future) in order to do so.
"I came down to help develop
the tires and try to make them the
best that I can," Texter said. "I
think I offer good insight. I've been
around the sport for a long time,
so I've used a bunch of different
tires and rode a bunch of different
bikes. I'm able to jump on different
cc motorcycles and get a good
read on what the tires are doing."
Texter actually posted the fast-
est time among the AFT Singles
riders on Tuesday (20.700),
outpacing the likes of his highly
decorated sister, Shayna Texter,
as well as returning class champ
Daniels and his Estenson Racing
teammate Mikey Rush.
Daniels stepped it up consider-
ably overnight, however, leading
all AFT Singles contenders with
a SuperTwins-like 20.243 to rank
sixth overall on the final order.
Shayna Texter was the sole
representative for Red Bull KTM
Factory Racing on track at the test,
just as she was in 2020. However,
the buzz in the paddock was that
she could have a teammate again
in 2021, yet another of the many
potential announcements expect-
ed shortly after the new year. CN
