THE COMEBACK GIRL
Sandriana Shipman
Photos by Scott Hunter
For young Sandriana Shipman , riding was a family thing . She started at age three on a Honda ATC70 3-wheeler . “ I ’ d chase my cousins ,” she said , “ and when I tried to turn I ’ d fall off and it ’ d run me over . I ’ d run after it crying because I wanted to try again .”
Eventually she moved to a PW50 , and then a Cobra 50 , which her dad turned into a mini flat tracker . “ I raced it at a half-mile that year at Thundertown in the Thunder Dome when I was seven .”
After racing for years she knew she wanted to go Pro when she turned 16 . “ I got to go to Springfield and sat on the front straightaway ,” she remembers . “ I said , ‘ I ’ m gonna do that next year .’ So I signed up to get my Pro license .”
But while she was ready to dive into a Pro career , she met nothing but adversity . She had two older 450s and seemed to blow them up regularly , and when dad couldn ’ t help rebuild them anymore she did it herself . When she couldn ’ t manage , friends helped out , including Grand National Champion Bryan Smith .
“ Bryan had a frame and mailed me everything ,” she remembers , “ and with bits and pieces I was able to build a bike from the ground up . But then an AFT rule change stipulated that bikes had to be ’ 09 or newer to ride Pro , and mine was an ‘ 06 frame and was carbureted . My heart broke .”
Eventually she made a deal on a used KTM 450 , put a lawnmower trailer behind her Honda CRV and drove south to Daytona for the TT . It didn ’ t go well , and she spent six weeks living in her car , but persevered .
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WHEN I DECIDED TO GO PRO THEY SAID I NEEDED $ 50K , A SPRINTER VAN AND TWO NEW BIKES ... I IGNORED THAT AND DID WHAT I COULD WITH WHAT I HAD .
“ I didn ’ t have a new bike .” she said . “ I wore old leathers , old boots , and a helmet that had hit the ground 50 times . But I didn ’ t care . I just wanted to race .”
One of Sandriana ’ s best moments was making her first main event – something rarely done by women in professional flat track – at Calistoga , California . “ It was a sick track ,” she remembered . “ I was fifth in qualifying , which was great , fifth in my heat and fifth in the semi ; I even beat Shayna [ Texter ]. I lined up ninth for the Main ; that ’ s mid-pack , so I didn ’ t just squeak in .”
Unfortunately , injuries have been a big part of her story . In 17 years of racing she ’ s had multiple vertebral compression fractures , 12 herniated discs , with two of those herniations
“ The flat track family … there ’ s nothing like it ,” Sandriana says . “ I never would have made it through without that support at the track from the flat track family .”
64 | MAY 2020 | THUNDERPRESS . NET