Monday, February 17, 2014 | 3:45 PM
Maxxis/KLiM/DirtWise KTM team racers Rory Mead and Jason Thomas rode to magnificent 1st and 3rd place finishes at Rd. 4 of the SORCS Cross Country series, held in perfect conditions at Perry, GA on Sunday, Febraury 16.
Having just returned to the US from his native New Zealand, Rory Mead was feeling good about the outcome of his first race for 2014, saying, "The first few laps I felt a little sluggish due to some lingering jet lag. For the final half of the race I started to feel good and just rode a steady pace, which was enough to stay up front and snag the win. I'm really focused on being fully prepared to go win this year's XC2 Championship at the GNCCs, so with these final few weeks of fine tuning my program I'll be totally ready come early March to continue this win streak!"
Jason Thomas was very pleased with the way he rode and went on to say, "I had such a fun time out there today and was stoked was get another strong result so early in the race season. The track was actually quite technical with lots of deep ruts especially through all of the swampy sections. I basically had the win in the bag until I encountered a mechanical issue early in the last lap, which let the other two riders catch and pass me. I've been building my strength and endurance during the winter getting ready to hit it hard in this year's XC1 class in GNCC. I'm building up to be a bonafide contender at the GNCCs so today's result reinforces that I'm definitely on track to make that happen. I'm excited and eager to come out swinging at Rd. 1 in Florida!"
1st - Rory Mead
2nd - Ricky Russell
3rd - Jason Thomas
Rory Mead and Jason Thomas are supported by DirtWise Riding schools and Instructional DVDs, Maxxis tires, KLiM Technical Riding gear, FunMart Cycles, HTW Scaffold Design, Grimes Manufacturing, Bell Helmets, Stuk Graphics, DirtTricks sprockets and brake rotors, Flexx Handlebars, G2 handguards and throttle tubes, Leatt protection, IMS fuel tanks and footpegs, ProGrip, FMF exhausts, TCX boots, SRT chains and radiator guards, DP brake pads and clutch plates, DT1 airfilters, TM Designworks chain guides, P3 pipe guards and skid plates, KTMTalk.com, and OffroadChampions.com