GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 1 - "The
Triton " |
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Melbourne, FL - Chris Borich
started the 2008 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country
Series with a new team and new machine, but his
performance looked quite similar to year’s
past. The new member of the Rockstar/Yoshimura
Suzuki team won the Parts Unlimited Triton GNCC
in convincing fashion, topping Team Excell Motorsports
Honda’s Bryan Cook and factory Yamaha’s
Bill Ballance.
“I came down here a few months ago to
get ready, and I tried and tried to break this
thing and I couldn’t,” said Borich
of his new Suzuki LT-R450. “I got a midpack
start, not the greatest, but the Yoshimura motor
just pulled through. I caught up to these guys,
I knew Bill (Ballance) was out front so I pushed
to get up there and get the lead. Then I just
tried to check out.”
Borich fought off KTM’s Taylor Kiser
first, and then later cruised to the finish
unchallenged. Cook kept pushing for second,
while Ballance overcame mid-race crash to get
third.
Cook, who collected just one podium all last
season, was thrilled to take second. “I
brought in a lot of new people this year, some
of the people who I used to work with back in
my amateur days,” said Cook. “I
didn’t know how my conditioning would
be. I was done. My hands were bad. I just had
to dig deep. My hands were so torn up I could
barely hold on to the bars.”
Ballance started the race by grabbing the ITP
Holeshot award, and then battled at the front
of the pack before crashing mid-way through
the race. “I was trying to reserve some
energy, but I think I was in reserve too long,”
said Ballance. “Down here in Florida it’s
always hard to guess how much to reserve, because
it’s such tough terrain. I was running
in second or third place, and I had a pretty
good crash. I was laying on my back and had
the wind knocked out of me. So I had to just
start pushing as hard as I could and I was able
to get this Yamaha up here on the podium.”
Kiser hung tough for fourth with his teammate
Adam McGill fifth, a solid debut for the new
KTM team.
The XC2 Pro-Am class featured a big battle
between the next generation of GNCC stars. Brian
Wolfe led early, but eventually GT Thunder Yamaha’s
Don Ockerman took the lead and held off David
Crane to take the win. Third went to Tyler Lenig.
In the two-hour morning race, Tom Clark Motorsports
Honda’s Angel Atwell staked her claim
to a big 2008 season by taking the Women’s
class and the overall win. Defending Women’s
Champion Traci Cecco took second on her factory
Yamaha after a crash, with Warnert Racing Can-Am’s
Michael Swift turning in the top utility machine
performance by finishing third overall and winning
the 4x4 Limited class on an Outlander 800.
The 2008 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country
Series continues with bike practice on Monday,
March 3 rd and bike racing on Tuesday, March
4 th. David Knight will begin his GNCC title
defense against the top GNCC bike pros, and
Travis Pastrana will also challenge the Knighter.
Pro racing starts at 1 p.m.
To get to the track, take I-95 to the Melbourne
Exit at State Route 192. Go west on Route 192
(12 mi) to Kempfer Road. Turn left on Kempfer
Road and travel two miles to the event.
CanAm
GNCC Series ATV Racing Results
Round #1 - "Parts Unlimited Triton
GNCC"
ATV
Top Twenty Overall |
1. CHRIS M BORICH SUNBURY,
PA SUZ
2. BRYAN COOK CASAR, NC HON
3. BILL BALLANCE SMITHS GROVE, KY YAM
4. TAYLOR KISER ALVA, Fl KTM
5. ADAM K MCGILL WEST UNION, WV KTM
6. BRANDON SOMMERS MILLERSBURG, OH YAM
7. WILLIAM YOKLEY TOMPKINSVILLE, KY HON
8. DONALD OCKERMAN MARSHALL, IL YAM
9. MATTHEW SMILEY KUNKLETOWN, PA HON
10. JARROD MCCLURE KASKA, PA HON
11. CHRIS BITHELL IRWIN, PA CAN
12. DAVID CRANE GOLDEN, MS YAM
13. JEFFREY PICKENS UNIONTOWN, PA HON
14. RYAN LANE BICKNELL, IN HON
15. DUANE JOHNSON TRENTON, MO CAN
16. SHAWN HESS MUENSTER, TX HON
17. TYLER LENIG SHAMOKIN, PA HON
18. BRIAN WOLF MEDINA, OH HON
19. ANDRIS LAGZDINS BALTIMORE, MD HON
20. BRYAN BAKER KNOB NOSTER, MO POL
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