VOLUME 58 ISSUE 30 JULY 27, 2021 P83
lenting excellence of Whale.
Actually, the young Smartop/
Jones Honda ace nearly saw
what he hoped to be a debut
win downgraded to a third when
the always-creative and ever-
charging Morgen Mischler ran
up on him on the final lap. Kopp
held on for second, but only by a
meager 0.022 seconds.
Also in contention were young
guns Trevor Brunner and Trent
Lowe aboard their respective offi-
cial Honda and Suzuki machines.
The two finished less than 1.5
seconds behind Whale to round
out the top five.
Whale now leads the AFT
Singles title chase by 15 points.
third win of the season and took
sole possession of the champi-
onship lead in the process.
Perhaps more surprising than
the Aussie's victory was that it
came following a pitched battle
with heralded rookie Kody Kopp
rather than Daniels—who could
muster only a ninth-place ride—
or the previously red-hot Henry
Wiles, who finished down in 15th.
The son of 2000 Grand
National Champion Joe Kopp,
Kody Kopp blasted his way to
the front, pulled off multiple
counterattacks, and generally
lived up to his advance billing.
But even so, it wasn't quite
enough to overcome the unre-
