GNCC Racing

Trail Jesters KTM Racing – Big Buck GNCC Race Report

Tuesday, March 2, 2021 | 11:40 AM

Trail Jesters KTM Racing – Big Buck GNCC Race Report

After a few days of rain, the weather cleared up in Union, South Carolina and welcomed our team to the Big Buck GNCC to begin the 2021 season. Jesse Ansley sat on the XC2 line awaiting the wave of the green flag when he mistakenly started his bike too early, after shutting his bike down and restarting Ansley found himself mid pack with his competitors and right in the mix with the lead group as they jockeyed for positions throughout the first lap. After being held at the end of lap one as a penalty for starting his bike early on the line, Ansley was out of the group he was battling with and found himself back to 8th place and on his own. This continued the rest of the race as he held onto his 8th place position and used this as an opportunity to just focus on hitting his marks and working on his consistency. Ansley ended round one with 8th in XC2 and 17th overall. Ansley is excited to move on from this race and head to his hometown race in Florida for round two, as he stated “I feel as if I’m in a better place mentally and physically. Everyone can expect better results in the future. It’s my home race and Florida always treats me well, so I’m excited to get after it.”

Jesse Ansley jumping through ideal conditions at Big Buck. (photo by Mack Faint)
Jesse Ansley jumping through ideal conditions at Big Buck. (photo by Mack Faint)

Brayden Nolette also took on the Union, South Carolina track moving up to the 250A class at Big Buck this past weekend after taking the 150A championship in 2020. Brayden spent his off season at training and familiarizing himself with the change to four stroke and came into the race weekend ready to take on many of the best expert racers in the country. Lined up with 40 other riders on the 250A line, Nolette made his way into a mid pack start off the line and headed out into the South Carolina woods. Brayden suffered from arm pump early on and struggled with nerves in the beginning part of the race as he checked in lap one sitting in 12th place. He was able to shake those issues around the middle of the race, and began making moves as he ended lap three in 7th place and spent the following two laps battling with his competitors. On the last lap Nolette had a few tough crashes that pushed him back to 11th which is where he finished the race in class. Brayden looks forward to getting some redemption in the rounds to come, and working on his starts are high priority as the season continues.

Brayden Nolette ripping through the South Carolina woods. (photo by Shan Moore)
Brayden Nolette ripping through the South Carolina woods. (photo by Shan Moore)

Unfortunately Simon Johnson sat this race out after sustaining a broken wrist while training prior to the season. He hopes to be back within the first few races of the season. Taylor Johnson also sat on the sideline this past weekend after breaking her ankle in 10 places in an offseason crash and hopes to be cleared mid April.

Big Buck GNCC video race report  https://youtu.be/A3vZfqVytJs

Team Sponsors: KTM, FMF Racing, Moose Racing, Alpinestars, Dunlop Tires, Motorex, Edelmann Sales, Engine Ice, XCGear, Specialized, Renthal, Bullet Proof Designs, P3 Carbon, Motool, Hinson Racing, Seat Concepts, IMS Products, TF Racing Suspension, Squid Decals, Dubya, Nihilo Concepts, Acerbis,Twin Air, Action Trailer Leasing and SuperB Batteries.

About Trail Jesters: Trail Jesters Racing is a KTM support team established in January 2014. We race off-road motorcycles at the professional, amateur and youth level of national and regional series.