It was a night to remember for Australian rising star Tom Drane, who powered to his first victory of the 2025 Progressive American Flat Track season at the iconic Lima Half-Mile in Ohio.
The 18-year-old Estenson Racing Yamaha rider shone under the lights, showing impressive speed and racecraft across three intense main events in the new Mission Triple Challenge format.
The AFT Singles presented by KICKER main events were a hard-fought battle from start to finish, but Drane—last year’s Lima winner—rose to the challenge once again. He started strong in Main Event 1, hounding Trevor Brunner for several laps before making a decisive move to take control and break away. From there, the Aussie stretched out his lead for a commanding win.
Main Event 2 saw Brunner return fire. This time, the Turner Racing rider managed to hold off Drane’s aggressive attacks, defending fiercely even when Drane pushed him high on the cushion. While Drane settled for second, he remained within striking distance heading into the triple-points-paying final.
Despite a slow start in Main Event 3 that saw him drop to fifth, Drane didn’t flinch. A red flag and staggered restart gave him a second chance, and he made it count, passing both Chase Saathoff and Brunner to take the lead. When Brunner’s Honda expired with five laps to go, Drane was already well ahead, ultimately cruising to a dominant five-second win and taking the overall round victory.
“It was really good. We were fast all day,” Drane said after the final. “I knew what I had to do, and once I got past Trevor, I just had to put my head down and keep going. It’s unfortunate that he broke.”
“Back home, we do something similar. We’ve got five heat races. So for me, it was no problem. I just had to chip away at it, and then ride that last one like it was the Main because of the points. Thank you to my whole Estenson Racing Monster Energy Yamaha team. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here winning tonight. And I’m so thankful for them.”
Max Whale, Australia’s other AFT contender in the Super Twins, continued his consistent form, backing up his fifth in the opening moto with another fifth in the second and finishing fifth overall for the round.
In the overall standings, Drane’s victory will undoubtedly boost his championship hopes as the series heads straight into Lima Half-Mile II the following night. With growing confidence and momentum on his side.
