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Borich Dominates Suzuki GNCC
Opener in Florida
Tops Yokley, Brandon Ballance by over
three minutes; Champion Bill Ballance finishes eighth
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#2
Chris Borich's once again dominates in th sand
as takes the win with three minutes to spare on
his East Coast Honda 450R |
De Leon Springs, FL (3/5/2006)
-East Coast ATV/Honda’s Chris Borich
proved that he is serious about winning the 2006 Suzuki
Grand National Cross Country Title, as the young Pennsylvanian
dominated the season-opening Suzuki Orange Crush GNCC
in Florida. Borich dove underneath defending GNCC Champion
Bill Ballance in turn one to steal the ITP Holeshot,
and then pulled away from the field at an amazing rate
to win the race by over three minutes. It was one of
the most dominant wins in GNCC history.
“I knew everyone else would be strong, so I’ve
been training really hard and working at this,”
said Borich, who nearly won the GNCC title last year.
“I felt good. I just kept pushing and never felt
tired. It was only a couple miles in, and I looked back
and couldn’t see anybody. I was thinking, “Cool.”’
Borich stayed cool while many top contenders had problems
on the ultra-rough and whooped out track. But Yoshimura
Suzuki’s ever-popular William Yokley had a good
day, marking the GNCC debut of the Suzuki LT-R450 QuadRacer
with a runner-up finish. Yokley simply took a stock
LT-R, bolted on Elka shocks, a Yosh exhaust and ITP
tires and finished second.
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| #3
William Yokley kicks of the season with a 2nd
Place finish on the new Suzuki LT-R450 Quadracer
and he held a three minute lead over 3rd place
finisher Brandon Ballance on his Yamaha YFZ450 |
“I just had my pace, and that was all I was comfortable
doing,” said Yokley. “This thing does pretty
good with just a couple of add-on parts. I got on one
with stock shocks, and it was awesome. I knew that was
the machine I needed to be on.” Yokley, of course,
was smiling on the podium as he said this.
The closest battle of the day was for third, as Brandon
Ballance and Chris Jenks dueled for the final podium
spot. A tired, but determined, Brandon took the position.
“There were a couple of sections where you could
get on the top of the whoops, but most of it you were
going down in them,” said Ballance. “It
was rough. On the third lap, I went over the bars and
accidentally unplugged my kill switch. Chris came up
on me, he was really pushing me hard.”
Jenks finished fourth.
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A
bent tie-rod extends #1 Bill Ballance's streak
of bad luck in Florida at the Orange Crush |
And what of Bill Ballance, the six-time and defending
GNCC Champion? Once again Florida did not go his way.
The champion was locked in a big battle early with Jenks
and ATVA National Motocross Champion John Natalie, who
was giving GNCC Racing a shot. But Ballance bent a tie-rod
on his factory Yamaha YFZ450 and lost major time for
repairs. It appeared the champ would fail to score any
points, but he charged hard through the final two laps
and pulled off eighth, saving a ton of points in the
process.
Natalie claimed a respectable fifth. His clutch perch
rattled loose halfway through the race, but he battled
back without a clutch and looked very fast.
In the ATV morning race, Yamaha’s Traci Cecco
topped an all-female podium, with Polaris rider Stephanie
Parton in second and Angel Atwell in third.
The 2006 Suzuki GNCC Series continues next weekend
with the Maxxis General GNCC in Washington, Georgia.
For more information on the Suzuki Orange Crush GNCC,
log on to GNCCRacing.com.
The
AMA-sanctioned Suzuki Grand National Cross Country series
is America's premier off-road racing series. The 13-round
series is produced exclusively by Racer Productions.
Cross-country racing is one of the most physically demanding
sports in the world. The nearly three-hour long GNCC
races lead as many as 1800 riders through tracks ranging
from eight to twelve miles in length. With varied terrain
including hills, trees, mud, dirt, rocks and motocross
sections, GNCC events are tests of both survival and
speed. GNCC featured sponsors include Parts Unlimited,
Moose, Maxxis, Pirelli, Wiseco, Klotz, FMF and ITP,
and riders compete for over $2.8 million in series prizes
and contingency money. Associate sponsors include Moose
Utility Division, Scott, Acerbis, Alpinestars, Cometic,
Outerwears, Twin Air, Polisport Plastics, Thor, Motion
Pro, Hyper Wheels, Elka Suspension, MotoTee's, Weekend
Warrior, Owens Motorsports, Tom's Marina Polaris, EK
Chain and Laeger's. Media Sponsors include Dirt Rider
Magazine, ATV Sport Magazine, www.ATVRiders.com
and Racer X Illustrated. For more information log on
to www.GNCCRacing.com.
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
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