The Power Line Park GNCC ATV Race Report
Round 12: October 13th - St. Clairsville, OH

St. Clairsville, OH (10/15/2007) - William Yokley finished 171st overall, 19th XC1 Pro today at the Power Line Park GNCC race in St. Clairsville, OH after a mechanical failure ended his day. There were 206 competitors in this race including 25 XC1 Pro riders.

Summary:
The final results show that I finished well down in the field today, but I am really pleased with how far the development has come on my bike since the beginning of the season. I actually only completed just a little less than 3 laps of the 4 lap event. The reason I’m optimistic is that I got a great start, I ran up front the entire time, and I am confident I could have finished on the podium.

Powerline Park is a very fast track with a lot of high speed open fields, tight technical woods, and some mud holes to make it interesting. This area of Ohio has been experiencing a severe drought like we have at home in KY, so I knew it was going to be very dusty. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. After meeting with the fans and signing posters, I headed to the start area for the main event.

Finally a good start for Kawasaki's William Yokley

I have been experimenting with different techniques to start by bike quickly, and none seemed to work consistently. I found something since the last race that seems to work very well. The start area had a long up hill climb, so a quick start was essential, especially as dusty as it was. The flag dropped and I got a great launch, and my KFX450 pulled strong up the hill. I arrived at the first corner right next to Bill Ballance, and we actually had some contact. The last thing I wanted to do was mess up his chance to win the championship by wrecking him. We finished the open fields, and I was 2nd behind Ballance heading into the woods.

William Yokley had his best run of the year chasing after Ballance for several laps before a failure ended his day

The dust was a real problem, but I was in a much better place than most everyone. I completed the first lap in 2nd place behind Bill feeling strong and comfortable. I pitted for gas on the second lap but Borich did not pit, so I was in 3rd right behind him. Just before the end of the 3rd lap, my bike suddenly lost power and quit running. It would not restart, and all I could do was push it off the course, and watch everyone go by.

This was heart breaking because the bike was working great and running strong. It has taken most of this season to develop this bike for professional cross country competition, but I felt that we were finally ready to compete for the win today. Sure I was disappointed and heart broken, but I knew that all the hard work, testing, and practicing had finally produced some good results. So, as I said earlier, I’m upset with not finishing but very happy about how the bike is working.

We go to the Ironman in Crawforsdville Indiana in two weeks. We will find out what caused the engine failure and fix it. I’m ready to battle for a win in this last race!

www.YokleyRacing.com

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