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Ballance Bests Borich in Another GNCC Classic
Bithell third in a battle of the Killer B’s
| GNCC
ATV Racing
Round 2 "The General" |
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| The
Killer B's battling for the lead |
Washington, GA – The Killer
B’s were back battling at the front of the Can-Am
Grand National Cross Country Series, but Yamaha’s
Bill Ballance ended up with yet another win at the Maxxis
General GNCC, his fifth in a row in Georgia.
“We had a heck of a battle today, but I felt
like if I had a challenge at any time, I could square
it back underneath and this thing would just go there,
and I could probably get back by anyone,” said
Ballance. “This place is just good for me. It
gets pretty rough and it seems like the faster you go
the better it is, you just stay up on top and float
over all of it.”
East Coast ATV’s Chris Borich was once again
the man to challenge Ballance. After a bad start, he
charged through the pack to catch the seven-time GNCC
Champion, but he couldn’t make a pass when he
needed it. “I had a bad start again. I don’t
know, I just can’t get it started,” said
Borich. “Me and (Chris) Bithell hooked up, we
caught him, and just battled. There were a lot of lines
out there, I was trying a couple of different ones,
but it seemed like every time I tried it, they were
longer.”
The race turned even wilder when some of the bumping
between the two ignited a small scene in the pits. “We
hooked up on the fourth lap and there was a little bumping
or something going on, and I couldn’t figure out
what was going on,” said Ballance. “It kind
of got me perturbed a little bit. Chris has always been
a good racer, we’ve had some good battles and
we’ve always been able to shake hands after them,
but I guess there are some people who can get an influence
over anybody.”
“We’re not really that aggressive,”
said Borich. “We came into the pit area, he got
on the brakes, and I got by him, so it was on from there.
I let him back by and trailed him, I was just holding
back and waiting for the end. I couldn’t get by,
but it will be on when we get to North Carolina, I guarantee
that. It’s on now.”
Third place went to LTERacing.com’s Chris
Bithell, the 19-year-old from Pennsylvania. He ran with
Borich at mid-race while they tracked down Ballance
through traffic, but ultimately dropped just a few ticks
of the watch behind. “It feels great to be back
up on here after a bad race in Florida,” said
Bithell. “I was sick all week, so I gave it the
best I had. Chris and I ran right together, and it was
just like another day riding, and it’s a lot of
fun. I learned a lot riding with these guys, the veterans.
I’m always looking to be center of the box, that’s
for sure, but for now I’ll be happy taking what
I can get.”
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| #6
Chris Bithell made his return to the Podium to
join Ballance & Borich |
#19
Matt Smiley is back in the mix as he charges his
way to a 7th place finish |
Fourth went to Taylor Kiser in a strong follow
to his podium finish at the season opener in Florida.
Brandon Sommers was fifth overall and first in the XC2
Pro Am class, with BJ Ballance sixth, Matt Smiley seventh,
William Yokley eighth, Chris Jenks ninth and Bryan Cook
tenth.
BJ Ballance grabbed the ITP Holeshot Award and
led early. “It felt good being out front these
last two races,” said Ballance, who led for a
few laps at the season opener in Florida. “I got
out front and just held it as long as I could, and I
figure that’s going to help me get my pace up.
It feels great.”
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| Bill
Ballance holds off Borich for the second race
in a row |
Soon Bill Ballance was able to grab the lead and
stretch it out. “We got a pretty good lead there
and pulled out right away,” said Ballance. “But
it’s kind of the way racing has been for the last
few years. You start catching lappers by the third lap,
and it takes awhile for them to realize you’re
back there. It doesn’t matter how fast you are
or how hard you push, it’s hard to keep a lead
once you get down to the third lap. we held them off,
and heck yeah we’re off to a great start.”
Borich was disappointed with second again, but
he’s still very close in championship points with
his back-to-back runner-up rides. “Yeah it took
me a little bit to catch up,” said Borch. “There
was a plan there, but it seemed like it just wouldn’t
work out.”
In the XC2 Pro Am class, GT Thunder’s Brandon
Sommers rode strong again to notch his second win in
as many races. His podium mates were identical to round
one as well, with Ryan Lane and Don Ockerman second
and third. “I came in here not really knowing
what to expect,” said Sommers. “I trained
hard all winter and it paid off, and now I’m going
to go home ecstatic.”
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| Yamaha's
Brandon Sommers, Bill Ballance, and Traci Cecco
have swept the first two rounds of the Season |
Donald
Ockerman claimed the ATVriders.com XC2 ProAm Holeshot
Award and another Podium finish. |
Lane rode from behind to net second. “I
had a lot of problems off the start, and it was overheating
on me again,” said Lane. “We had a lengthy
pit stop to clean up the radiator again, so we lost
some time. I’d like to get up there early and
race with these guys.”
Ockerman nailed the ATVRiders.com holeshot award
to begin the race. “I was out front and felt good,
but Brandon jumped over me on the motocross track,”
said Ockerman. “I tried to hang with him. I’m
just going to keep on pushing until I can run with him
again.”
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| #422
Marcus Gonzalez earns his first ever Podium finish
after an incredible batle with #500 Mike Benson |
In the morning race, Team Yamaha’s Traci
Cecco held on for the overall win and a victory in the
Women’s class. U2 (Utility Unlimited) racers Michael
Benson and Marcus Gonzalez took second and third on
Kawasaki KFX700s. Can-Am riders cleaned up in the three
4x4 classes, with Scott Kilby taking 4x4 Open, Michael
Swift taking 4x4 Limited, and Cliff Beasley winning
4x4 Lites 0-500.
Matt Harris took the overall win in the Youth
ATV race.
The Can-Am GNCC Series continues in two weeks
with the FMF Steele Creek GNCC in Morganton, North Carolina.
For more information, check out www.gnccracing.com.
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 |
