Yamaha BLU CRU Riders Claim Podium Finishes At Opening Round Of The 2018 American Flat Track Series
(Press Release) Daytona,
Fla.-March
16, 2018- Daytona's "Bike Week"
festivities continued with Thursday's DAYTONA TT, the opening round
of the 2018 American Flat Track (AFT) Series at Daytona
International Speedway. Yamaha
bLU cRU riders JD Beach and Jesse Janisch battled hard to
claim second-place finishes in the Twins and Singles classes
respectively.
JD Beach made his first of two appearances with the G&G Racing
Team in the 2018 American Flat Track Series, and the 2015
MotoAmerica Supersport Champion emerged with second-place in the
highly-competitive Twins class on his MT-07. Roof Systems/West Bend
Harley/Rock River Yamaha's Jesse Janisch maneuvered his
YZ450F through a chaotic Main Event in the Singles class to
bring home a second-place finish from the DAYTONA TT.
AFT Twins Class Notes
The
Yamaha MT-07 is proving to be a formidable challenger in the
American Flat Track Twins class, and the DAYTONA TT Main Event was
contested by four riders on MT-07's:
- JD Beach - G&G Racing
- Mikey Rush - G&G Racing
- Jake Johnson - Estenson Racing
- Kayl Kolkman - Kolkman Racing
Ultimately, it was Beach who set his sights on the race leader and
series' reigning champion, Jared Mees, as he passed Brad Baker to
position himself in second-place just prior to the halfway point of
the race. Beach then turned it up a notch, and closed the gap to
within 0.462 seconds of Mees when the checkered flag waived,
bringing home a very respectable second-place finish.
LJ Gronek - G&G Racing Team Manager
"The Yamaha MT-07 is a strong platform - JD finished ahead of a lot
of other riders who have big teams and big budgets behind them,
including five of the six factory riders. We learned a lot from
last season, made some changes and it's great to see them pay off
and to know that we're working in the right direction."
JD Beach, AFT Twins #95 - G&G Racing
"My night went great! I definitely have to thank the G&G Racing
guys, they worked hard on the bike. We got a little bit of time on
the bike on Tuesday and it felt great then. We unloaded it here and
made a few changes throughout the day but it was a great bike - it
was fast! We'll go to race two with what we learned and try to get
a win."
AFT Singles Class Notes
It was a tough start to the season for the defending Singles
Champion, Estenson Racing's Kolby Carlile, as he was sidelined from
the season-opening Main Event due to a shoulder injury sustained
during a crash in the Semi.
The Singles Main Event proved to be challenging with two red-flag
restarts, during both of which Jesse Janisch was able to steer
clear of high-speed crash incidents. Janisch battled for the lead
with eventual race-winner, Dan Bromley, as the duo created a race
of their own, far ahead of the rest of the pack.
The American Flat Track Series will head to Woodstock, Ga. on
Saturday, April 7 for Round 2 of the 2018 season.
Twins Class Results
- Jared Mees, Indian
- JD Beach, AFT Twins #95 - Yamaha MT-07
- Henry Wiles, Kawasaki
Singles Class Results
- Dan Bromley, KTM
- Jesse Janisch, AFT Singles #132 - Yamaha
YZ450F
- Shane Narbonne, Honda
For more Yamaha racing news, results, photos, and videos, visit http://www.YamahaMotorsports.com/Racing
