Husqvarna Race Report: Strang Takes Home Silver Medal at Round Three

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Josh Strang is on a silver streak as he claimed his third consecutive 2^nd place finish of the 2015 GNCC season. Temperatures at a cool 50 degrees and a dry week in Morganton, NC provided for great race conditions and perfect dirt. The just over 11 mile long course was tacky and supplied some great traction but of course offered challenging terrain. Demanding up and down hill slopes that traversed the mountain sides provided enough challenge to make up for the absence of the usual tricky mud holes.

Strang charges for the front on his FC 450 Photo: Ken Hill

The flag dropped for the start of the race and the 1st corner saw Strang in 3rd. In the 3rd corner another rider came together with Strang which caused him to fall. He remounted in dead last, 10 seconds behind the final XC1 Pro rider. From there he charged his way up to 6th by race mile 5.8 where he laid the bike down. He got right up but lost one spot. He was able to recover his position quickly and focused on the lead group from that point on. He slowly picked his way through the pack and by the end of lap 2 he was in a battle with two other riders, interchanging between 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th places. On lap 3 Strang moved himself into 2nd and caught within 25 seconds of the leader. Lap 4 called for a pit stop which allowed the 3^rd and 4^th place riders by him, but he soon was able to catch back up to them and reclaim his 2^nd place stance. He pulled a 35 second gap and was able to maintain 2nd place to the finish.

“Today was solid again, had a great start but came together with another rider up our first hill so I had to start from the back, it took a while to get towards the front and I used a lot of energy trying to get to the front and close to the leader. After my second gas stop I settled into 2nd and was unable to close anything more on the leader. The bike worked awesome and we will keep chipping away,” explained Strang.

DuVall completes the pdoium with a third place finish aboard his Husqvarna Photo: Ken Hill

Teammate, Andrew DeLong, is focused on recovering for the National Enduro Championship Series.

Husqvarna also claimed the third step on the podium in the XC1 Pro class with Thaddy Duvall finishing behind Strang.

Rockstar Energy and Husqvarna backed Ryan Sipes finished the day 9^th in the XC1 Pro class, just ahead of Canada’s Factory Husqvarna rider Tyler Medaglia.

XC1 Pro Results –
1          KAILUB K RUSSELL
2          JOSH V STRANG – Husqvarna
3          THADDEUS DUVALL – Husqvarna
4          GRANT BAYLOR
5          JORDAN ASHBURN
6          STEWARD BAYLOR JR
7          DANIEL MILNER
8          RUSSELL BOBBITT
9          RYAN SIPES   - Husqvarna
10        TYLER MEDAGLIA - Husqvarna

Strang celebrates 2nd place Photo: Ken Hill

XC1 Pro Class Points –
1          KAILUB K RUSSELL - 90
2          JOSH V STRANG - 75
3          THADDEUS DUVALL - 60
4          GRANT BAYLOR - 47
5          JORDAN ASHBURN - 47
6          CHRISTOPHER BACH - 44
7          TYLER MEDAGLIA - 40
8          RYAN SIPES - 38
9          ADAM J BONNEUR - 30
10        TAKESHI KOIKEDA - 30
…
21        ANDREW R DELONG - 3