| |
| Kristen
Atwell Won The Morning Race Overall while
aboard her Yamaha YFZ450 simultaneously
winning the Womens Class Championship |
Cypress, CA (10/12/2010) -Kristen
Atwell won the GNCC ATV Women’s race and
simultaneously captured the class championship
in St. Clairsville, Ohio on Saturday morning,
Oct. 9. Atwell led three of the four laps aboard
her YFZ450 to score her sixth win of the year
and take the title over rival Angel Atwell and
YFZ450X-mounted Traci Cecco. There was more good
news for Yamaha on Saturday afternoon, as Gabe
Phillips and Walker Fowler went 1-2 in the XC2
Pro Am class, and Taylor Kiser finished second
in the premier XC1 Pro class. In all, Yamahas
swept nearly half the podium positions in the
three top classes. Also, in GNCC motorcycle competition,
Paul Whibley took Sunday’s XC1 Pro win aboard
his 2010 YZ450F.
Racing for both the win and the championship,
Kristen Atwell stalked early leader and rival
Angel Atwell – who is also her aunt –
for most of the four laps around the long off-road
course. She was narrowly ahead at the end of
lap one, slipped to second behind Angel on lap
two, and then retook the lead on the third loop.
And then the drama really began, as the pair
fought for the lead throughout the final lap
– with Kristen and her Yamaha darting
ahead in the final moments to win by just 0.906
sec. "There are no words to describe the
feeling I have right now," Kristen said
afterwards. "The race was crazy. I ended
up getting the lead in the last turn –
it was a last-second thing, but I'm happy to
be here."
In the afternoon’s XC2 Pro Am race, Phillips’
and Fowler’s 1-2 finish was not as easy
as it may seem, as both ran into problems on
the first lap and had to work themselves forward.
While Phillips recovered and got to the front
fairly quickly, Fowler completed the first lap
in only 19th place. That meant power and maneuverability
were keys to moving toward the front. Fowler
climbed to 10th by the end of lap two, to seventh
by lap three, and then worked into second on
the final lap as Phillips cruised to the win.
“I got pushed out in the first turn and
was dead last so right away I had a lot of ground
to make up," winner Phillips admitted.
"I made up a little ground in the woods,
and then I just made good choices in the mud
holes and worked my way to the front."
About Yamaha Parts
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developed and tested in conjunction with new
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