Warnert
Racing Can-Am Team: GNCC Round 2 ATV Race
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Cliff Beasley claimed his second win in
the 4x4 Lites Class on the Warnert Racing
Can-Am Outlander 500
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Melbourne, FL (3/12/2008) - Round
number 2 of the GNCC traded the warm, sunny sands
of Florida for the cold, rainy mud of Aonia Pass
in Washington, Georgia, which has been dubbed by
some as a “survival” race due to track
conditions that deteriorated throughout the day.
The Can-Am/Warnert race team braved huge ruts, deep
mud and bitter cold as they negotiated the sometimes-treacherous
course.
Warnert’s U2 class racer, Rick Cecco, managed
to defeat the elements for the most part, claiming
second place in his class. “I came off the
line in 4th place, but with all the mud I had
to pull into the pits to get new goggles and gloves,”
said Cecco, who’s pit stop put him back
to almost last place. Cecco immediately put the
hammer down and began picking off riders and found
himself in 2nd place as he crossed the finish
line with a time of 02:14:23, putting him in 15th
overall for the morning classes.
Meanwhile, Can-Am/Warnert teammate Cliff Beasley
went on to claim his second consecutive win of
the season in the 4x4 Lites. Cliff was in 2nd
place for most of the race until the 4th lap when
leader and fellow Can-Am rider Jerime Dudding
got stuck in a bottleneck in the woods. Beasley
got around the bottleneck and took the lead. Beasley’s
time of 02:10:45, gave him an overall standing
of 6th place for the day.
4x4 Open class racer Scott Kilby had a good run
and finishing 3rd in his class, while 4x4 Limited
rider. Michael Swift encountered problems out
on the track during the first lap, which put him
in dead last. Swift managed to hang in there and
worked his way back through the pack taking 8th
in his class, finishing 4 laps with a time of
2:03:51.
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Warnert
Racing's Chris Bithell on the throttle of
his Can-Am DS-450 ATV |
By the time the XC1 Pro class took to the track
that afternoon, the ruts had gotten so deep that
there was no escape from some of them if you happened
to choose the wrong line. Chris Bithell, who came
off the line in 5th place, worked his way up and
was running in 2nd for a couple of laps. Bithell
was running strong until he encountered several
areas where bottlenecks had developed. “I
was running in 2nd place for a while, then in
the 4th lap I got stuck and then I got stuck twice
on the 5th lap,” said a disappointed Bithell.
“I have to thank the fans for their help
though. At one point I had 6 people out there
trying to pull me out when I got stuck,”
he concluded. Despite the help from spectators,
Bithell lost several positions, which put him
back to 15th. At the checkered flag, Bithell had
managed to move up to 13th with a finishing time
of 2:33:13. Bithell’s XC1 teammate, Chris
Jenks, had a tough go of things after a first
lap crash that took the wind out of his sails.
Jenks managed to finish 4 laps in 1:58:38, which
put him in 16th place.
The next round of the GNCC is scheduled for March
29-30 and will find the Can-Am Warnert team in
North Carolina at Steel Creek for round number
three where Cliff Beasley is hoping for his 3rd
consecutive win in his pursuit of the 4x4 Lites
Championship and Bithell and Jenks continue to
push themselves to the limits in the XC1 Pro class.
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