2018 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK SEASON PREVIEW
P80
Preview
Baker. You've got Indian sell-
ing handfuls of FTRs to some
very hungry privateers, too,
many of whom have the skills
and backing to contest. And
in AFT Singles you've got a
whole gaggle of up-and-coming
and veteran riders, including a
couple of very speedy women,
looking to blow up the Kolby
Carlile consistency movement
on a whole range of 450-class
machinery.
Let's start with AFT Twins.
Indian Motorcycle
There's no argument that the Indian Motorcycle factory team's
performance during the 2017 American Flat Track season was
dominant—and devastatingly so. Riders Jared Mees, Bryan Smith
and Brad Baker won 14 of 18 races, grabbed 70% of the podium
spots, and on six occasions filled the rostrum on their way to a
1-2-3 finish in the final standings.
Still, the guys had surprisingly different seasons. Series champ
Mees was consistently fast all season long, never worse than
third except for missing the main at Lima, Ohio. Defending champ
Bryan Smith came out of the gate
on fire, winning four of the first six
races, but crashes and double-
digit finishes at three events in
the season's second half kept
him off of Mees' point total. Brad
Baker had a roller-coaster year,
grabbing 11 podiums: five runner-
ups and six third-place finishes
(though no wins). The problem
was, he suffered a pair of DNFs,
and then broke his jaw in a moun-
tain bike accident and missed the
final two rounds.
So despite some inconsistency
and bad luck for Smith and Baker,
they and their Indian FTR750 race
bikes were almost always faster
than the rest of the AFT Twins
(Left) While she
struggles on short
tracks and in TTs,
AFT Singles phenom
Shayna Texter blitzed
the field for five
wins in 2017, and
should be one of the
favorites in 2018.
(Right) The Indian
Wrecking Crew,
Mees, Baker and
Smith in action during
the 2017 campaign.
This was the view
most of the AFT
Twins riders had last
year. Will this change
in 2018?
I KNOW THEY'RE GUNNING FOR ME, FOR US, AND I DON'T
BLAME 'EM. I'D BE THE SAME WAY." – Jared Mees
