He did it. Henry Wiles won his 13th straight Peoria TT yesterday. The track was reprofiled for the flying twins.
Peoria was the third TT of the 2017 AFT season. The Daytona opener was nothing like I hoped or imagined it would be (read all about it in Sideburn 29). Under two weeks ago was the Buffalo Chip TT, part of the Sturgis Bike Week, which did have a proper jump and a more technical track (though this official video below doesn't show the jump).
Briar Bauman scored his second win of the year at the Buffalo Chip, at that point the only non-Indian rider to win all season. Wiles had the fastest lap by over 4/10ths of a second, but went out, completing only 15 of the 25 laps, with a damaged sump, his bike spewing oil, presumably from a heavy landing. It was probably a blessing in disguise, because it showed a weakness on his home-brewed Kawasaki before the biggest race of his year.
Wiles seems to be a love him or hate him rider. I interviewed him at Flat Out Friday for Sideburn 28 and really warmed to him.
Below is a shot of Wiles' Kawasaki twin I took at Daytona in March. I walked past it a couple of times before I realised it wasn't a 450 single.
