| 3rd
- #3 Adam McGill Can-Am DS450 ATV - 68 Pts. |
Sitting 3rd in points is none other then Adam
McGill, who found himself making some huge off
season changes to his program. Stepping away from
the FRE/KTM team and landing in the lap of Warnert
Racing/Can Am had many scratching their heads
as to why he would make such a change given the
Can Am's lack luster performance in the XC1 class.
The change would be based on his paycheck but
that still left the unanswered question of such
a risky change.
McGill would hit round 1 on new ground and
would quickly dispel alot of rumors as he put
his DS450 on the podium in the 3rd spot. One
round does not make a season but the results
were stellar with such a short time between
the team change. While McGill's skill isn’t
in question, the strong performance of his ride
was and the off season would provide some answers.
Warnert racing had scaled back its team to focus
on the GNCC series while doing some partnering
with the highly successful west coast team known
as Motoworks. The powerplant would be handled
by Motoworks who has been running the WORCS
series successfully aboard the DS450 model.
Other changes were quickly made to bring Warnert’s
GNCC team up to speed as the two companies worked
together to solve issues.
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|
#3
Adam McGill on his DS450 ATV
|
Adam would send his Warnert racing DS back
to the front of the pack at round two as he
just missed another podium with his 4th place
finish. Round 3 would see failure that raised
alot of eyebrows when both Xc1 team racers McGill
and Bithell were sidelined with engine failures.
Immediately fans pointed the blame to the machine
and quickly the rumor mill fired up and many
wrote the season off based on an issue that
surely adversely affected both of the teams
top talent. McGill set the record straight at
round 4 by putting the DS back on the box claiming
the 3rd position.
The frustration had to be immense knowing this
season was shaping up to be an extremely close
points battle. Solace is had knowing that the
Warnert team is 100% dedicated to making what
ever changes are needed and learning from mistakes
but that wont be much use when the season ends
knowing that one race could of made a difference.
The team took it on the chin but is showing
they can overcome and refocus and hold a slim
lead over the 4th place rider of Bryan Cook.
| 4th
- #5 Bryan Cook KTM 450XC ATV - 62 Pts. |
Bryan Cook has been playing the privateer role
pretty well over the past few seasons. It was
a piece of coal on his fire each round as he went
bar to bar with the newly formed factory teams
that hit the series, a piece of motivation to
place ahead of the factory and team money. Cook
as always been a solid racer but had always failed
to be able to put maximum effort into his program
due to having to work for a living outside of
the racing world. Still, Cook was always in the
mix and you can usually count on him being the
fly in the ointment of bigger money at several
rounds each year.
With McGill slipping into the Warnert program,
FRE-KTM went shopping for a new XC1 racer and
found them Bryan Cook to lead their charge.
The transition from privateer to made man seemed
effortless as Cook took to the team and the
KTM. Long before the first round, Cook was already
exclaiming that his program was now miles ahead
of where he once had been. Getting all the ingredients
for a winning team were now combined one machine
and with a team that has alot to bring to the
table. It would be up to Cook now as he had
control of his own destiny and was finally in
a position that he had long been waiting for.
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#5
Bryan Cook - KTM450 ATV
|
The opening round would not find Cook with
instant success however he was able to grab
10th. Each round following, Cook has been able
to progress up the finishing order claiming
6th at round 2. The story by the numbers is
that he is getting closer to his goal as he
posted back to back 4th place finishes at rounds
3 and 4.
Cook now sits 4th in points just behind McGill
and if he can continue to improve, should be
able to battle for a solid season end finish,
but can he get things dialed in enough to give
Kiser and Borich a run? That’s a tall
task but what I see is consistency developing
and if any issues arise with the points leaders,
Cook would be in a great position to move up.
