Lloyd Brothers Motorsports’ Joe Kopp rode a Ducati to victory in yesterday’s Yavapai Downs Mile in Prescott, Arizona, the Washingtonian drafting past Sammy Halbert’s Halbert Family Harley-Davidson XR750 to take the win by a scant .024 of a second after 20 laps and ending a streak of 134 consecutive victories by Harley-Davidson in Grand National Twins racing.
The last non-Harley victory in a Grand National Twins race was on August 8, 1998 when Rich King won the Joliet Half Mile on a Honda. The last non-Harley win on a mile was on September 5, 1993 when the late Ricky Graham won the Springfield Mile on a Honda.
The win was Kopp’s first of the season and the 11th AMA Grand National Championship victory of his career.
Kopp and Halbert were well clear of third-placed Kenny Coolbeth Jr., the factory Harley-Davidson rider some three seconds behind and just .006 of a second ahead of Rogers Lake Racing’s Jared Mees. Halbert had earlier won the Dash For Cash over Coolbeth and Mees.
Chris Carr was almost another two seconds behind the Coolbeth/Mees battle and almost five seconds ahead of sixth-placed Jake Johnson.
JR Schnabel, Robert Pearson, Don Taylor and Luke Gough rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Halbert leads the AMA Pro Grand National Twins Championship by a single point over Kopp by virtue of leading more laps and also for earning pole position. He has 24 points to Kopp’s 23.
The Pro Main event was won by Brad Baker, who easily bested Jeffrey Carver Jr. Baker and his Honda won by 4.5 seconds.
Final Results
1. Joe Kopp (Ducati)
2. Sammy Halbert (Harley-Davidson)
3. Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (Harley-Davidson)
4. Jared Mees (Harley-Davidson)
5. Chris Carr (Harley-Davidson)
6. Jake Johnson (Harley-Davidson)
7. JR Schnabel (Harley-Davidson)
8. Robert Pearson (Harley-Davidson)
9. Don Taylor (Harley-Davidson)
10. Luke Gough (Suzuki)
