would later be forced to make
another clean start.
That was due to the contrast-
ing day of reigning Grand Na-
tional Champion Jared Mees. Up
17
points to start the event, the
factory Indian ace pretty much
needed only to avoid disaster to
consider Sturgis a success.
And he did, even though
disaster came looking and
very nearly found Mees. The
nine-time champ was among
the quickest riders around the
hybrid course, but a botched
launch saw him gobbled up and
The carrot he provided al
-
lowed his pursuers to give
chase
somewhat more effec-
tively in actual race conditions,
for
a time anyway, but there too
he ultimately showed himself to
be in a class of his own.
Beach's primary concern was
simply getting off the line in
decent shape so that he could
then allow his superior pace to
bear out. A holeshot to open the
Mission AFT SuperTwins main
nearly put an end to all drama
for the win before any had a
chance to arise. However, he
However, Beach's form at
Peoria and Black Hills suggest
-
ed that when unleashed on the
supermoto-like
circuit that cut
through the streets of down-
town Sturgis, the number-95
entry was very likely to
prove
unstoppable.
Those fears were well
founded. As it turned out, Beach
was indeed utterly dominant
throughout the day, topping ev
-
ery single session and generally
by
more than a half second per
lap on a course that took less
than 30 seconds to circulate.
ROUND 13 / AUGUST 11, 2024
STREETS OF DOWNTOWN STURGIS / STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA
FLAT TRACK I AMA PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN FLAT TRACK
P80
