Aboard a Yamaha YFZ450, Traci Cecco took her first Women’s class win of the 2008 GNCC ATV season in Washington, Ga. on Saturday, Mar. 8. But there were plenty more class wins for Yamaha as David Crane also won XC2 Pro Am aboard another YFZ450, Jeff Miller took Vet A (30+), Derrick Blair and Michael Novak went 1-2 in Vet B (30+), Dave Simmons won Senior A (40+), Michael Hartzel topped Senior B (40+), Heather Krouskoupf took Women Novice, and Walker Fowler gave the new Raptor 250 its second consecutive GNCC Schoolboy class win. Meanwhile Brandon Sommers grabbed his first career XC1 Pro podium on his own YFZ450 as teammate Bill Ballance suffered an uncharacteristic DNF.
Pro Class... The afternoon five-lap XC1 Pro race used a two-mile longer course. Sommers started well and was right with the leader entering the first turn but momentarily stalled his YFZ after being bumped from behind. A quick restart got him into the woods in fourth, and from there the defending XC2 Pro Am champion started pushing hard. He passed veteran riders William Yokley and Chris Borich, dropped back to fourth again, and then lunged into a battle with Taylor Kiser that lasted most of the race, ultimately finishing third. ““My Yamaha fired up and got me a great start,” he said afterwards. “The YFZ had everything needed to win the race – it was just the rider who was lacking!”
XC1 Pro Class |
| 1 |
Adam Mcgill |
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| 2 |
Taylor Kiser |
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| 3 |
Brandon Sommers - YAM |
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| 4 |
Bryan Cook |
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| 5 |
Ryan Lane |
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| 6 |
Matt Smiley |
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| 7 |
Jarrod McClure |
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| 8 |
Johnny Gallagher - YAM |
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| 9 |
Jeffrey Pickens |
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| 10 |
Shawn Hess |
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XC1 Pro Class Standings - After Round 2 of 13 |
| 1 |
Adam Mcgill |
46 |
| 2 |
Taylor Kiser |
43 |
| 3 |
Bryan Cook |
43 |
| 4 |
Brandon Sommers - YAM |
36 |
| 5 |
Chris Borich |
30 |
| 6 |
Matt Smiley |
28 |
| 7 |
Jarrod McClure |
26 |
| 8 |
Ryan Lane |
25 |
| 9 |
William Yokley |
24 |
| 10 |
Jeffrey Pickens |
22 |
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Women's Class... Typical for GNCC racecourses, the Washington, Ga. track encompassed 10 miles of mud, ruts and tight woods. In the Women’s morning race, defending GNCC Women’s champion Cecco took control early and stretched out a comfortable 32-second advantage over Angel Atwell on the first of five laps. But the lead riders bunched up when they encountered slower traffic on lap two, and Atwell and Lexie Coulter got around the bottleneck quicker than Cecco, relegating the Yamaha pilot to third. But Cecco stayed calm, worked her way back into second, enjoyed a great scrap with Atwell in mid-race, then took back the lead as the duo passed a slower rider on the final lap. After that it was all Cecco. “It was a tough race, mentally and physically,” she admitted later. “Also very cold – my hands were frozen and it was hailing on the starting line!”
Women's Class |
| 1 |
Traci Cecco - YAM |
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| 2 |
Stephanie Parton - YAM |
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| 3 |
Kristen Atwell - YAM |
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| 4 |
Lexie Coulter |
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| 5 |
Shanna Bradshaw |
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| 6 |
Stefanie Verkade |
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| 7 |
Kara Merritt |
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| 8 |
Angel Atwell |
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| 9 |
Jennifer Albright - YAM |
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| 10 |
Laura Strother |
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Women's Class Standings - After Round 2 of 13 |
| 1 |
Traci Cecco - YAM |
39 |
| 2 |
Stephanie Parton - YAM |
36 |
| 3 |
Angel Atwell |
33 |
| 4 |
Stefanie Verkade |
31 |
| 5 |
Jennifer Albright - YAM |
30 |
| 6 |
Shanna Bradshaw |
30 |
| 7 |
Lexie Coulter |
28 |
| 8 |
Jennifer Fulkerson - YAM |
25 |
| 9 |
Laura Strother |
24 |
| 10 |
Kristen Atwell - YAM |
18 |
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