FMF KTM Factory Racing Team’s Kailub Russell battled for three tough hours on Sunday to come away with his second victory of the season at Round 3 of the 2017 Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC) in Sparta, Georgia. Russell was joined atop the overall podium by KTM-Supported rider Steward Baylor Jr., who finished 3rd overall with an impressive come-from-behind performance.

Russell shot off the line to capture the XC1 Open Pro holeshot aboard his KTM 350 XC-F, where he led the way into the Georgia woods. Russell was joined out front by Thad DuVall, who kept the four-time GNCC National Champion honest throughout the entire race. DuVall took over the lead on lap three when Russell went down but it wasn’t long before Russell reclaimed the top position.

Russell fought hard to maintain his lead position over DuVall, who came within two seconds of the front-runner on the second-to-last lap. Russell crashed again and DuVall was able to jump back into the lead but DuVall made a mistake late in the race, which allowed Russell to break free and ultimately finish 18 seconds ahead of DuVall for the win.

Russell: “I don’t know what’s going on but I have really bad stomach cramps today. I felt ok other than my stomach but it was so rough out there that every bump was killing me. I had a crash and Thad got away but then I caught up to him after he crashed and reclaimed the lead. I suffered through the last lap as best I could but I’m not happy with everything today. We need to go back to the drawing board and make some changes for sure.”

SRT/KTM’s Baylor didn’t have the best start to the day as he struggled to fire his KTM 350 XC-F off the line, rounding the first corner in the dead last position. Baylor quickly climbed his way to 7th in the class by the end of lap one where he continued to push his way into a top-three position just after the halfway point of the three-hour race. With a third-straight podium finish, Baylor maintains the 2nd place position in the championship point standings after three rounds of racing.

FMF KTM Factory Racing Team’s Russell Bobbitt didn’t get off to a good start as he rounded the first corner in second-to-last place. Bobbitt worked his way up to 7th overall but a big crash on lap three caused him to drop back substantially. From there, Bobbitt tried to maintain a solid pace to finish out the three-hour race.

Bobbitt ultimately finished 11th in the XC1 Open Pro class and 17th overall after a tough day of racing in his home state of Georgia.

Bobbitt: “I was feeling pretty good until I had a big crash on the third lap. I launched into a tree really hard and knocked the wind out of me and I wasn’t really able to recover from it. I’m disappointed with the finish but I’m glad I was able to ride it out and finish the race with a few points at least.”

Next Event: GNCC Round 4 – April 9, 2017

Overall Results (XC1 Open Pro and XC2 250 Pro Combined)

1. Kailub Russell (KTM)
2. Thad DuVall
3. Steward Baylor Jr. (KTM)
4. Jordan Ashburn
5. Trevor Bollinger

OTHER KTM

8. Mike Witkowski (KTM)
12. Jesse Groemm (KTM)
13. Chris Bach (KTM)
14. Cory Buttrick (KTM)
16. Zack Hayes (KTM)
17. Russell Bobbitt (KTM)

Overall Point Standings

1. Kailub Russell (85)
2. Steward Baylor Jr. (72)
3. Thad DuVall (50)
4. Josh Toth (48)
5. Ricky Russell (43)

OTHER KTM

6. Chris Bach (38)
8. Russell Bobbitt (31)
10. Mike Witkowski (30)