Trail Jesters KTM Racing - GNCC Round 9 Team Report

Tuesday, July 3, 2018 | 1:35 PM

Trail Jesters KTM Racing - GNCC Round 9 Team Report

Our visit to the mountain for this year’s GNCC round 9 was true to form as nicknamed “America’s Toughest Race.” Fog, rain, mud, roots and the challenging hills of West Virginia made for a great day of off road racing.

Ben Kelley started on row 2 for the exciting and unique live engine start modeled after the famous Blackwater 100 cross country event. Ben got off the line well and settled in with the top 15 riders overall as the track took them from high to low and back again on the Snowshoe mountain slopes, forests and fire roads. On lap two Ben, and his KTM mounted teammate Josh Toth, began to distance themselves from the other XC2 riders but continued to battle for the top class position as they moved up in the overall standings. On lap four Ben took over the lead and pushed hard to try to make the overall podium. At the checkers Ben took the XC2 win and landed 4^th overall at the 12^th annual Snowshoe GNCC.

Ben Kelley handled the rocky terrain and grabbed the XC2 win. (photo by Darrin Chapman)

Chris Bach returned to GNCC racing on a FMF equipped KTM 125 SX in the XC3 125 ProAm class. Chris had a great ride going running in the top three for the first six laps until a mechanical issue ended his run for the day. Chris had a lot of fun lining up in XC3 and I’m sure we will see him back again this year at a future round.

Chris Bach returned to GNCC Racing on a KTM 125 SX. (photo by Darrin Chapman)

In the 250 A class Simon Johnson got a great start off the line and came around in third place after lap 1 and continued to push until taking over the lead on lap 3. Simon lead for the next four laps gapping second place by more than two minutes on the rough and slippery mountain course. On the last lap a fall on a steep uphill damaged Simon’s bike and required him to turn around and go back down the slope before restarting his race. The unfortunate crash broke his clutch lever and he had also surrendered the lead. Simon drove hard but came up 2 seconds short at the checkers but took a well earned 2^nd place in class and 32^nd overall for the day.

Simon Johnson on the 250 A podium again at Snowshoe GNCC. (photo by Darrin Chapman)

Owen Giese had his ups and downs at Snowshoe Mountain struggling at first and coming around in ninth place the first lap. But Owen kept charging and picking off riders until he took over 3^rd place in class on lap five. From there Owen went on to score his first ever GNCC 250 A podium (3rd place) and 39^th overall.

Owen Giese with his first ever 250 A podium. (photo by Darrin Chapman)

Thank you to KTM, FMF Racing, Troy Lee Designs, Dunlop Tires, Motorex, FlowVision Goggles, Rekluse, Super B Batteries, Answer Racing, Bullet Proof Designs, P3 Carbon, Squid Decals, GTR Suspension and Edelmann’s Sales for their continued support.

About Trail Jesters:

Trail Jesters KTM Racing is an offroad racing team with both professional and amateur riders. We compete at the regional, national and international level in Enduro, Extreme Enduro, Hare Scrambles and other format offroad racing. The Trail Jesters Racing team was launched in January 2014 and is primarily focused on supporting New England riders as they pursue their dirt bike passion.