VOLUME 59 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 23, 2022 P99
a clean sheet of paper, I don't
think anybody thought it was go-
ing to be quite that good. Mean-
while, the rest of us are taking
street motorcycles and trying to
make them do something they
were never designed to do, and
that's a pretty big task.
"We, as the lone Harley-
Davidson team, did not advocate
for [rule changes]. We're not
crying. We just continue to try to
make ourselves better, and I hate
to see someone who's done an
exceptional job get penalized,
which is what's going to happen
with the Indian. But for the good
of the series, that's going to have
to happen, especially if you're go-
ing to try to get other manufactur-
ers interested in the SuperTwins
class. We have to do something
to make the series better."
Estenson Racing owner Tim
Estenson, whose team fields a
pair of Yamaha MT-09-based
machines in Mission SuperT-
wins, would gladly welcome
additional direct involvement
from Yamaha, but admits that's a
difficult ask at this point consid-
ering the results.
He explained, "It's hard for
Tommy and me to go back and
set the stage for success on
their motor when we're running
at the back of the field, despite
having some of the best riders.
When they watch the races and
see all Indians and two Yama-
has—and the two Yamahas are
ninth and 10th—it's pretty hard
to sell them on why they should
become more invested."
>INDIAN'S
PERSPECTIVE
But doing whatever it takes
to balance the FTR750 with
production-based bikes is not
universally accepted as a worthy
crusade.
It's not surprising that Indian
Motorcycle and its customer
teams aren't exactly thrilled with
additional measures designed
specifically to slow them down.
A segment of the fanbase too,
along with some high-profile
series figures such as the iconic
Chris Carr, don't like it much
either. They would all prefer that
the competition step up to the
challenge laid down by Indian as
opposed to any attempts to drag
Indian back to them.
Roof Systems of Dallas CEO
Jerry Stinchfield, owner of the
powerful Mission Roof Sys-
tems independent team, said,
"'I'm all for fairness. I don't hate
any brand of motorcycle, and
if they're involved in American
Flat Track, I love them to death.
But my thing is this: the Indian
Motorcycle Company built the
greatest motorcycle ever in-
vented for flat track racing. And
I think it's up to the other brands
to catch up with us.
"I look at the other brands,
and I would say they are twice
the size of the Indian Motorcycle
Company. They have more
money and more developmental
resources. I just think they're
capable of making their bikes
as good as an Indian. Indian
built that motor in nine months.
Yamaha could do that. Harley
