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Yamaha's
Freestyle Team (left to Right)
Nate Adams, Tom Clowers, Jeff Tilton |
Yamaha’s push to try different things to
separate themselves from the competition isn’t
just limited to set up’s for bikes and quads,
it also includes their factory support as well.
Yamaha was the first to step up and offer full factory
support to a freestyle rider. Nate Adams who was
putting on a show for everyone is quite proud to
be one of the few with a factory ride. “I’m
living the dream right now.” Said Nate. “It’s
really awesome because I get parts and everything
I need now. It makes things a lot easier. I’m
really fortunate to have that kind of support.”
Said the recent Dew Tour Champion.
Former GNCC seven-time ATV Pro champion, Barry
Hawk was in attendance as well. “I was actually
a little more upset when Bill tied me with seven
wins than when he passed my record this year.”
Said Barry when asked how he felt about Bill breaking
his old record. “I’m not trying to
sound arrogant, but I am still the only guy that
can say he has won seven championships on a quad
and one on a bike.” Said Hawk, who has no
regrets about making the switch to two wheels.
Barry still likes the idea of maybe getting out
on the track for a couple races on 4-wheels once
again. “Ultimately what I’d like to
do is win the championship early on my bike and
then go race the last couple of GNCC quad events.”
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Yamaha's Nate Adams, Tommy Clowers
and Jeff Tilton put a on freestyle exhibition
for the Yamaha employees and media shortly
after lunch as they busted out some insane
tricks for the cheering crowd |
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6
Time Women's GNCC Champion, Traci Cecco,
will return on a Yamaha YFZ450 again in
2008 to defend her title |
Yamaha will also be supporting six time Women’s
GNCC champion, Traci Cecco. Donnie Luce, Yamaha’s
ATV Off-Road Coordinator was on hand to discuss
this year’s team had this to say. “Traci
is a fantastic rider and is a roll model in
this industry. We are very proud to have her
be a part of our team!” Luce is very excited
about next year’s team, but emphasizes
that the team roster is not yet quite complete.
“We have a great team this year.”
Said Luce. “We have some other riders
that we are still talking to and we should have
those names announced in the next month.”
According to Luce, Yamaha plans to focus on
the GNCC and the AMA MX series’ this year.
“The AMA really stepped up this year and
put a lot of effort into that series, and we
think that it is the future of ATV motocross.”
He concluded.
Next year’s team is looking good so far,
and with the addition of new members coming
soon, Yamaha is taking steps to increase their
support and could possibly be expanding to include
the WORCS series in upcoming years. “The
WORCS series is run really well and they do
a great job of promoting it, so there is the
possibility we could be participating in that
sometime in the future.” Said Luce. Hopefully
Yamaha’s efforts will give them the level
of success they wish to achieve and encourage
even more factory support in the ATV world in
the coming years.
