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Yamaha /
Ballance Racing's 9x GNCC XC1 Pro Champion
Bill Ballance
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Oakland, KY (3/14/2011) - Going
into the 2011 racing season, the Ballance Racing
YAMAHA Team is very confident they have assembled
their best team to date. With the addition of
some key sponsors as well as bringing Thomas Brown
(AMA Pro MX Rider) onboard, Ballance Racing YAMAHA
is poised to run up front both in the woods and
on the motocross track.
The team started out strong at the first round
of the 2011 GNCC ATV Racing Series, held at
Westgate River Ranch in Florida. Although XC1
Pro rider Taylor Kiser started deep in the pack,
he was able to rebound quickly and chase down
the lead pack finishing 2nd overall. "I
really just got a bad start. After things got
sorted out, my new JB Racing components worked
incredible, my OHLINS shocks were flawless and
the Maxis tires really hooked up.
On the other hand XC1 Pro rider Bill Ballance
got off to a good start. "My Moto X Perts
powered YAMAHA got me off the line great, and
things were going as planned until I clipped
a palmetto stump and twisted my steering stem.
Unfortunately this ended my day prematurely.
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Moto-Xperts
Pro- Am rider Walker Fowler is two-for-two
in the 2011 GNCC ATV Racing Series
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XC2 Pro-Am rider Walker Fowler had a flawless
weekend. "Everything was working and the
off season training really paid off for me".
Even with a mid pack start Fowler was able to
run down the front runners and take the lead,
winning the XC2 class by more than 2 minutes
and finishing a very respectable 6th overall.
At the first round of the ATV Motocross National
Championship race series, Thomas brown was pumped
up and ready to battle. "I'm ready... I
have been working really hard during the off
season to make sure I perform at the level needed
to win races. T.O.P. Performance has me in great
shape and with the support of Bill Ballance,
OHLINS, JB Racing, Moto X Perts and the whole
team I feel very confident".
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T.O.P. Perfromance's
Thomas Brown has been traing hard in
the off season to win races in the AMA
ATV MX Series
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Thomas would put in a good qualifying effort early
Saturday morning, qualifying 5th for the first
of two moto's to follow later in the day. Midway
thru the first moto Thomas experienced severe
overheating issues and was forced to pull off
the track. Pressed for time between moto's the
Ballance team changed motors and pressed on for
moto two.
A few laps into the second moto and it was
evident the problem had not been solved and
Thomas was again forced to pull off the track.
After intensive scrutiny of the YFZ450R it was
discovered that a relay in the electrical system
had prevented the fan from cooling the motors
and thus causing the them to overheat and eventually
fail. " It's a shame. the whole team has
worked so hard and something as simple as a
relay stopped us dead in our tracks".
At the second round of the 2011 GNCC ATV Racing
Series, it was much the same for XC2 Pro-Am
rider Walker Fowler. Walker started 3rd and
had the lead by the 3 mile mark, again walking
away from the XC2 riders and passing deep into
the XC1 Pro class. Fowler would finish 1st in
XC2 and 7th overall.
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Ohlins' Taylor
Kiser after a long day of working his
way though rider finished 4th in the
GNCC XC1 Pro Class
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Taylor Kiser was again forced to work his way
thru the pack and didn't get much help from
the lapped riders. After a long fought battle
Taylor would finish 4th in XC1. "I'm disappointed
for myself as well as for the team. The quad
was working I just made some mental errors on
the track.
More bad luck for 9 Time Champion Bill Ballance.
After a great start, Bill suffered a hard crash
in the second corner and severely bent a tie
rod putting an end to his day."Iit's been
a tough start to the season, our pro results
were not what we were expecting but I'm confident
and excited about the races yet to come".
Stated Bill Ballance.
We would like to thank our sponsors for 2011.
Ballance Racing, Yamaha, Maxxis, Ohlins, FMF,
Hiper Wheels, GYTR, JB Racing, Dragon Fuels,
Klotz Lubricants, Moto Xperts, Wiseco, Pro Armor,
Pro Taper, G4 graphics, Fly racing, Scott Goggles,
Cycra, IMS, Tire Balls, Works connection, Yamalube,
Precision Stabilizers
