Yamaha's Taylor Kiser XC1 & Walker Fowler XC2 Win at General GNCC
Genral GNCC - Round 2- Washington, Georgia - March 6, 2010

Cypress, CA (3/8/2010) - Yamaha YFZ450X-mounted Taylor Kiser and Bill Ballance dominated the XC1 Pro class podium in first and third, respectively, at the second round of the 2010 GNCC ATV series in Washington, Ga. on Saturday, March 6. What’s more, Yamaha accounted for 40% of the XC1 Pro top 10, as Johnny Gallagher rode to eighth and Donnie Ockerman took 10th. Yamaha also enjoyed a winning day in XC2 Pro Am as Walker Fowler took his first win in the class, followed by YFZ-mounted Kevin Yoho in fifth and Gabe Phillips in sixth. Female Yamaha riders claimed still more awards for Yamaha as Kristen Atwell finished second and multi-time GNCC champion Traci Cecco took third in the morning Women’s race.

At first, the XC1 race looked like a Yamaha field day as Ockerman grabbed the holeshot and led Kiser and Ballance – and the rest of the snarling pack – to the first turn. But as the pace settled in, rival Bithell took the lead for the first three of five laps. Late in the race though, Bithell flipped his ATV, holding up Borich and Yamaha-mounted Ballance, and allowing Kiser to squeak past. With a clear course ahead, Kiser rode all-out to maintain his advantage, finally cruising home with an eight-second lead. After getting unstuck, Ballance went head-to-head with rival Borich for second place, with Borich just beating the multiple GNCC champ to the line. “This was a good win for me,” admitted Kiser afterwards. “Once I got out front I was able to put my head down and charge.”

The XC2 Pro Am class ran simultaneously with XC1 Pro, starting just a short interval later. Already a champion in Youth Production, Schoolboy and College A classes in previous years, Fowler stepped into his first full season in XC2 Pro Am and continued his winning ways by leading all five laps, scoring his first-ever XC2 Pro Am win in the process. In the Women’s race earlier in the day, Kristen Atwell and Cecco led four of the five laps – in fact all but the last one – aboard their Yamaha YFZs, before rival Angel Atwell rallied from fifth position to steal a narrow 1.6-second margin of victory over Kristen.

Yamaha motorcycles likewise enjoyed a great week in GNCC off-road racing. Jason Thomas started the year off right by winning the XC2 Pro Lites class in last Tuesday’s Round 1 event in Florida, where Charlie Mullins also made the podium in third place in XC1 Pro. Then in Sunday’s Round 2 in Georgia, Thomas and Paul Whibley each took second in their respective XC1 Pro and XC2 Pro Lites classes. Congratulations all!