bikes capable of matching the
Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07
piloted by Dallas Daniels.
The bike had been specifically
(and expensively) engineered
to take down the FTR750 and
paired with a hand-selected rider
capable of making it happen. So
the prospect of a double victory
by Daniels in the Indian-less sea
-
son opener (officially dubbed the
Royal Enfield Short Track at Day-
tona I & II) was not just viewed
as possible but probable—and
perhaps even inevitable.
That inevitability was ulti
-
mately delivered, but in a man-
ner that offered up serious hope
for the resistance that hopes
to prevent being flattened by a
season-long Daniels/Yamaha
steamroller.
Both main events played out
in (nearly) identical fashion
only with the roles reversed.
On Thursday, two-time Grand
National Champion Briar Bau
-
man looked like the rider to beat
pretty much all day long in his
debut on the Rick Ware Racing
Harley-Davidson XG750R.
Reunited with long-time col-
laborators Dave Zanotti and
Michelle Disalvo, Bauman was
quick and composed through-
out, starting from the day's
opening practice. That sense
of control lasted all the way up
until the waning moments of the
main event, when lapped traf-
fic provided Daniels, who had
been uncharacteristically quiet
throughout the event, a last-
gasp opportunity to steal away
the win. And he did just that.
Buoyed by that success and
armed with the improved set-up
VOLUME ISSUE MARCH , P101
both nights and put the KTM on the
podium in his second attempt. Last
year, it took him 14 races before he
did the same on the Indian. Of his
third-place run, Fisher said, "Man, it
took a lot, I went through a lot in that
heat race, and the team put a lot of
work into it. We were scrambling right
up to the last minute. I'm just stoked
to be on the podium. Last season, it
took all the way to Springfield to make
it happen."
88 CHASE SAATHOFF
8-2 SINGLES
RWR's Chase Saathoff came into
Daytona with plans to grab the early
championship lead and complete the
AFT Singles Grand Slam. Instead, he
suffered a disastrous Thursday that
saw him standing still with bike issues
at the start and later on the ground af-
ter making an overly aggressive trek
back up the field. Still, he managed
to earn eighth-place points and then
bounce back with a second-place
run on Friday. Kopp's double victory
also helped minimize the damage
by suppressing whatever advantage
Saathoff's season-long foes may
have otherwise been able to extract
from his Thursday night misfortune.
Saathoff said Friday, "Tonight went
better than night one. That said, we
just had a little bit of a rocky day all
throughout the day. We were just
trying to figure out how to set the bike
up. But still, we came out second. I
say it was a pretty good day."
MYOWNRACE
Henry Wiles (911) and
Davis Fisher ran up front
both nights. Both of them
got to spend some time
on the box.
