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GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 1 - "River
Ranch " |
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River Ranch, FL - Anticipation
was high for the first round of the 2009 GNCC
series as Yamaha/GT Thunder backed Taylor Kiser
edged out Suzuki Yoshimura’s Chris Borich
to take his first ever Pro GNCC win at River Ranch
in his home state of Florida.
Although Florida is known for it’s beautiful
weather, high winds blew through the area on
Sunday morning, shredding pop-ups and blowing
sugar sand every where. Rain was also in the
forecast, but none fell aside from a couple
of drops, even though a little bit of moisture
would have been welcomed to help keep the dust
down. The track itself was a freshly cut 12
miles long track, but with its sandy consistency,
it didn’t take long before it became extremely
rough and whooped out, which made for a brutal
track for the Afternoon ATV race.
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The festivities kicked off at the West
Gate River Ranch on Saturday night with
a full on rodeo with bull riding, bronco
riding, cow roping, and barrel racing
with a twist, Bill Ballance & Chris
Bithell had a chance to race their ATVs
against the horses, which was a blast
to watch, and in the end the horses were
quicker around the barrels by just over
a second
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While the first round of any series seems to be
one where racers are still trying to dial in their
machines, Taylor Kiser appeared to have his quad
spot on. Earlier this year, Kiser had indicated
that he was feeling very comfortable with his
switch from the KTM450XC back to the Yamaha YFZ450
and it showed in his performance. “It felt
like I just jumped back in right where I left
off,” said Taylor.
Kiser got off to a good start behind Chris
Borich and Brandon Sommers and held strong,
maintaining a third place position for the first
three laps. Kiser kept pushing hard and made
his way into second place and was just over
one minute behind Borich in the fourth lap.
Kiser began gaining ground on Borich, who was
having clutch issues, and took the lead in lap
five. Kiser stayed consistent in his pace and
was able to hold that lead all the way to the
finish line to claim his first ever Pro GNCC
win.
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Taylor Kiser makes the switch back to
Yamaha for 2009, and Secures 1st Ever
GNCC Win in his homestate of Florida on
the YFZ450 |
“It feels great to take the first round
win, especially since this is my home state
and I had tons of family and friends here supporting
me. It made this a very special race for me!”
said an elated Kiser
Despite having to settle for a second place
finish at round one, Chris Borich, who has his
sights set on dethroning Bill Ballance, was
still upbeat and confident in his performance
even though he encountered some technical difficulties
out on the track. “I took the holeshot
and led for the first lap, but in lap two, Adam
(McGill) got around me. I set a pace behind
him, and I ended up getting past him in the
next lap, but the track was getting really rough
and the sand was taking its toll on my clutch
and it was starting to fade. I made a pit stop
and had the clutch adjusted, but it started
to fade again, so I just kind of babied it and
hung in there to make sure I finished and saved
points,” stated Borich, who intent on
taking the win at round two.
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#2 Chris Borich |
#3
Adam McGill |
