|
The Steele Creek GNCC Race
Report. Morganton, NC, March 24, 2007
(3/30/2007) - William Yokley finished 5th overall
today. After a mishap in the early going and finishing
the first lap in 17th position, William worked his way
up to 5th at the finish. He recorded the fasted time
of all the racers on the 3rd lap of the 4 lap race.
There were 261 total racers in this race including 25
XC1 Pro riders.
Summary:
 |
William
Yokley aboard his
Kawasaki KFX450R |
The break between the last race in Georgia and this
one has been quite busy. As soon as I got home to Kentucky,
we unloaded, cleaned everything and reloaded for the
trip to the Kawasaki Press Introduction of the new KFX450
in Columbia, South Carolina on March 12th through the
15th. Kawasaki had the riding portion of the intro at
Carolina Adventure World, a really cool new ATV park
about halfway between Columbia and Charlotte, North
Carolina. The park is 2600 acres with over 100 miles
of marked trails, pro motocross tracks, and is in the
process of building a hotel and restaurants. The new
2008 KFX450 proved to be a hit with all the invited
media people, and everyone was treated to great hospitality
by Kawasaki. Articles will be appearing soon in all
the major ATV magazines and websites. Kawasaki had all
the people responsible for the development of this revolutionary
Sport ATV, as well as the entire Monster Energy Kawasaki
Race Team riders and managers to provide information
and answer any questions. Everyone had a great time,
and then it was back home to get ready again.
We unloaded on Saturday morning at the Steele Creek
GNCC, a really neat track in the scenic mountains of
North Carolina. The conditions were good but it was
going to be a hot day for racing with the temp in the
upper 80’s. I have been working on my starting
technique since the first two races and have not gotten
it exactly where I need it yet, but I actually got off
the line pretty good.
I was going through the field section right before
the woods in 8th place following Matt Smiley, everything
seemed good to go. That is until I tried a late breaking
maneuver sliding into Matt, resulting in locking us
both together and unable to move. I thought, here we
go again, in the back of the pack, the track is extremely
rough, and it’s HOT!
With so may fast riders in the Pro class, it is tough
to come through the pack. I passed a few riders on the
first lap and came through in 17th. Even though I was
back deep in the field, I felt good and my bike was
working awesome. I pushed hard on the remaining three
laps eventually finishing in 5th. I felt strong to the
end and the heat really didn’t bother me or the
bike.
I feel more comfortable on my KFX450 at every race,
and I’m going to try my best to get on the podium
at the Big Buck GNCC in Union, South Carolina on April
14th.
www.YokleyRacing.com
Discuss
this in ATVriders.com Forum
|
