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Chris Bithell GNCC Pro Racer

Brooksville, FL - We recently caught up with GNCC Pro ATV Racer Chris Bithell. After a phenomenal year in 2013 despite his injury at the second to last round at the Powerline Park GNCC. Chris Bithell is back competing in the GNCC Pro Class once again aboard a Suzuki LTR450.

We had a chance to sit down with Chris Bithell to talk to him about his winter training, his engagement, and his plans for the 2014 GNCC Racing Season.

ATVriders.com: Chris, what have you been doing this winter?    
Chris Bithell: Well, actually not a whole lot. I’ve been down in Florida just training pretty hard and going to the gym and everything else that I can do. It’s been pretty bad weather up North, so I’ve been staying home and helping out around there and then I finally came down here to get some real training in. I feel ready to go though.

ATVriders.com: You’re back on the Suzuki this year? 
Chris Bithell: Yeah I’m back on the Suzuki this year. Basically the same setup I had last year but with some better sponsorship coming in this year, Precision and MAXXIS Tires stepping up this year big so I got to thank those guys a lot. Everything else is as close to the same program we ran last year, which was pretty awesome with a lot of podiums last year. This year we’re just looking for a lot of consistency, no DNF’s and maybe another win would just be awesome in my book.

Chris Bithell is once again aboard a Suzuki LTR450 in 2014 backed by many of the same sponsors he had last year

ATVriders.com: You got hurt at the end of last season, how are you doing on that front and what did you end up injuring? 
Chris Bithell: Yeah I did, the second to last race in Ohio I had a pretty bad crash and I sat out the last round, but I came down here to Florida on my dirt bike and I rode and I felt awesome. I was still a little skeptical to see how I felt on the quad and came down here and went straight to an FTR race. I hadn’t rode since St Clairsville, Ohio, so I didn’t know how it was gonna go. I went out there and won the race, it felt awesome! There was honestly not even a hint of pain in my arm. It was my right shoulder I ended up having some scar tissue built up on my rotator cuff. It was a pretty bad injury, but I lucked out and didn’t need any surgery, and I just did some physically therapy and the little things around the house that hurt me, but as soon as I get on the quad, I feel better than I did even before the crash. It’s almost like riding helps out my muscles, haha!

Chris Bithell earned his first win of the season in his home-state of Pennsylvania at the Gusher GNCC in 2013

ATVriders.com: So what brings you down to Croom to ride? You come down here quite often to train and ride.
Chris Bithell: Yeah we’re just here today and we try to hit this place when we can. This side of the state has a lot to offer with a lot of good riders around here and a lot of motocross tracks and if they aren’t running then we come up here to ride. It’s just got everything you could ever ask for in a Florida woods riding area. There’s big sand whoops, there’s hard packs, there’s just everything you could ask for. We really like it, it really pounds you into shape here.

Chris Bithell has been training in Florida during the winter

ATVriders.com: You recently got engaged finally?
Chris Bithell: Yeah we finally pulled the trigger on that! It just makes everybody happy. We are planning the wedding now to be in August and we got a big house now and the farm and it was just time.

ATVriders.com: You just keep coming back racing every year. Every year we wonder if you’re going come back for another year.
Chris Bithell: Yeah you know, I wonder that too. And in my factory ride previously, it was just heading downhill, downhill, downhill and you know, I got on this Suzuki and it’s almost like it brought a brand new life to it. It’s a big pain, it’s tough and a lot of work to keep the race quad going by myself, I’m my own mechanic, and I’m my own team. I have a motor guy that does all of that work but I turn all of my own wrenches and it’s tough and it’s late hours but it pays off and makes you feel just that much better when you do well in the race. When the machine performs flawlessly it just feels great to be able to do that. I plan on just to keep going and I was coming to a point where I was just not liking it anymore and they weren’t doing the things the way I would like to do them. I got my own deal now and I had more sponsors help me out this year and hopefully next year we can just keep pushing forward and getting better. I feel great and better than I have in years past and I think I’m going in stronger. I might not win Florida or Georgia but I’m going keep riding and having fun and just progress from there.