Chris Borich Takes Overall at Round 4 of the Atlantic Grand Prix series!

This Memorial Day weekend felt like the official start of summer with temperatures reaching a humid 85 degrees. Many riders dreaded the heat but soon realized that the creek crossings and cool shadows of the Moosic Mountain Forest kept them cool throughout the race. The course was mostly dry with a few wet areas, which only made the race more interesting. There was an impressive turnout of riders including GNCC Series Pro Racer, Chris Borich, and Women’s Racer, Stefanie Verkade. The Atlantic Grand Prix event was divided into 3 groups; Youth Quads at 10:00 am followed by Adult Novice Quads at 11:00 am, and Adult Quads at 1:00 pm.

Jesi Stracham

As the clock struck ten the youths were off for some great racing on a shortened course just over 1 mile long for a 45 minute period. One young rider who drew a crowd was Jesi Stracham from Canton, Ohio. She piloted her Honda Mini to first overall in the Youth Race with an impressive 18 minute lead on her class. She was ecstatic about her win in the Youth Race and also in the 13-15 class of the AM Race. This young rider is full of talent and will certainly grow to be a name to look for in the future of ATV Cross Country Racing. Her sister, Jodi Stracham, also finished first in her 90cc limited class, bringing home yet another first place trophy for the Stracham family.

Stefanie Verkade

The AM Race riders were the first racers to be let loose on the full length 7.2 mile course. The Utility classes disappeared into the woods first but the short lead they had on Stefanie Verkade did not last long as the hard charging GNCC racer quickly caught up to them. It did not take long for Stefanie to get ahead of almost every rider in the AM race. Unfortunately, Stefanie did find herself hung up on a tree, but she was able to recover and finish out the race with the class win and third overall only seconds behind Utility Unlimited rider Timothy McAndrew and John Jr. Cunningham who placed 2nd and 1st overall respectively.

Chris Borich took home 1st place overall in the PM Race. Off the line, Chris bulleted towards the first turn grabbing the Holeshot. Shortly before finishing his first lap, Chris gained over 30 seconds on Rob Hertz who was running in second. Chris and Rob went on to lead the competition for the entire duration of the two hour race, continuously adding distance between the other racers and themselves. Chris Borich, Rob Hertz and Michael Lucas finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively.

Chris Borich's Holeshot	Chris Borich	Rob Hertz

Dale Freitas, the AGP Series Promoter, worked hard to combine the classes with low turnouts and kept things flowing smooth to accommodate everyone. He valued every rider equally and did a great job keeping up communication with riders to hear opinions on the course and the series in general. In reaction to some of the racers past recommendations, Dale plans to change the layout of the course to cross the creek two additional times for a total of four crossings to avoid a rocky section.

The next race is Round 5 at Thunder Ridge MX Park in New Berlin, New York, on June 17th and 18th. The course is 8 miles in length and has a great combination of hay fields and winding trails through the woods along with mild motocross track, which provides a great venue for spectators, so bring your family and friends to witness the racing action first hand.

For more information about the Atlantic Grand Prix series go to
www.atlanticgrandprix.com

www.atlanticgrandprix.com

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