ROUNDS 6-7/AUGUST 17-18, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY/INDIANOPOLIS, INDIANA
AMA HARLEY-DAVIDSON
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
I
t was a very special pair of races
and, as such, some very special riders showed up, both of
them with Grand Prix motorcycle
racing experience. Visiting riders
Jeremy McWilliams and Hafizh
Syahrin – one a fan-loved veteran now in semi-retirement and
the other a wide-eyed 19-year-old
up-and-comer with a bright future – came into the opening two
rounds of the four-race $60,000
Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson
XR1200 Showdown at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and stole the
show from the series regulars.
While they had a little thunder
stolen from them at the biggest
stage of the championship, series regulars like Steve Rapp, Travis Wyman and Michael Barnes
can take consolation knowing
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AMA PRO VANCE & HINES HARLEY-DAVIDSON SERIE
that they will be the riders competing for the series championship and the lion's share of the
generous prize money. The rider
with the most points at the end
of the season takes home the
championship and $25,000 in
Showdown prize money, with the
remaining $35,000 paid out to
second through 10th in the final
point standings.
Notable from Indy was how
close the races were. Primarily
because of the long front straightaway, IMS promotes a lot of drafting and swapping of positions
among the XRs. It happened on
both Saturday and Sunday with
both races decided only in the final few feet before the finish line
at the famous yard of bricks.
Saturday's race was a slugfest
that came down to a spectacular
four-rider fight for the win, which
saw just .188 of a second sepa-
Syahrin (55) came back and won Sunday's race by a whisker over Rapp (5).
FORE
INVA
IRISHMAN MCWIL
MALAYSIAN SYAH
INDY XR1200 RAC
