After a tough start to the season, Jake Johnson and the Estenson Racing squad decided to try something different at round eight of the American Flat Track AFT Twins Championship and broke out their Indian Scout FTR750s.
In just his first race on the new bike, Johnson was able to score a top-10 finish and regain some of his confidence back. Some bad luck, a big crash in Texas and a struggle to find the right setup on his Twin, had taken its toll. The key objective then became to get the two-time Grand National Champion back to being comfortable on a motorcycle again.
He had a solid third-place finish in the Heat, followed by a fourth-place finish in the Semi. When it came down to the Main event, it was an all-out war on the slick, narrow-grooved track. Not quite comfortable on his new steed, Johnson chose discretion over valor and avoided making big mistakes to finish ninth. Although it wasn’t the result a former champion looks for, it was the right move in the right direction for Johnson, and he and the team are very encouraged by the bike’s potential.
Jake Johnson – AFT Twins #5:
“I think we learned a lot about the new bike today. Had some issues here and there. I guess that’s part of riding a new bike. But it felt really good, we were just a little bit off. The track was tough today, so it was hard to push too hard. You didn’t want to make too many mistakes. After that restart, I kind of got up in there for a little bit, but towards the end just kind of faded back.
“The biggest thing I noticed was that I never really found the limit today. So that was good. I think a lot of it is just kind of building some confidence back and things like that. Like I said, we learned a little bit about these things today, that should help us in Oklahoma. I think we’ve got something to build on.”
Catch the race on NBCSN, June 16 at 5:00 p.m. ET.
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