Pirelli Big Buck GNCC
Am Pro Yamaha
Well another weekend at the races has past and we have yet another great story for you. Our guys are building their steam and keep improving on their set-ups both on and off the bike to keep progressing from week to week.
This week’s GNCC round was in the team stomping grounds about 60 miles south of our headquarters in Union, South Carolina.
Barry Hawk
Barry Hawk's day didn't start on the right foot, he had a good jump but had another rider come in from the inside and bump him, and he fell in the first turn. When he remounted in last place he was on a mission to reach the front and he did mount an incredible charge. By the end of the first lap he had passed up to 4th place! He then made it into third shortly after the end of lap 1, but then it got tough for him to make up any ground. He was only 20 seconds behind the leaders (Mullins and Knight) but just couldn't seem to make it up. "I kept getting the pitboard from my mechanic and it always said I was down 20 seconds! I was having a really tough time with lapped traffic and just when I would make up a few seconds, I would lose them right back trying to get around someone,” said Hawk. He continued trying but just couldn't seem to make up the time and when the two lap board came out he knew he had nothing to lose and decided to go for broke. The result was making a few mistakes and falling, losing even more time. In the end he fininshed a strong third place, about 50 seconds behind the leader. "It was a really boring race for me, I rode by myself from the second lap on," said Hawk. But he had another good finish and is only 14 points out of the championship lead.
Charlie Mullins
Charlie Mullins came off the line like a bullet from a gun and rounded the
first turn with the holeshot. He looked strong and smooth and led the first
two laps with a little cushion on Knight in second. "On the third lap
I was feeling strong and confident, but I came up on a lapped rider and he
and I tangled up and I went down,” said Mullins. “When I got
up and going again Knight was right on me." From there he couldn't shake
Knight and they jockied back and forth until the last lap. He was leading at
the start of the last lap and looked as if he was going to keep Knight at bay
and come away with
a GNCC victory but more trouble with a lapped rider foiled his plan. He again
came together with a lapped rider and went down. He rebounded as quickly
as he could but was unable to make a pass on Knight before
the finish. "It was a frustrating day, I fell four times due to lapped
traffic, but that is the way it goes sometimes, I felt strong all day and
am happy to be on the podium." His finish moved him closer to the
lead in the championship and sits just 10 points down.
Thad Duvall
Thad Duvall, our XC 2 Pro Lites rider,
again was blazing fast and rounded the first turn in second. A few mistakes
before they dipped into the woods dropped him to fourth, but that didn't last
long as he quickly moved back into the lead and was leading at the end of the
first lap, with Rodney Smith hot on his heels. At the start of the 2nd lap
Rodney passed him, but that didn't last long and Thad decided to go for it.
He moved back into the lead and proceeded to pull a 30 second gap on the field
by the end of the 2nd lap. The next lap didn't go as planned and he took a
bad line in a mudhole and got stuck. By the time he got going again, he was
30 seconds back from the lead pack. That was short lived and he again caught
the pack and moved back into the lead!!! Then with two laps to go and still
blazing, he hit a tree and knocked his banjo bolt loose on his front brake
system resulting in a loss of brakes. He came into the pits and got it repaired
as quickly as possible, but he lost over five minutes in the process, ending
his bid on a victory. Thad kept charging all the way to the finish and wound
up in the end finishing eighth in class and 24th overall. Not too bad considering
he lost that amount of time in the pits. He was dissapointed with the
end result but knows barring any complications he has the speed to run with
the leaders.
Points Standings
Charlie Mullins-3rd overall (10 points out of lead)
Barry Hawk-4th overall (14 points out of lead)
Thad Duvall-6th XC2 class (14th overall)
We all appreciate all of our fans and sponsors continued help and support, hope to see you at the races.
--Jason Raines
Team Am-Pro Yamaha
Maxxis
Another weekend of ATV racing shows why Maxxis is the choice of champions: Two of the nation’s top series held events April 14-15, and both were dominated by Maxxis racers. Chris Borich won GNCC Round 4, tying Bill Ballance in the points lead for the championship, while riders on Maxxis took six spots in the top nine. Meanwhile, Dustin Wimmer finished 1-2 in the Pro motos for the overall victory at Round 4 of the ATVA MX GNC Series, with Maxxis-sponsored riders taking nine of the top twelve. The races were held in Union, South Carolina, and Macon, Georgia, respectively.
The GNCC win was the second in a row for Borich, who finished in 2:09:40. “Yeah, I think I’m going pretty good,” Borich told gnccracing.com. “It was pretty dusty out there. I had a good line and got around Bill [Ballance], and I knew as long as I kept some lappers between me and him, he wouldn’t be able to go and catch me. I feel like we can win this championship, we’ll just keep looking things over and training hard.”
Ballance took second place, and Matt Smiley made a return to the top five, nabbing fifth place. Taylor Kiser turned in another great performance in his first year as a pro with a sixth place finish, while fellow rookie Brandon Sommers took eighth place. Duane Johnson finished just one second behind Sommers to take ninth place.
The GNC win was Wimmer’s first aboard his new Factory Suzuki QuadRacer 450. Wimmer won the holeshot in moto one, barreling through a wet, sandy course to hold off teammate Doug Gust for the victory. Moto two started off the same way, with Wimmer again grabbing the holeshot followed by a conservative ride to the second place finish that secured his overall victory. Jeremy Lawson took third place and Doug Gust nabbed fourth, while Jason Dunkelberger placed sixth. The eighth through twelfth place spots were taken by, in order: Rocco Anno, Russell Shumaker, Keith Little, John Ragon, and Joe Haavisto.
Maxxis congratulates Chris Borich and Dustin Wimmer on their victories and congratulates all of these riders on their fine performances.
Team KTM/PowersportGrafx Race Report
GNCC Round 4
April 15, 2007
Union , SC—The “Big Buck” GNCC threatened to be the first mud race of the year. After torrential rains the night before, the rain that was promised on race day never came. The course conditions were nearly ideal for the KTM/PG team.
Dustin Gibson overcame a bad start and crash in the second turn to earn his first podium of the year. Dustin finished third in XC2 and 11 th overall. During his podium speech, Dustin thanked the late Robert Patterson for his friendship and support throughout his career.
In 200 A, Kailub Russell grabbed the holeshot and led every lap to win. At one point Kailub was inside the top 20 overall.
Jordan Ashburn dominated the 250B class with yet another win. Jordan was the top finishing B rider.
XC1 rider, Jason Gilleland struggled to overcome a spectacular crash on the first lap to finish 15 th in class.
Next Event: Loretta Lynn’s, April 29th
We appreciate the support of our sponsors: KTM, PowersportGrafx, KTM Hard Equipment & GENUINE SPARE PARTS, MAXXIS tire, Sidi boots, SCOTT goggles, NGK, CV4 products and MOTOREX.
Red Bull KTM
In round four of the GNCC Series KTM’s David Knight stood atop
the podium after what started out as a rough day. Knight was last off
the start followed by a crash in the first corner. From there Knight
quickly moved up to fifth, and pressed on to move up to second. After
the final gas stop he moved into first place with Mullins right behind
him. Knight didn’t shake Mullins until the last lap and then
pulled ahead to win by over a minute.
“I am very happy with David’s performance today. We have all the
health and bike issues worked out and I think this win is a turning point for
our team. I hope that we continue with good results from here and catch up in
the points lead,” said KTM Off Road Team Manager Antti Kallonen.
Robbie Jenks and Russell Bobbitt also had rough starts with crashes early on
in the race. Jenks worked his way up to tenth but struggled from there. Bobbitt
was running in the top ten but crashed hard and was slowed down from there.
In XC2 class action KTM’s Justin Williamson almost took the holeshot
and led the race at one point. Williamson then crashed and dropped to eighth
but charged hard for a fifth place finish.
Josh Strang – FMF Suzuki
Hey mate, the season so far. Well, obviously it didn’t start out how I would have liked it. Florida was not good for me I think the nerves and dust got me bad. I usually like the sand also.
Then Georgia was pretty good I got a good start and worked my way backwards. Okay, LOL, there, but it was good and I was so pumped with sixth at North Carolina. I new I could get up there and I had a good race.
Last weekend at the Big Buck was okay. It was a mud race, so I learned a lot again and was happy with how I rode but not the result (12 th overall).
I’m pumped with the RM 250 and I’m learning something new every week, whether it be from Jimmy, Glen, Rodney or Wattsy. To have that many guys helping me out and giving me tips, I know it can help me get up there.
All I have to do now is put my head down at the start of the race and keep with those front guys and I think it will help me out a lot.
Oh, and check out my MySpace page.
Shane Watts
Fun Mart Cycles/Maxxis/cyclehutt.com sponsored Offroad racer Shane Watts finished a disappointing 8 th place at Rd. 4 of the GNCC Championship held in South Carolina over the past weekend.
The big news surrounding Watts for this race was his first appearance on his newly acquired machinery, a Yamaha YZ250. Having gained a fourth placed start, Watts quickly moved into second and held that position for the first half a lap, but then dropped back again to fourth for the first half of the 7 lap, 3 hour race. From there Watts again dropped several more positions during the remainder of the race to finally end up in 8 th.
“That was a decent finish considering it being my first time out on the Yamaha, however I’m still pretty disappointed with my result. I was concentrating too much on making sure that I finished the race and not DNF, otherwise everyone would have been really questioning my decision to race the YZ250. I just rode way too cautiously, especially in the second half of the race, and failed to attack the course like I should have to gain a far better result. I’m actually really surprised with how awesome the Yamaha performed and how it handled the tricky conditions, so I’m just disappointed in myself for approaching the race with the wrong mindset. I totally missed this golden opportunity to get an excellent result and move into the points lead. That won’t happen next time!”
The next GNCC race for Shane Watts is on April 29, and he is supported by the following companies; Fun Mart Cycles, Maxxis tires, ktmhutt.com, Yamaha, Progrip goggles and grips, Spectro oils, Shift apparel, GPR stabilizers, DeCal Works graphics, Dirt Tricks sprockets, Race Tech suspension, Bullet Proof Designs radiator protection, Springfield Armory, Flexx handlebars, Synergy seals, Cycra plastic, Clarke fuel tanks, Alpinestars, FMF, and E-line guards.
For photos of Watts, check out his report here.
