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Borich Wins Again at Pirelli Big Buck GNCC
Ballance and Bithell
second and third
| GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 4 "Big Buck" |
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| #2
Chris Borich |
Union, SC (4/15/2007) –
The battle for the 2007 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country
Series ATV Title is heating up, as East Coast ATV Honda’s
Chris Borich grabbed his second-straight with a strong
run at the Big Buck GNCC. Borich is now tied for the series
points lead with seven-time and defending GNCC Champion
Bill Ballance. Factory Yamaha’s Ballance was strong
again, but he didn’t have an answer for Borich this
time, settling for second ahead of LTERacing.com’s
Chris Bithell.
“Yeah I think I’m going pretty good,”
said Borich, flashing a smile and showing some confidence.
“It was pretty dusty out there. I had a good line
and got around Bill, and I knew as long as I kept some
lappers between me and him, he wouldn’t be able
to go and catch me. I feel like we can win this championship,
we’ll just keep looking things over and training
hard.”
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| #4
Chris jenks & #1 Bill Ballance collide heading
into turn two with Ballance coming out of it in
front of Jenks with #2 Chris Borich taking over
the early lead.
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Ballance got hung up on the start when he tried to
make a pass on ITP Holeshot Award Winner Chris Jenks.
Borich snuck past them, but then pulled over and let
Ballance by when he elected not to jump the Big Buck
creek jump. “I didn’t want to jump it on
the first lap, so I let Bill go around so I could follow
him over,” said Borich. “It was nothing.”
A lap later he found a good line to pass Ballance
and get the lead back, and then used the dust—and
a blistering fast pace—to pull away.
Ballance may be the smartest rider on the tour, but
he couldn’t figure out a way to get Borich back
at the Big Buck. “There was a line I had seen
when we checked the track out, but I missed it and Chris
took it, and he went right around me,” said Ballance.
“There was a cut away section of woods, more of
an open field with some stumps, and it was really dusty
in there. I knew if he was ahead of me by the time we
got there, I would be in some trouble because it was
so dusty in that section. I lost a lot of time there.
On the last lap we put in a charge, but I knew if I
didn’t get close or pass him by the time we got
to that cut away section, I wouldn’t be able to
get him. Chris rode awesome today.”
Third-placed Bithell rode awesome, too. He once again
showed the speed needed to compete with Borich and Ballance,
and he’s working on the endurance. “It’s
always nice to be up here on the podium, but I really
want to get up there with these guys and get in the
middle of it,” said Bithell. “I trained
really hard between the North Carolina race and this
one. I felt a lot better, I even got a glimpse of Ballance
at one point, but he got away from me. I didn’t
get a good start, and I think that might have worn me
down a bit, having to push so hard early.”
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| #7
Adam McGill lost three positions during his pit
stop, but was able to rebound to fourth overall |
Bithell used a smart pit strategy to make moves. He
was in fourth behind fellow sophomore pro Adam McGill,
but when McGill and the majority of the pack pitted
on lap two, Bithell kept on riding and moved into third.
“I couldn’t get around McGill on the course,
but I knew if I could get around him in the pits I could
pull away,” said Bithell. “My pit crew does
a great job.” Bithell, 18, has a pit crew led
by his mother.
McGill hung on for fourth, his best finish of the season.
The West Virginia rider, like many racers from the northern
states, is getting stronger as the weather gets better
close to home, which allows for more practice time.
“Yeah, I’ve just been lifting hard and
working on my guns,” joked the fun-loving McGill
before the race. “I tried to put my shirt on this
morning and it wouldn’t even fit over my arms.”
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