The Unadilla GNCC Race Report
Unadilla, New York, September 27, 2008

William Yokley finished 24th Overall and 16th in the XC1 Pro class today after a rough day at historic Unadilla. There were 231 total entries with 21 XC1 Pro Riders. Team Rider Mark Notman had a great ride finishing 11th Overall and 3rd in the 33 rider XC2 Pro Am Class.

Summary

We arrived at Unadilla after an 18 hour haul from KY; it seemed like we caught every traffic jam east of the Mississippi River. Unadilla is a world famous motocross track that has been putting on races since the late 60's. The course features a pro-style natural terrain motocross section, many technical woods sections with black loamy soil, and lots and lots of rocks. It has been very dry here in NY, but the forecast was calling for some rain.

Saturday arrived and we did have some rain but that just settled the dust somewhat. I headed for the start anticipating a good day because I like this type of terrain and conditions. The flag dropped and I arrived in the woods in 10th place. I worked my way up to 6th place by the 2 mile marker when my day literally took a turn for the worse. I was following a tight group of pro riders when one of them took a wrong turn, and five of us followed. The GNCC officials put a new, virgin section of woods for the afternoon race, and the course arrows were apparently hard to spot and follow, at least for us anyway. We raced ahead for quite a while, when we realized we were going the wrong way on the course. By the time I found the correct trail, I was behind riders that started eight minutes behind me. To say that I was upset and frustrated is a big understatement!

There was no option but to put the hammer down and try to salvage something for the day. At the end of lap 1, I was in 137th place and mired in a continuous stream of riders. I felt like I rode well and the bike was running great, except for some rear brake problems late in the race. I managed to finish in 24th overall and 16th in the XC1 Pro class which was disappointing, but all I could do under the circumstances. At least I got some good practice passing riders! I really can't complain because only a few of us made the wrong turn, and that just happens every now and then, but it sure makes for a long day!

My teammate Mark Notman had a great day; he had a very good start and ran in 2nd place for most of the race. He ran with pro rider Brandon Sommers for most of the 2nd lap, and then pitted for fuel and fresh goggles. He kept a good pace with no mistakes until the 4th lap when he got hung up on a hill. On the last lap, he hammered a tree and got passed by Tyler Lenig, but still finished in 3rd place and 11th overall. He will remind me many times that he beat me today! Mark is solidly in 2nd place in the XC2 Pro Am class with two races let to run. Congratulations to Chris Bithell for the win, he has had a rough year on a new bike, but he sure rode well and deserved it today. We go to St. Clairsville, OH in two weeks and I'll be racing in the XC1 Pro ATV Class as well as the Unlimited UTV Class on my Polaris RZR. Should be a fun weekend, see you there.