GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 8 - "John
Penton GNCC " |
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Millfield, OH (7/9/2011)
- After suffering a disappointing mechanical failure
at the previous round in West Virginia, Chris
Borich got back on top of the podium with a spectacular
win at the Wiseco John Penton GNCC, round nine
of the 2011 Can-Am Grand National Cross Series
in Millfield, Ohio.
Borich battled race-long with Ballance Racing
Yamaha's Taylor Kiser, Foremost Insurance/Warnert
Racing Can-Am's Chris Bithell and GT Thunder-backed
Brian Wolf before putting his Rockstar Makita
Suzuki into the lead on the final lap to claim
his fifth victory of the season and extended
his lead in the series standings to an impressive
27 points heading into the summer break.
"That race at Snowshoe was kind of a bummer,
it was just a freak deal and I thought we had
at least a top two. You just can't control things
like that sometimes, but it's good to come back
strong here and get the win," said Borich.
The four front-runners took turns holding the
lead until Borich and Bithell broke away from
the pack near the end of the race. However,
a low hanging tree limb nearly took Borich out
of the competition.
"I was chasing Chris and there was a limb
hanging down and he ducked and I didn't see
it and it cleaned me completely off the bike,"
said Borich. "I hit my head pretty hard
and I sat there for a while getting my bearings
before I could take off again."
After getting back into the fray, Borich made
a strong push and was able to catch Bithell
and later took the lead when Bithell hit a tree.
"I just put the hammer down and took some
good lines and did what I needed to do to get
back up front," said Borich.
Kiser also took advantage of Bithell's mistake
and ended the day in second to match his best
finish of the year. The Florida rider also claimed
the $250 Motosport.com Holeshot Award to start
the race.
"I got a good start and that made a big
difference," said Kiser. "The bike
was working well and I feel things are starting
to go our way heading into the break."
Meanwhile, Wolf finished third, making his
third podium finish in four races.
"I got up around third after the start
and then I made a mistake and dropped back to
about eighth," said Wolf. "I worked
back up into third and then Bithell and Borich
got hung up on a hill and I was able to go around
them to take the lead. I pulled a pretty good
lead after that but then I got stuck in a creek
trying to go around a lapped rider and that's
when those guys got back around me."
Bithell ran one of his best races of the year;
unfortunately, his collision with the tree dropped
the Pennsylvania rider back to fourth.
"Me and Borich were having a good battle,"
explained Bithell. "We both got stuck on
a hill on the second lap and dropped back behind
Wolf and Kiser. But then we worked our way back
up to the front. I was in the lead and running
pretty good but then I got crossed up in some
ruts and hit a tree. It put me on the ground
and everyone got by me."
Honda rider Jarrod McClure finished the day
in fifth, while FRE KTM's Bryan Cook turned
in another solid performance to claim sixth.