Sandriana Shipman will join Waters Autobody Racing on KTM singles in 2018

Dave and Rhonda Waters have announced their team for the 2018 American Flat Track season, and it’s not only chock full of youth, enthusiasm and skill, it’s co-ed, as well.

AFT Singles competitor Wyatt Anderson, who podiumed three times in 2017 and ended up seventh overall in the title chase, will move to the AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines class in 2018, running two different machines as he shoots for Rookie of the Year honors – Yamaha’s FZ-07, and also KTM’s 990 Super Duke.

Wyatt Anderson re-joins Waters Autobody Racing for 2018, but in AFT Twins this time around.

In AFT Singles, the Waters have signed Sandriana 'Hurricane Sandy' Shipman – an up-and-coming racer who shows plenty of promise – to ride the team’s KTM singles.

“This is all very exciting for us,” said team principal Dave Waters. “We were impressed with Wyatt’s results at the end of the 2017 season. We went to Daytona with no expectations and [Wyatt] fell just shy of the win. The experience and maturity he gained throughout the 2017 season showed our team how badly he wanted to [win], so we purchased a pair of Yamaha FZ-07s to add to the fleet. Rhonda and I discussed the restrictions and the gradual phase out of the over-850cc engines and decided the time was now.”

“I couldn’t be happier to join forces with Waters Autobody Racing again in 2018,” said 21-year-old Anderson. “When they gave me the opportunity to ride for them at Daytona [in 2017] it led to the greatest season of my professional career. I’m excited to ride the AFT Twins class in 2018, and I have a couple of options in the Yamaha FZ-07 and KTM Super Duke. The drastic differences in the two bikes ensures that we will have a suitable bike for all 18 rounds of the 2018 American Flat Track season.”

Shipman, who’s 23, is a young racer the Waters are plenty excited to have aboard.

“We see some great things in Sandriana,” Dave Waters said. “She didn’t have a lot of support last year, but she showed a bunch of skill and determination, especially when she borrowed Sammy [Halbert’s] back-up bike and made the Main at Calistoga. We like giving up-and-coming riders a shot. And with Wyatt moving to AFT Twins, and our 450s just sitting there, we felt this would be a great opportunity to give Sandriana one.”

Shipman at Waters Autobody Racing HQ checking out the team's KTM race bikes.

“I really wanted to help Sandriana out when I saw the dedication and drive she showed after last year’s season,” said Rhonda Waters. “It reminded me of when I was younger and trying to race every weekend, and all the people who rallied behind me to make it happen. It is my time to pay it forward. It’s exciting for us!”

Shipman has been a regular fixture at New York-area club races since her father Ron decided to take her to an indoor race at the Thunderdome in Middleton, NY. From that day forward she’s been hooked on dirt track, and has typically ridden whatever machinery has been at her disposal. With the help of friends P.J. and Keith Jacobsen, she threw together a vintage bike and raced her way to a vintage national championship in 2016. And last year she scored her first National points after making the AFT Singles main at Calistoga.

“I’m extremely grateful to have the opportunity to show what I can do on a well-established team like Waters Autobody Racing,” says Shipman. “I owe a huge thanks to my friends, family and supporters who’ve helped me get to this point in my career, and I’m going to continue working hard to make them proud.”

Just one more piece of the off-season AFT puzzle that's gonna make the 2018 season roil with action and intrigue.