November 6, 2007
US - Kenny Coolbeth won the 2007 AMA Flat Track Singles title aboard his Bettencourt’s Honda CRF450R-based race bike, capping off his amazing flat-track season by walking away with both the Singles and the Twins Grand National championships, the first time any rider has won both in the same year.
“I’m glad it’s over,” said Coolbeth. The 30-year-old rider from Morris, Connecticut continued, “It was a great year for us—we did what we had to do.”
While Coolbeth was considered a favorite in the Twins championship, which he also captured in 2006, he surprised a lot of people—maybe even himself—by his speed and consistency in the Singles division.
“People never thought of me as much of a Singles rider,” Coolbeth said. “That was a real goal of mine to win both championships and to prove I was versatile enough of a rider to win both.”
Coolbeth edged Jake Johnson by just two points in the AMA GNC Singles Championship chase, showing a rare level of speed, race after race, scoring four podium finishes in seven rounds, and finishing in the top six at every race.
Coolbeth is especially gratified to become the first rider to win both the Singles and the Twins Championships in the same season. “It’s sort of old school in a way that there’s just one champion,” he said. “That way there’s no question of who was the top rider this season. “
Coolbeth said he plans on returning in 2008 to defend both championships, again running in the Singles class on his Bettencourt’s Honda CRF450R tracker.
