|
Bill Ballance Begins Historic GNCC Title
Defense on Top
Chris Borich
ends up second after a rough start
| GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 1 "The Triton" |
|
|
|
|
| #1
Bill Ballance |
Vero Beach, FL – The Florida round
of the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country series usually
doesn’t treat Team Yamaha’s Bill Ballance
very well, but that doesn’t stop him from winning
titles at a record pace. And now that the seven-time GNCC
Champion has finally started the series off on the right
foot with a win at this year’s Parts Unlimited Triton
GNCC in Vero Beach, it’s going to be that much tougher
for the competition to stop him.
“It’s probably the first time in four of
five years that I started the season out right,”
said Ballance, who ran up front all the way and ultimately
topped East Coast ATV’s Chris Borich for the win.
“I’ve been working really hard. I realize
I have a chance to do something that no one else has
ever done before, and that’s win eight of these
championships. I want to thank my wife. She came down
here to Florida with me, and she’s been living
out of a hotel room for the last nine days and watching
the girls, so when I came back from riding at night
I could be with the family.”
|
|
| #2
Chris Borich |
#10
Brandon Ballance |
Ballance actually had to battle with his brother BJ
for the lead early, but eventually he made his way around
and pulled away to win. His main competition was expected
to come from East Coast ATV’s Chris Borich, who
won the Florida race in dominant form for the past two
years. But Borich had to fight his way from behind to
get second.
“I had a bad start, but I think I got the holeshot
over the second row,” said Borich. “I must
have been a little bit nervous, but I kicked it and
it wouldn’t fire. I ate a lot of dust and charged
hard, but I had a little arm pump at the beginning.
I had a good battle with a few of the guys, but once
I made my way by them, I just couldn’t make up
any ground.”
A slew of riders battled in podium position throughout
the day, including 2005 ATVA National MX Champion Josh
Natalie, and sophomore GNCC pro star Chris Bithell.
But ultimately a shocker emerged when XC1 Pro Class
rookie Taylor Kiser took third.
|
|
| #17
Taylor Kiser |
#113
John Natalie Jr |
“I may not have expected it, but all of my fans
were expecting me to get up here,” said Kiser,
who hails from Alvord, Florida. “This track lends
more and more to my style, so we’ll have to see
what the rest of the year brings. I had a pretty poor
start, but I put my head down and charged through the
pack, and made my way through. I don’t have the
experience in the woods races further north, yet, so
we’ll see.”
William Yokley debuted the Monster Energy/Kawasaki
KFX450 with a come-from-behind ride for fourth, with
another XC1 rookie, Ryan Morphew, in fifth. BJ Ballance
was sixth after leading the first lap of the five-lap
event.
Seventh overall went to GT Thunder’s Brandon
Sommers, who won the XC2 Pro Am class over Ryan Lane
and Don Ockerman. Eighth overall went to Bithell, with
Team Excell’s Bryan Cook and GT Thunder’s
Chris Jenks in tenth.
In the morning event, Yamaha’s Traci Cecco continued
her run of dominance through the Women’s ranks
by winning her class and winning the overall. Mike Benson
made a switch to the U2 Utility Unlimited class and
finished second on a Kawasaki KFX700, and Terry Arick
was third with a win in the Super Senior class.
|
|
| #201
Traci Cecco |
#500
Mike Benson |
In GNCC ATV Youth racing, Kyle Riley took the overall
win.
About GNCC Racing:
The AMA/ATVA-sanctioned Can-Am Grand National Cross
Country series is America’s premier off-road racing
series. The 13-round series is produced exclusively
by Racer Productions. Cross-country racing is one of
the most physically demanding sports in the world. The
nearly three-hour long GNCC races lead as many as 1,800
riders through tracks ranging from eight to twelve miles
(should also mention the kilometers for English Canada)in
length. GNCC Racing airs weekly television shows on
Versus (formerly Outdoor Life Network) every Saturday
at 3 p.m. and Thursday at 4 p.m. beginning on April
14. With varied terrain including hills, woods, mud,
dirt, rocks and motocross sections, GNCC events are
tests of both survival and speed. GNCC featured sponsors
include BRP Can-Am, Parts Unlimited, Moose, Maxxis,
Pirelli, Wiseco, Acerbis, Elka, Geico, Klotz, FMF, ITP
and Weekend Warrior, and riders compete for over $3
million in series prizes and contingency money. Associate
sponsors include Alpinestars, Cometic, EK Chain, HiPer
Technology, Laegers, Motion Pro, Moose Utility Division,
Powersport Grafx, Pro Clean, Race Tools, REM, Scott,
Thor, Tire Balls, Twin Air, Weekend Warrior, and MotoTee’s.
Media Sponsors include Racer X Illustrated, ATV Rider,
ATV Sport, ATVRiders.com, Dirt Rider and ATV Insider.
For more information log on to
www.GNCCRacing.com.
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
|
