Shayna Texter-Bauman scored strong finishes on her KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition at the Sacramento Mile Double-Header in the AFT Singles class. Read more information and get the race results in the press release below.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Shayna Texter-Bauman had an impressive showing at the Sacramento Mile double-header over the weekend as she claimed two-for-two podium finishes in the highly-competitive AFT Singles class. Serving as rounds 15 and 16 of the American Flat Track Championship, the jam-packed race weekend provided one last stop before the series culminates with its final round next month and team rider Max Whale experienced a tough go with 7-7 results at the penultimate stop, now dropping him to 20 points behind in the championship standings.
ROUND 15
Texter-Bauman, the 2019 Sacramento Mile winner, came into the weekend with high expectations and she more than delivered with a pair of strong podium finishes. On Saturday, Shayna placed her KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION into a second-place qualifying position, which set a positive tone for the rest of the weekend. With a front row start in the Main Event, Shayna powered her way off the line to secure a second-place start and she battled inside the top-four early on. She maintained top-five positions for the rest of the laps, making a last-ditch effort to go for the podium late in the race. From fifth to second in the last three laps, Shayna locked in second-place, finishing only 0.024 seconds away from her third win of the season.
Her teammate and championship hopeful, Max Whale, had a more challenging start to the race weekend. Coming into the Main Event with a Row 2 start, Whale put his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION into third right away but he struggled to maintain the pace of the front-runners and settled into sixth. While working his way forward, Whale got hit and was taken off the racing line late in the race, falling back to 10th as a result. Rallying back, Whale made a last-lap pass to secure seventh on the first night.
ROUND 16
With her second-best finish of the season the night before, Texter-Bauman came into day two with great momentum. It wasn’t the start she was looking for in the Main Event from the third row but the all-time winningest AFT Singles rider did what she needed to do in order to fight for a podium spot. Just after the halfway point, Shayna came on strong to overtake third and once again engage in an intense battle up front. Finishing only 0.069 seconds behind second-place, Shayna secured a third-place podium finish at the Sacramento Mile II. With two solid finishes, Shayna vaulted herself up four spots in the championship standings, where she now sits eighth with one round remaining.
Texter-Bauman: “Overall, it was a great weekend for me. I’m really happy to come away with two podium finishes and I moved up four spots in the championship back up to eighth place. I finally got to a racetrack that suits my style and gives me a chance to go out there and show how far we’ve come with the new settings on the bike. We finally got the motorcycle back to where I’m comfortable and I’m excited to head to Charlotte and see what we can do.”
For Whale, day two had a positive start as he battled for the lead in Semi 1 before ultimately securing a second-place transfer into the Main Event. With a sixth-place start in the main, Whale again found himself struggling for the first six laps and he settled into seventh midway through the race. Putting in consistently fast laps late in the race, the Aussie was able to maintain his position in seventh but there just wasn’t enough time to make any more passes. With 7-7 results on the weekend, Whale has now dropped 20 points back in the AFT Singles Championship.
Whale: “I struggled a lot this weekend in Sacramento and came home with a pair of P7 finishes both days. For the Main Event today, I was in the front row and just struggled early in the race with the tire. We went to a newer tire and the first 6-7 laps I couldn’t get traction, and then it finally started coming in and I started putting down some good lap-times but by then it was too late. I broke away from the pack behind me and was catching the lead group for the last five laps but it was too little, too late. I just want to thank the team for the effort.”
Next Race (finale): Charlotte Half-Mile – Charlotte, North Carolina – October 8
AFT Singles Results – Round 15
1. Trevor Brunner, Honda
2. Shayna Texter-Bauman – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
3. Dallas Daniels, Yamaha
OTHER KTM
6. Morgen Mischler, KTM
7. Max Whale – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
16. Damon Ream, KTM
AFT Singles Results – Round 16
1. Trevor Brunner, Honda
2. Dallas Daniels, Yamaha
3. Shayna Texter-Bauman – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
OTHER KTM
6. Morgen Mischler, KTM
7. Max Whale – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
11. Damon Ream, KTM
AFT Singles Point Standings (After Round 16 of 17)
1. Dallas Daniels, 268 points
2. Max Whale – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 248
3. Morgen Mischler, 221
OTHER KTM
8. Shayna Texter-Bauman – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 135