Walker Fowler & Kristen Atwell Part of Yamaha's Four GNCC Wins
GNCC Racing Series - Round 7 - Somerset, PA - May 22, 2010

Cypress, CA (5/24/2010) - Yamaha ATVs and motorcycles grabbed four wins and five more podium finishes in premier GNCC classes in Somerset, Penn. during the May 22-23 weekend.

On Saturday, Walker Fowler raced his YFZ450X to win the XC2 Pro Am ATV class over fellow YFZ pilots Gabe Phillips and Mark Notman, Taylor Kiser finished second in the XC1 Pro class, and Kristen Atwell won the Women's class with Traci Cecco in third.

Then on Sunday, Charlie Mullins put his YZ450F into the winner's circle for the third consecutive XC1 Pro motorcycle race with Barry Hawk posting a strong third aboard his WR450F. Jason Thomas likewise won the XC2 Pro Lites class on his YZ250 two-stroke. While across the country in Milford, Calif., Dustin Nelson put his YFZ450R onto the podium in the grueling WORCS off-road race.

Littered with narrow trails, mud holes and water crossings, the long GNCC off-road course proved highly technical, and Saturday afternoon's XC2 Pro Am ATV event proved especially challenging for Fowler. Despite starting poorly outside the top 10 - a tough proposition for ATV racers on such a tricky course - he kept his head and moved his YFZ methodically through pack, taking control about halfway through the five-lap event and eventually forging a comfortable 11-second lead to claim his third win of the year. Even better, the victory vaulted Fowler into the XC2 Pro Am points lead. In the Women's race, Cecco led early but crashed, handing the lead to Kristen Atwell, who held on for a narrow 1.4-sec. win over rival Angel Atwell, as Cecco recovered to take the last podium spot.

Overnight rainstorms made the course even tougher for Sunday's motorcycle competition, with the lack of dust offset by slippery boulders. Mullins got only a mediocre start but used his extensive enduro and cross-country experience to master the terrain - and the competition. After finishing lap one in seventh, the Obermeyer Am Pro Yamaha rider moved into a podium position halfway through the six-lap event and then into the lead a lap later, stretching out a comfortable minute gap over rival Cory Buttrick, with Am Pro Yamaha teammate Hawk rounding out the podium. "I didn't want to lead right away because of all the moisture in the soil, the water crossings and boulders," Mullins admitted later. "Even though I got a slow start, I remained confident that my YZ450F was going to help me get to the front - and it did!"