Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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the lead group for most of the contest. Whale took seventh with four- time Sac Mile winner Texter- Bauman in eighth on the Rick Ware Racing KTM, despite losing access to her dedicated mile motor earlier in the evening. ECG Racing's Travis Petton IV finished ninth while title favorite Kody Kopp equaled his worst result since his rookie season in 10th. Despite what was a lowly finish by his standards, Kopp continues to hold the advantage with 137 points to Gauthier's 123. Whale remains third with 115 but now finds himself tied with Saathoff, who has strung together three straight podiums while actively hunting a maiden victory of his own. slingshot, Drane understood that he could storm past Lowe on the back straight and still fend off even a double-draft counter to the flag—albeit only by 0.005 seconds over Lowe and another 0.031 seconds over Saathoff. The victory saw Drane earn his maiden Progressive AFT win in just his eighth attempt. Meanwhile, Cose was sent back to the pits while the oth - ers celebrated on the podium despite coming up only 0.101 seconds short of claiming the victory himself. The big-name second battle went to Gauthier. Gauthier climbed his way up from outside the top 10 to finish fifth, his final move coming when he over - took Brunner, who had run with despite his lack of mile experi- ence. So did Chase Saathoff and Trent Lowe on the American Honda-backed Turner Honda missiles, as well as the "Cali Kid," Chad Cose, who was eager to impress at his home race on the 1st Impressions Husqvarna. Even though it was Drane's first-ever main event at a mile, he was in control for the bulk of the contest (at least as much as one can control a multi-rider melee of constantly shifting po - sitions). Gifted with light weight and plenty of road racing- derived drafting experience, the 17-year-old Aussie executed the endgame race craft and calcu - lus to perfection. While most riders would have hoped to set up a final-straight ROUND 7 / MAY 13, 2023 CAL EXPO / SACRAMENTO MILE, CALIFORNIA FLAT TRACK I PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN FLAT TRACK P98 Australian Tom Drane (center) raced his Estenson Yamaha to his first American Flat Track main- event win in the Sacramento Singles main. It was a close race with the top ten separated by a little over three seconds. Trent Lowe and Chase Saathoff rounded out the podium.