AMA: Kopp reflects on supertracker championship
21 September 2000
PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The SuperTrapp SuperTracker series may be only two years old, but it's been dominated by only one champion: Joe Kopp. The 31-year-old Kopp, of Mica, Wash., remained the racer to beat again this year, sewing up his second title at the Sept. 9 Vernon Downs mile race in New York. Kopp, who won five of eight races last season to claim the series' inaugural crown, clinched the championship this season with one race remaining, winning two races and never finishing lower than second all year. "We've come a long ways since last year," says Kopp of his Suzuki TL1000-based team effort. "The SuperTracker class has a real future." Kopp notes that lap times for the SuperTrackers are getting close to those of the Grand National bikes, and he predicts that the gap will only close as the series matures. Although the Suzukis were dominant last year and picked up their second consecutive title this year, the Harley-Davidsons and the Buells have been very competitive this season. In fact, Mike Hacker and Chris Evans have both won races this year on their Harleys. Hacker sits second in the point standings heading into the final race at the Du Quoin Mile in Illinois. Still, the secret to Kopp's success has been his powerful Suzuki, which uses a motor Kopp says is "basically stock." Last season the bike worked fairly well on the miles and on the straights, but had trouble in the corners. This year, the team has "twingled" the engine, similar to what is now common practice on some top-level Harley-Davidson XR750s in the Grand National class. The technique changes the pistons' firing order to smooth out the powerband and improve traction off the corners, a trait which is key in half-mile racing. Kopp says the Suzuki now works much better on the half miles, but still not as well as the Harleys. The big question as this season wraps up may be, "Will Kopp return to the class in 2001 to defend his title?" According to Kopp, that remains to be seen. Since he has stepped up his game in the Grand National class with a very likely shot at the 2000 AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship title, he says it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on both classes. "It's real tough to race on two bikes," he says. "It takes a lot out of you. It's good for the extra track time, but the fatigue on your body is no good."