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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1488031
After an early race red flag and restart, Kopp answered by quickly knifing his way up from eighth into second. Once into position, he then executed an aggressive strike on Brun- ner—the same maneuver he'd elected against at the previous round—to steal away the lead and storm off with his seventh victory of the season. The race served as a strong reminder to the AFT Singles field exactly who was boss. "I got a killer restart and found myself in second on the first lap. I felt comfortable enough and didn't have anything to risk, so I went for the pass on Brunner and got it. I wasn't the fastest guy out there. I was just back to having no pressure and riding like we did the first four or five rounds." Kopp, who turned 18 in No- vember, recently spent a month down at KTM North America's Murrieta, California, HQ testing his 2023 machine in preparation of his upcoming Parts Unlimited AFT Singles title defense, even if an eventual career in the Mission SuperTwins class seems to be his destiny. While his lineage, natural tal- ent, and extensive early career accomplishments all point toward a sooner-rather-than-later premier-class graduation, his lanky, 160-pound frame is now making the argument as loudly as any other factor. "These Singles are small," Kopp said. "They're nimble— that's nice, but I'm almost feeling a little big for them now. It wasn't an issue when I was younger as an amateur. Even my rookie year, I wasn't above six-foot yet. And now we're like 6'2 and put on some muscle. 'I think we're losing horsepower on these things.' And then you have kids like Tom Drane from Australia come over who are like 110 pounds soaking wet. Obviously, they are good riders, but man, you basically lose one horse- power for every seven pounds. That's a lot. "And it's not just weight. It's tuck, it's aerodynamics, it's all that. It's crucial to be a small body on a single. On a twin, it doesn't matter much. I think on the twin, so much of it is about being smooth, and smooth throttle pick-up is something I feel I developed at a young age. That's one of my strengths." INTERVIEW I AFT SINGLES CHAMPION KODY KOP P118 "I'll just straight- up say it—those top guys in SuperTwins are animals."