Jarrod McClure's
Mountain Ridge GNCC ATV Race Report
GNCC ATV Racing - Round
7 - Somerset, PA
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Jarrod Mcclure on
his Yamaha YFZ450R
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Somerset, PA (5/18/2009) -There
is nothing like leaving home at 9:00 in the morning
on Friday to go GNCC racing. The Mountain Ridge
GNCC is located in Somerset, PA. This is the closest
race for me, being only three hours away. I knew
I would have a lot of local supporters cheering
for me so I was excited, and hoped for a successful
race.
The track was a 12-mile loop that included one
of the craziest rock sections of the GNCC series.
There also are a lot of fast field sections where
you had to be careful because of the dusty track
conditions.
Saturday morning before the race I mounted up
an all-new set of GBC tires. The tire is called
the Ground Buster, and it is something that will
be available in a month or so. It is a little
taller than the popular X-Rex, and also made of
a softer compound. I couldn’t wait to try
them out in the rocky sections of the track.
It was time to go, and we headed over to the
start. I lined up to the inside, hoping for a
holeshot like last time. The flag waved, and Tom
Wright (who started his bike before the flag waved)
was first at the corner, but he ended up clipping
the pole and flipping upside down. This forced
me to slow up and go around, so I had a pretty
bad start. I wet into the woods somewhere around
12th or so.
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With dusty conditions
to deal with you had to be careful not
to miss a turn
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The first lap was super dusty, and you had to
be careful not to miss a turn. The rock sections
were more exposed than years before, and you had
to pick smart lines. My EXIT suspension was working
awesome through the rocks, and also my precision
stabilizer kept the bars in my hands the whole
time! During the first lap I swapped positions
a bunch of times with Brandon Sommers and Bill
Ballance.
The next lap I stayed smooth and picked up a
few more positions getting by Duane Johnson, and
Johnny Gallagher. The new GBC tires were working
awesome. I could really notice the extra ground
clearance, in the deep ruts and rocks, and also
really like how the tires flexed more. When hitting
rocks and roots the old X-Rex tires would deflect,
whereas these tires absorb the blow making it
easier to maintain control, and also won’t
tire you out near as much.
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Jarrod McClure was
able to finish 7th in the XC1 Pro class
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During the fourth lap is when I started having
some problems. I think a rock came in my wheel
bending my break rotor, because I kept losing
my front brakes. Also somewhere around the six-mile
marker I hit a kicker in one of the field sections
that sent me over the handlebars. This allowed
a few guys to get back past me. I mounted back
up and was able to gain my positions back, and
by the last lap I found myself battling for 7th
place with Don Ockerman. We traded positions a
bunch of times, but eventually he made a little
mistake in one of the rock sections allowing me
to get by him. After that I rode hard to the finish
and never heard from him again.
I crossed the finish in seventh, I was happy
with that, I finished ahead of a lot of guys who
are close in the points race, so that was definitely
going to help me out. The Yamaha performed awesome
and the new GBC tires were a huge help. I plan
on running them for the rest of the year! Now
I will prepare my self for the John Penton, it
is either extreme dust or mud at that track. I’ll
see ya there!
www.gnccracing.com
122 Vista Del Rio Drive,
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-284-0084
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