GNCC Racing

Winning Weekend for the FMF KTM Factory Racing Team at Camp Coker GNCC

Tuesday, April 24, 2018 | 11:05 AM

SOCIETY HILL, S.C. – Round 5 of the AMA Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series took place in Society Hill, South Carolina on Sunday for a brutally-rough Camp Coker GNCC. The FMF KTM Factory Racing Team prevailed through three hours of intense racing to sweep the XC1 Open Pro and XC2 250 Pro classes with Kailub Russell and Josh Toth at the center of the podium.

In the XC1 Open Pro class, it’s been a head-to-head battle all season long between Russell, the five-time and reigning GNCC Champion, and his biggest competitor, Thad DuVall. After five rounds, it’s Russell who holds the upper-hand in the championship standings but DuVall came into this weekend with great momentum after claiming his first win of the season at the previous round.

Ken Hill

As the green flag waved for the XC1 class, it was Russell who grabbed the holeshot aboard his KTM 350 XC-F and DuVall followed close behind. Russell worked hard to create a gap between himself and DuVall on the opening lap but the duo remained within a few seconds of each other throughout the entire three-hour race. With Russell at the helm, both riders came into the final turns wheel-to-wheel and with less than one-second to spare, Russell held his position to capture his fourth victory of the season in South Carolina.

Russell: “I left it all on the table today – mentally and physically, I was just beat down. The last two or three laps were tough, the track was really rough, hard-packed and square edged so I just tried to stay focused. I knew Thad was right there and I paid close attention on the second-to-last lap to where he was planning to pass me and I made sure I hit my lines in those sections and just held on. It was a fun race, we were going back-and-forth but I’m really happy to come away with the win.”

XC2 250 Pro

FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Josh Toth returned to the center of the podium on Sunday after a three-race hiatus. The reigning XC2 Champion sustained a finger injury at Round 3 and has been working hard to strengthen his hand for three-hours of racing. Toth seemed to have no issues at all as he led seven of the eight laps to claim his second XC2 victory of the season and sixth overall for the day.

Toth: “It feels great to be back up here in the center of the podium. My hand is feeling better, I don’t think it affected me at all today and I was able to just put down some good laps. I think the season is back on-track and hopefully we can keep the momentum going into the rest of the year.”

Trail Jesters KTM Racing’s Ben Kelley put forth an impressive performance to come from nearly last on the opening lap, all the way up to second by the halfway point of the race. After going down in turn two, Kelley was forced to climb his way through the pack where he finished only 11 seconds back for second-place. After five rounds, Kelley still maintains the lead in the XC2 Championship Standings with three wins behind him.

Round 7: May 13 – Whitetails, Indiana

XC1 Open Pro Results

  1. Kailub Russell, KTM
  2. Thad DuVall, HQV
  3. Ricky Russell, YAM
  4. Trevor Bollinger, HON
  5. Steward Baylor Jr., KTM

XC2 250 Pro Results

  1. Josh Toth, KTM
  2. Ben Kelley, KTM
  3. Austin Lee, HON

Overall Championship Standings

  1. Kailub Russell, 4 wins, 145 points
  2. Thad DuVall, 1 win, 126
  3. Steward Baylor Jr., 99

XC2 250 Pro Standings

  1. Ben Kelley, 3 wins, 140 points
  2. Josh Toth, 2 wins, 110
  3. Pascal Rauchenecker, 100