Ballance gets support from his Ohlins team member as he gives chase to Bithell
Printable View
Ballance gets support from his Ohlins team member as he gives chase to Bithell
Kiser had moved into 3rd and was now in a podium position with 1 lap to go!
Borich recieves support from fellow racers and fans as he heads out to complete the last lap
Cook was in 5th, and would have to get aggresive if he wanted to reach the podium, which he had no problem doing as he was haulin' the mail when he passed me!
Don Ockerman would ride to teh XC2 victory and lock in the class championship!
The scoring area was pretty rutted and several riders needed help:p Nothing worse then getting hung up infront of everyone:D
With minutes to go, the annoucer was busily chatting with course workers getting updates on the leaders. Bithell was still leading and with less then 1/4 lap to go, would have a hard charging Bill Ballance to deal with! I can only imagine Bithell's thoughts as he covered the last bit of track with ballance on him, knowing he was so close to getting this win. The problems he has faced each round had to be running through his mind and the wonder of not knowing if everything would stay together and good luck would finally land him atop the XC1 Pro class!
His crew was worried as well, as he had pitted on lap 2 for fuel and they were praying he had enough fuel to make things stick! Bithell neared the final turn when he felt his machine stutter, as it gasped for fuel. Ballance had to check up and tagged him in the rear but Bithells machine roared to life and made the final charge to the checkers giving him his first 2008 GNCC XC1 Pro class win!
Just over the hill, and out of sight sat Ballance, whos chain had derailed. Injured, in pain and forced to help push his machine to the top of the hill. This was a heart break for the Yamaha team.
While he could recieve assistance getting the quad to the finish line, it would be all Ballance who would have to pick up the rear of his machine and get it the final few feet to score his finish. The rear axle was locked up tight, and with his broken ribs this was going to take everything out of him.
While it was good that Ballance crossed the line, it also cost him the podium and valuable points as he dropped from 2nd to 5th in the finishing order. The mix of emotions hits ballances supporters as success and failure meet head on.
Ballance collapses as he sets the quad down.