GNCC Goes to Japan, Literally!

It is a tradition for Japanese National Cross Country Series President Masami Hoshino to invite GNCC riders to their JNCC AAGP season finale in exchange for Japanese riders that will compete in the opening round of the GNCC series. In June, Hoshino came to the Snowshoe GNCC with one of Japan’s most talented off-road racers, Manabu Watanabe.

Just over the weekend, N-Fab AmPro Yamaha's Jordan Ashburn competed in the AAGP finale, where he came way with a big victory for not only himself, but for Yamaha as well. Aboard an all-new YZ250FX, Ashburn impressed the Japanese techs by powering the machine to a 14-minute victory over JNCC Champion Manabu Watanabe. Chuck LeMaster had the opportunity to head over to Japan with Jordan and his father, Dave, and Chuck gives a pretty funny account of what went down in Japan. Read about it HERE.

Terrain Wreaks Havoc on Machines in Argentina (Jared Bolton)

Remember when I said that keeping your machine together was a big key at the ISDE? Well, that’s been an issue for everyone, not just the American riders. The Argentina sand has been taking its toll on machines all week. From what I understand, and bear in mind I’ve never even been out of the United States, the sand in Argentina is even finer than what we’re used to here in the U.S.

Obviously this creates issues for any sort of machine that’s digging itself into the dirt and coating itself with the sand. Keeping air filters clean has apparently been a big problem, but even with disposable filter covers the riders have to make filter changes at the end of tests. If not, they’re risking clogging up their machine with a ton of the dust created by this sand. 

It’s been particularly tough on the 4-stroke machines that have more complicated motors with more moving parts. The phrase I heard was that they were 4-strokes “dropping like flies.” However, it’s so bad even a 2-stroke that isn’t prepared properly is at a huge risk as well. Having to prep for the dust adds time to your allotted work schedule at the end of each day, which takes time away from other things such as tire changes.

Thankfully the riders have a good team of support behind them and they’re able to have filters ready to change when they’re able to. If not, it sounds like there would be a lot of machines sidelined already. Six days of racing is tough on any machine, but when you throw in the scenario they’re faced with, it takes it to a whole other level that requires even more preparation and maintenance. 

USA Junior Team Leads in Argentina (Jared Bolton)

The U.S. Junior team has been on fire this week, they have shown that consistency and a bit of luck is key. The Baylor brothers, Trevor Bollinger and Justin Jones have all put in solid rides of their own throughout the week. The biggest thing for them has been their consistency and good fortune so far this week.

While Bollinger did suffer a time penalty for being late to a test earlier in the week, the team has still been riding great and keeping their machines together. Sometimes it’s not always about being the absolute fastest, but about putting in good times and making it through the entire 6 days of racing. That is exactly what the U.S. Junior Team riders have been doing this week. Although there’s still some racing left to do, the boys have been on top of their game, both on the trail and by staying well prepared.

Although the World Trophy team has never claimed an ISDE win, the American Junior teams have. The first Junior Team to win was 1991 in Czechoslovakia with the team of Steve Hatch, Jimmy Lewis, David Rhodes and Chris Smith. It didn’t happen again until New Zealand in 2006 with Russell Bobbitt, Ricky Dietrich, David Pearson and Kurt Caselli fielding the Junior Team. 

Back when it was still known as the ISDT (International Six Days Trial), American riders took the “Silver Vase” honors on home soil of Dalton, Massachusetts with the team of Dick Burleson, Malcolm Smith, Ed Schmidt and Ron Bohn propelling the team to Silver Vase honors.

This year the American Junior team is on track to take the win for the first time since 2006, and with the 1 year anniversary of the passing of Kurt Caselli coming up, it would be a pretty fitting win to honor the former American Team Captain with.

It's a "Banshee Thang!" (Rodney Tomblin)

If you follow the social media then you’ve probably picked up on the fact that Walker Fowler was planning to—and did, in fact—race his 2001 Yamaha Banshee this past weekend at local race in East Palestine, Ohio. It is a part of the CRA series in that neck of the woods and Fowler, along with Cole Richardson, grew up racing there throughout his career. Fowler ended up finishing second place, just under four minutes behind Cole, on a Banshee! He also finished second overall out of 68 in a one-hour and fifteen-minute race.

Walker said it was a blast racing the Banshee. He added, "It was slow compared to the modern stock 450 and it's heavy." He went on to say that the 450s weigh around 380 pounds when they are built and that the stock Banshee weighs in around 412. He said it was very noticeable and he could feel the difference, also noting that the front-end handling was terrible but he had it somewhat figured out by the end of lap one. He said after lap one, "I learned how to ride it, where it made power and how hard I could hit kickers without crashing. It was all a new experience but it was a riot!" He said that the spectators loved it and the kids were amazed because they had never seen a full-sized two-stroke ATV. Walker added, "It's awesome to know the old technology can still be competitive."

Walker also said it brought back a lot of old memories. He said that the first race he ever went to was a GNCC in Lisbon, Ohio in 1996 to watch the ATV legend Kim Kuhnle race. His dad had bought an old Banshee from Kuhnle and they were going to watch him race his new one. It turns out Danny Fowler and Kim Kuhnle knew each other through the trucking business and if it weren’t for those two getting together, the new legend of Walker Fowler may never have been born.

So once again, thank you Kim Kuhnle. You still keep giving long after you have retired and look at how much of an impact you have made in the sport of ATV racing and the GNCC Racin' Nation, and surely there is more to follow.

What Exactly is the Polaris ACE? (Rodney Tomblin)

If you happened to be one of the many of thousands of GNCC Racin' Nation on hand for the historical finale at the Ironman GNCC, you were witness to many spectacles, no doubt. One thing you may have done a double take on, as many did, was blue, had four wheels and wasn’t a Scrambler. Or a RZR for that matter! So what exactly were those Polaris single seat ATV/UTV-looking things cruising around?

Welcome to the next generation off-road vehicle! The all-new Polaris ACE 570 was recently introduced and the Ironman GNCC had the distinct privilege of helping showcase them to the masses. The Polaris ACE 570 is exactly what it looks like. It’s about the size of a 4x4 ATV, but it features a single seat, roll cage and steering wheel. It has all the size-convenience of the Polaris ATVs, with all the elements of a RZR as well. In my opinion, it’s a home run for a new wave of recreation, or even racing.

The first-ever "Polaris ACE Race" was held in conjunction with the Ironman, as a handful of media representatives took to the trails for a 30-minute exhibition race on the Youth ATV course. The media ride took place on Saturday afternoon while podium celebrations were winding down from the colossal championship battles in the XC1 And XC2 classes.

I spoke with ATVRiders.com editor Harlen Foley after the event. I had heard at one point he was leading the race and didn't get to catch the end as we were gearing up for the UTV Championship Finale. I thought by the smile on his face that he had pulled it off, but to the contrary, he told me he clipped a tree and broke the loaned car. He said that it was a blast to drive and that he was surprised by the handling and agility the machine has to offer. He also added that the ACE is certainly something that should be a big hit in the off-road world.

After a little research myself, I found out that these things start for as low as $7,499.00 and the new 2015 570 model at $8,499.00. To me, that’s an affordable recreational vehicle and the aftermarket companies have already been in the shop working for the next big wave. Looks like ole Tom and Kenny Shaver at Tom's Marine in Crawfordsville should be looking for a call from me here pretty soon. "When can I pick mine up, boys?"

#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)

I’ve recently been assigned the task of scanning these old film photos from the GNCC/Racer X archives into a digital format. There’s been a ton of super cool pictures from the early ‘70s motocross, on through the ‘80s, ‘90s and more. This week I’ve been working on a ton of GNCC pictures from the early 1990s and figured I’d share a few each week starting now. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to many quad pictures just yet, so for now it's just bikes but I'll have some quads for you next week. Let’s check them out… 

 

And the last of our #TBT goes to...

Off-Season Racing (Jared Bolton)

So while the winter break has just begun, I’m sure there are already people who are ready to race again. Well, all winter there’s plenty of opportunities to get out and race. However, most of those require a bit of travel for racers located north of the Mason-Dixon Line. 

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’m once again putting on the annual Zoo City GP in North Carolina on November 15th, and I’ve got a few updates on that as race day is fast approaching! First, the pro purse has been increased to 200%. With the ISDE ending so closely, guys like KR, Mullins and Strang, who all live less than 2 hours from the track, will be looking for some time off. So, the pro purse has been increased to encourage some others to come out and give it a shot.

Next, with the race being held on the 1-year anniversary of the passing of Kurt Caselli, there will be a raffle benefiting the Kurt Caselli Foundation. I’ll be announcing the full details of the raffle prizes on my website next week, but I will say that I’ve got some great stuff lined up so far ranging from rider jerseys to free products and more. In addition to the raffle there will also be an auction for a set of Kurt Caselli replica gear from Thor with the proceeds from that benefiting the Kurt Caselli Foundation. Raffle tickets will be $3.00 each and will only be available at the race, so even if you’re not racing and you’re in the area, come out and have the chance to win.

If you want all the details on where the race is, moto times, format details and more, check out http://jaredbolton.com/2014/10/14/zoo-city-gp-111514/ 

Headlines

2014 International Six Days Enduro Coverage 

Chuck LeMaster's Japan Experience