| March 15, 2023
The AFT Championship is up and running. We get you caught up with all of the bike, rider, team and technical changes for 2023.
By Chris Martin
Progressive American Flat Track is now one year removed from the big swing that series organizers AMA Pro Racing hoped would level the playing field in Mission SuperTwins and lay the groundwork for a more vibrant premier-class—one featuring unpredictable action waged by a variety of engaged manufacturers.
Previous attempts to speed the competition up in order to make some sort of dent on Indian Motorcycle’s absolute stranglehold over the class—measured by whatever metric you’d like: sheer grid numbers, podiums, race wins or championships—failed to do much other than increase costs.
The 2022 season saw another tactic introduced: Feeling left with no other option, an updated rulebook sought to bring the race-only Indian FTR750 back to its production-based pursuers, most notably by way of intake restrictors.
To say this ruffled feathers—especially among the flock of world-class competitors already armed with the supremely competent yet expensive FTRs—would be a significant understatement.
The initial reaction from some corners was such that there were legitimate concerns that, in a desperate bid to save the sport, Progressive AFT’s “cure” might instead sink it.
There was no guarantee Indian wouldn’t just take its trailer and go home, the risk being the manufacturer could eliminate its factory support of the series and—justifiably or not—point convincingly to the new regulations as the reason for their exit.
Nor was there any guarantee that other teams or manufacturers would step forward to take advantage of the opportunities being created for them.
But after much controversy and consternation, it eventually became difficult to argue against the results on track. While not without its obstacles or imperfections, the 2022 season ultimately delivered a thrilling five-rider, three-team, two-manufacturer championship campaign that wasn’t settled until the year’s final checkered flew.
And while Yamaha basked in Grand National Championship glory, the likes of which it hadn’t enjoyed since the days of Kenny Roberts nearly a half-century prior, in the end, factory Indian star Jared Mees prevailed to retain his number-one plate.
Ideally timed to kick off its landmark new Fox Sports linear television deal and the resurrection of FansChoice.tv, what must go down as a triumphant 2022 now sees AMA Pro Racing operating from a position of relative strength as it looks to translate its newfound momentum into something even bigger and sustainable.
Additional rulebook tweaks have been introduced for 2023, with a second wave set to follow in 2024.
Last year Progressive AFT was rebuilt. Now it reloads.
Gaining Control
Any attempt to level the Mission SuperTwins playing field—no matter how well intended, conceived or executed—wouldn’t receive the full stress test necessary until it had a proper control in place to prove its experiments.
The modern history of Progressive AFT has revolved around a sometimes-contentious, and perpetually entertaining, rivalry featuring reigning champ Jared Mees and his fellow multi-time class king, Briar Bauman.
Since 2019, the two have gone bar-to-bar as they battled for series supremacy as quasi-teammates, both representing the Indian Motorcycle factory in an official capacity. While they each have their strongpoints, as title contenders they are as perfectly matched as is realistically imaginable. So until Mees and Bauman were somehow placed on opposite sides of the race-only vs. production-based regulations divide, there would always be questions just how “level” the playing field truly was. While no one doubts the talents or skills of title challengers Dallas Daniels and JD Beach, the fact remains the world has never seen exactly how either one measures up to Mees or Bauman on equal machinery.
While ultimately beyond the series’ power, all it could do was prime the conditions and pray to the racing gods. And already in 2023, those prayers have been answered.
Even though its factory presence has been scaled down to a single entry, Indian is still officially involved and backing Mees’ title defense.
Meanwhile, it was recently announced that Briar Bauman was signed to headline an all-new Mission SuperTwins effort from Rick Ware Racing—who already fields entries in NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, IMSA, AMA Supercross and FIM World Supercross, along with even more motorsports ventures built around the KTM 890 Duke R platform.
This development injects excitement and intrigue to a championship already laden with both. And while it would be unfair to not expect some teething issues as they break in a new race bike, provided the balance of power hinted at in 2022 is effectively maintained, the announcement also teases a prospect of a three-manufacturer title fight.
Simultaneously, this would (further) legitimize the past and future accomplishments of Daniels, Beach et al., while setting the stage for a third-wave influx of production-based entries from teams and riders who may be tempted to follow a potentially lower-cost path themselves once proven viable.
By contrast, if the balance is instead upset as a result, the long history of Mees vs. Bauman provides plenty of already accumulated data regarding how things should look, which could make further fine-tuning easier to gauge.
Give And Take
No team capitalized on last year’s initiatives quite like Estenson Racing, which leveraged the new rules to launch its once-struggling Yamaha MT-07 DT into full-fledged title-contender status in the hands of Daniels and Beach.
Daniels only enjoyed one of the great rookie seasons in the championship’s storied history. Beach, meanwhile, took a big step toward becoming just the fifth rider ever to win an old-school Grand Slam, adding a pair of Short Track victories to his preexisting TT and MotoAmerica Superbike wins, while showcasing the speed to do the same at Half-Miles and Miles in the near future.
The two combined for six victories on the year and both riders carried realistic championship hopes into the finale. And either one of them might have actually pulled it off if not for some misfortune suffered at various points in the season.
While the entire Estenson operation will do everything in its power to build on this momentum, the series is proactively making moves to ensure it doesn’t transform into a freight train of its own.
Arguably the most significant rulebook adjustments added to the equation in ’23 have taken away the ability to modify the stock machine’s firing order, eliminating any further “twingling” efforts, while also reducing throttle-body diameter to 38mm for liquid-cooled production-based engines that exceed 800cc.
Together the changes are hoped to hone the tenuous performance balance while preventing the well-funded and highly professional Estenson Racing outfit from pursuing certain cost-prohibitive development paths (and potentially forcing others to follow suit or be left behind).
Status Quo
Despite the rising fortunes of production-based racers, the Indian FTR750 remains well represented in its defense of the top of the mountain.
Even in the face of concerns of being crippled by regulations, the FTR750 still finished 1-2 in last year’s championship while earning five of the top seven positions in the final standings. And while Yamaha-mounted Beach took more wins than any other rider, the FTR still accounted for more than any other bike.
There’s no denying that it took the Indian teams some time to adjust to their restricted reality—the private entries especially so—but by season’s end, the independent Mission Roof Systems Indians were fast enough to garner three of the year’s final four wins.
Those particular development pains are now behind them as the rulebook is essentially unchanged when it comes to race-only equipment for 2023.
Mees is still Mees and the championship favorite until someone proves otherwise. Behind him stands a formidable and fleet group of privateer FTR pilots. While no longer oppressive in its strength or numbers, the collective efforts of Roof Systems’ Brandon Robinson, JMC Motorsports’ Jarod Vanderkooi, Rackley Racing’s Davis Fisher and Ben Lowe, and GOMR’s Billy Ross should prove more than enough to gun for a bevy of podiums, multiple wins, and perhaps even a title run or two.
On A Mission
Beyond the high-profile title hopes of Bauman, Daniels and Beach, a growing cadre will line the SuperTwins grid on production-based equipment this season.
Briar’s brother, Bronson Bauman, has joined in making the switch to KTM with long-time Latus Motors collaborators Fastrack Racing. Additionally, Wally Brown Racing snapped up reigning Mission Production Twins Champion Jesse Janisch to run a partial season aboard its KTM Duke-based project, one that was strong enough already in ’22 to win a pair of support-class races and land on the premier-class podium.
While starting their respective existences as three distinct programs, the parallel KTM programs could conceivably share notes and data to speed up the development process across the board in a way previously only the Indians could hope to.
The same is true for the contingent of Yamaha MT-07-based programs that have stepped forward to answer the call after the Mission Production Twins class was merged into the premier class for the new season.
Two-time Production Twins champions G&G Racing recruited former Estenson Racing pilot Kolby Carlile to replace the now retired Cory Texter, while the likes of Dan Bromley, Cameron Smith, Nick Armstrong, and even established Mission SuperTwins star Sammy Halbert will compete either full or partial seasons on independent MT-07 equipment.
No Replacement For Displacement
Not to be overlooked in the wake of the Mission SuperTwins-Production Twins merger is the fact that Royal Enfield doubled down rather than backed away when facing the prospect of sinking or swimming in a bigger pond.
Shepherded by Moto Anatomy’s Johnny Lewis, Royal Enfield’s Twins FT program has made some seriously impressive developmental gains throughout its existence, despite the inherent weaknesses of a race bike built out from a 650cc air-cooled parallel-twin stocker.
More weight and less power is an ideal combination to saddle a race bike with from the start, but the Twins FT still managed to rack up a pair of Mission Production Twins victories along with several podiums since its 2020 introduction.
During that span, it has improved its power, agility and durability, while adding Miles to its repertoire after previously steering well clear.
For 2023, the team will double its size to meet its premier-class ascension head-on, adding former Parts Unlimited AFT Singles Champion Ryan Wells to the lineup alongside Lewis, while further growing the personnel supporting the expanded effort.
Additionally, the bike’s air-cooled mill is now better propped up by the rulebook, which allows it to run 40mm throttle bodies up to 900cc (as compared to 38mm for 801-900cc liquid-cooled production bikes).
That general trend is furthered in 2024, when only air-cooled engines will be allowed to exceed 800cc (again, up to 900cc).
While facing stiffer competition than ever, past evidence has demonstrated that Royal Enfield is more than capable of springing a surprise when conditions are ripe.
Delayed Gratification
This time last year, some openly speculated that the driving force behind the rulebook revolution was an attempt to entice Harley-Davidson back into the fold with hopes of both resurrecting its once-dominant factory effort and reinvigorating its expansive dealer network.
Whatever the actual motivation, as successful as 2022 was in a multitude of ways, the series is still left waiting for Harley to re-enter the scene in a major way. That said, Harley-Davidson will not be without credible representation.
While it has yet to produce as hoped in the premier class, the XG750R ultimately proved itself a genuine weapon in Mission Production Twins competition, walking away with yet another dominant title a year ago.
Championship winner Janisch also showed the XG750R good enough to push the leading Mission SuperTwins pilots hard during his repeated Mission Production Twins Challenge forays, as did Bronson Bauman, who guided the Latus Motors XG750R to a runner-up finish in last year’s opener.
You can expect to see some support-class XGs to step back up to Mission SuperTwins duty in ’23, most notably one in the hands of premier-class race winner Mikey Rush, who was triumphant aboard the bike at last year’s Black Hills Half-Mile.
Race-Day Revamp
Not all of the changes for 2023 are technical updates. This season’s race-day flow will see the return of Last Chance Qualifiers, which, combined with a provisional starter, create the potential for 19-rider main-event grids.
The points system has been massaged to accommodate this, paying down to 19th, which means every finisher save the winner gains a point compared to the previous payout.
Two is Greater Than Three
As described, while some attrition was inevitable as the series merged Mission Production Twins into the Mission SuperTwins class, the strength of the premier class should be noticeably bolstered in depth, talent and variety, as a result.
The same is true in the Parts Unlimited AFT Singles class, which will see the return of a handful of riders, including two of its all-time greats: Shayna Texter-Bauman, who will represent the all-new Rick Ware Racing team aboard a KTM 450 SX-F, and Bromley, who is set to do double-duty aboard Yamahas on at least a limited scale with HRP Racing.
The class’ already ocean-deep field is headlined by reigning champion Kody Kopp, who is set to brandish the number-one plate for Red Bull KTM. The gifted pilot’s continued ascension only becomes that much more intriguing as KTM gains a foothold in the premier class. That said, Kopp’s immediate focus needs to be on retaining his title in the face of the combined challenge presented by the likes of the returning champs: teammate Max Whale; Turner Honda aces Morgen Mischler, Trent Lowe and Chase Saathoff; 2022 runner-up Dalton Gauthier on the D&D KTM; Estenson Racing Yamaha’s Trevor Brunner; and several other potential title hunters. CN