Rory Mead Takes the Victory at Motosport.com Snowshoe GNCC
Only One Point Separates Whibley and Russell
Team WMR KTM/Nihilo Concepts rider Rory Mead took home the win at what's considered to be the toughest GNCC in the series.
Snowshoe, W. Va. (June 24, 2012) –
The Motosport.com Snowshoe GNCC proved to be the toughest stop yet on
the 2012 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series as racers endured
almost 20-miles of the roughest terrain West Virginia has to offer. The
XC1 points battle quickly heated up when New Zealand’s Rory Mead secured
his second victory of the season, while Kailub Russell and Paul Whibley
tightened the championship chase to just one point after eight rounds
of racing.
WMR/KTM’s Rory Mead has a knack for technical terrain and the
treacherous obstacles of Snowshoe Mountain offered Mead the opportunity
to put his skills to the test. It was Factory FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell
who got out front early in Lap 1 but Mead eventually put his KTM 300-XC
two-stroke machine out front and practically never looked back.
Kailub Russell continues to show he has the grit to win a championship. He's one point out of the lead.
The battle for third place in the XC1 class came between AmPro Yamaha
teammates Jordan Ashburn and Paul Whibley, but amidst the unique
starting procedure, the front-runners were more diverse than usual. At
the Snowshoe GNCC, racers line up in rows of five in accordance with
their previous point standings and the official scores are based off
adjusted lap times. As a result, XC2 Pro Lites racer Jason Thomas put
his KR4 Performance-backed KTM into the physical battle with Whibley and
Ashburn. Thomas ultimately bested Whibley by less than one-tenth of a
second for third overall.
“I struggled during the beginning of the race and couldn’t really get
a good rhythm going. Eventually I was able to start catching up and
things started to get a little better. I realized sometimes the harder
you try the worse it gets.”
Husaberg's Nick Fahringer put in his best ride of the year, a 4th.
Factory Husaberg’s Nick Fahringer put in seven consistent laps of
racing, where he finished in a season-best fourth place in class behind
Whibley. Fahringer battled with West Virginia-native Thad DuVall early
on, until the Shenandoah Honda/Offroadchampion rider ran out of gas
after the second lap. DuVall’s bad luck offered Canadian Enduro champion
Bobby Prochnau the ability to put himself into position for a solid top
five finish at America’s Toughest Race. Prochnau, currently racing for
FMF/RPM KTM, made a guest appearance with the WMR/KTM team for Snowshoe
GNCC and locked down a fifth place in XC1.
Russell charged toward Mead on the seventh and final lap of the
three-hour race. At one point, Russell was nearly two-minutes behind
Mead, but the runner-up charged back in the second half of the race to
eventually bring himself within only six seconds of Mead’s victory.
“I put in the work during the week to prepare for this race and it
really paid off today but Rory rode really well. We have 5 tracks that I
really like coming up and hopefully I can get a few more wins.”
The Motosport.com Snowshoe GNCC marks Mead’s second victory of the
season and now brings him into contention for the championship chase
with five rounds of racing still left on the schedule.
“I’ve been looking forward to this race for a while now and I knew it
was going to be a strong one for me,” Mead said. “It was definitely one
of the toughest races I’ve done in America but I enjoy the technical
stuff. I’m going to try to be consistent in the last five races and hope
to maintain my third place in points, or better.“
Factory FMF/KTM’s Charlie Mullins continues his streak of bad luck
this season as the defending champ was forced to sit out Round 8 with an
elbow injury from a previous race. Mullins currently plans to fully
recover by missing the next round in Ohio, and plans to return for the
final three rounds of racing.
Ashburn finished the day in sixth place, followed by JNCC champion
Takeshi Koikeda in seventh. Obermeyer Yamaha-backed Chris Bach took home
eighth and JG Offroad/American Honda’s Nate Kanney and Florida’s
Garrett Edmisten rounded out the top ten in the XC1 class.
With a stellar third place overall performance, KR4 Performance’s
Jason Thomas also secured his first XC2 Pro Lites win, but not without
heavy challenging by F.A.R. Husky’s Andrew DeLong. The two battled back
and forth all afternoon but Thomas came out victorious after nearly
three hours of racing. KTM support rider and XC2 points leader Steward
Baylor bounced back from a previous injury to claim third in the class,
just ahead of Husaberg/RidePG.com rider Jesse Robinson in fourth.
Obermeyer Yamaha/Raines Riding University/Offroadviking.com’s Jed Haines
rounded out the top five in XC2.
The battle for Top Amateur honors has been intense all season long
and it was once again 250 A class winner Grant Baylor who claimed it
this weekend with an impressive eleventh place overall.
Experience prevailed in the challenging conditions of the AM race
with the top three overall finishers coming from the Masters and Super
Senior classes. Vance Earl grabbed his second Masters class and overall
win of the season, followed by former XC1 ATV Pro and multi-time ATV
overall winner Ohio’s Rick Matteson in second and Maryland’s Randall
Riggs in third overall. Factory FMF/KTM’s Maria Forsberg kept her
perfect season rolling along with yet another Women's class win.
West Virginia’s Cody Pingley (HON) earned his first Youth overall win
in his home state, as well as the Super Mini (14-15) class win. South
Carolina’s Jonathan Johnson (KTM) came in second place in the (14-15)
division, followed by New York’s Nicholas Johnson (KTM), who came in
third overall and in class.
Round 9 of the 2012 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series heads
to Millfield, Ohio July 7 and 8 for the Wiseco John Penton GNCC. For
more information, go to www.gnccracing.com.
XC1 Pro Results:
- Rory Mead (KTM)
- Kailub Russell (KTM)
- Paul Whibley (YAM)
- Nick Fahringer (HSB)
- Bobby Prochnau (KTM)
- Jordan Ashburn (YAM)
- Takeshi Koikeda (KTM)
- Chris Bach (YAM)
- Nathan Kanney (HON)
- Garrett Edmisten (KAW)
XC2 Pro Lites Results:
- Jason Thomas (KTM)
- Andrew DeLong (HSQ)
- Steward Baylor (KTM)
- Jesse Robinson (HSB)
- Jedediah Haines (YAM)
- Zach Nolan (KTM)
- Ryan Echols (KTM)
- AJ Stewart (YAM)
- Ryan Lojak (YAM)
- William Gilleland (YAM)
XC1 Pro Standings:
- Paul Whibley (198/2 wins)
- Kailub Russell (197/4 wins)
- Rory Mead (156/2 wins)
- Charlie Mullins (129)
- Thad DuVall (122)
- Jordan Ashburn (118)
- Chris Bach (105)
- Garrett Edmisten (104)
- Takeshi Koikeda (90)
- Nathan Kanney (88)
XC2 Pro Lites Standings:
- Steward Baylor Jr. (182/5 wins)
- Jason Thomas (173/1 win)
- Jesse Robinson (132)
- Andrew DeLong (123/2 wins)
- Jedediah Haines (136)
- Brad Bakken (116)
- AJ Stewart (93)
- Cody Gragg (82)
- Scott Grills (80)
- Zach Nolan (75)
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