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GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 1 - "River
Ranch " |
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Chris Borich kicks off 2011 with a win
at the River Ranch GNCC |
River Ranch, FL - Chris Borich
took the first step towards adding a third GNCC
title to his résumé today by winning
the opening round of the 2011 Can-Am Grand National
Cross Series at the Moose Racing Westgate River
Ranch event, near River Ranch, Florida.
Last year, Borich won 11 of 13 rounds to claim
the 2010 title, and this year the Yoshimura
Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider picked up right
where he left off, using a strong final lap
push on the rough and sandy course to take the
opening round victory over Ballance Racing Yamaha's
Taylor Kiser and Warnert Racing Can-Am Foremost
Insurance's Chris Bithell.
"This is a good win for us," said
Borich. "We got the lead on the last lap
and I put the hammer down and tried to pull
a gap. I can't thank my team enough. For sure,
it was a team effort and a good win."
All three podium finishers benefitted from
a last lap encounter with a barbed wire fence
by Warnert Racing Can-Am Foremost Insurance's
Adam McGill. McGill took the lead on the second
lap of the two-hour, six-lap race, and held
it until just after the start of the final lap
when he crossed through a gate on the course
and got tangled up in part of the old fence
that had been kicked up by another rider. The
fence wrapped around McGill's bike and put him
on the ground, allowing Borich, Kiser and Bithell
to go by.
"It's unfortunate what happened to McGill,
he was going pretty good," said Borich.
"But I was right on his tail and he was
getting kicked around pretty good in the whoops
and that's where I felt the best. I thought
I could get by him there and I was setting him
up for a pass, but then he had his problems."
Kiser came from near the back of the field
after getting off to a mediocre start, but managed
to find his way into the top three heading into
the final lap. And when McGill went down, Kiser
inherited second. The Florida rider was philosophical
about his runner-up finish.
"It's not a win but we came away with
some points," said Kiser. "I spent
too much energy at the start of the race and
I got tired there at the end. This is a tough
race, for sure, and I'm happy to get what we
got."
Like a lot of racers, Bithell came into the
Florida round just hoping to come away with
some points and leave town healthy due to the
rough nature of the course and he was understandably
happy with third.
"I think this was the toughest Florida
track we've ever had - it was brutal,"
said Bithell. "But I got a decent start
and I took my time and it paid off. I really
wanted to get a podium today and then turn it
up for the rest of the season, so this is a
good start."
