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Walker Fowler started his 2013 GNCC Racing Season on the podium by placing third in the GNCC XC1 Pro Class aboard his Yamaha YFZ450R ATV |
River Ranch, FL (3/11/2013)
- The 2013 GNCC ATV season blasted into action with a third-place finish for Am-Pro Racing / Moto-Xperts YFZ450R mounted Walker Fowler in the grueling two-hour XC1 Pro race and a second for Kara Merritt in the Women's class in River Ranch, Fla. on Sunday, March 10. While in the semi-pro XC2 Pro Am class, the top Yamaha finisher was Patrick McGuire in fifth, also aboard a YFZ450R. And although they normally race on Sunday, this time the GNCC bikes are schedule to complete their first round of the 2013 season on Tuesday, March 12, also at River Ranch.
After finishing second in his rookie year in the premier XC1 Pro ranks last year, Fowler was charged up and ready to challenge in 2013. However he had anything but a smooth start in the five-lap event on Sunday afternoon, rounding the first lap only in eighth and over a minute behind rivals Chris Borich and Adam McGill. Amazingly though, by the second of five laps he had moved up three places to fifth, then into fourth by lap three as he set the quickest time in the field for that lap. But as the pack received the white flag, Fowler was still over 25 seconds behind third-place Chris Bithell. Incredibly, he made up the deficit and much more, grabbing third and packing on a 22-second cushion over Bithell at the flag. Four other YFZ450R racers followed up inside the top 10, including Jeffrey Pickens in sixth, Kevin Yoho in seventh, Gabe Phillips in ninth and Johnny Gallagher in 10th.
As in previous years, the XC2 Pro Am class ran concurrently with XC1 Pro. McGuire faced stiff competition within the class of 20 riders, running inside the top five for the entire race and even moving up to second for a single lap at the halfway point. His eventual fifth-place finish was definitely well earned. Two more YFZ riders followed up with top-10 finishes, including Blake Kramer in eighth and Joshua Merritt in ninth. It was a most exciting race for the pair, as Kramer started toward the back of the pack and clawed his way forward throughout race until reaching eighth on the final lap. And as for Merritt, he got off to a terrific start, leading the first two laps by a good margin before encountering difficulties and dropping to ninth. While in the Women's class, Kara Merritt raced her YFZ450R to a steady second-place finish – her best result yet in this popular GNCC class.
2013
GNCC ATV XC1 Pro Points
|
| Position |
Name |
Points |
| 1 |
Chris Borich |
30 |
| 2 |
Adam McGill |
25 |
| 3 |
Walker
Fowler – Yamaha |
21 |
| 4 |
Chris Bithell |
18 |
| 5 |
Jarrod McClure |
16 |
2013
GNCC ATV XC2 Pro Am Points
|
| Position |
Name |
Points |
| 1 |
Brycen Neal |
30 |
| 2 |
Landon Wolfe |
25 |
| 3 |
Thomas Koontz, Jr. |
21 |
| 4 |
Fred Marley |
18 |
| 5 |
Patrick McGuire – Yamaha |
16 |
2013
GNCC ATV Womens Points
|
| Position |
Name |
Points |
| 1 |
Kylie Ahart |
20 |
| 2 |
Kara Merritt - Yamaha |
19 |
| 3 |
Kayla Vawter |
18 |
| 4 |
Jessica Ammons |
17 |
