News
Borich Bests Ballance in Classic GNCC Opener
Photos by Raymond Gundy
February 23, 2005 – If the first race is any indication, 2005 will be an incredible year for the Suzuki Grand National Cross Country ATV Series. At the season-opening Lone Star GNCC in Gilmer, Texas, Alba’s Chris Borich and Yamaha’s Bill Ballance battled, banged and bumped all the way into the very last corner of the race.
In this first round it was the challenger, Borich, coming out on top of the champ.
“It
was a great battle out there,” said the Honda TRX450R-mounted Borich (above
and right). “I was in fourth just watching, and then I made my move. I knew
once me and Bill started battling we could pull away. He doesn’t give up too
easy.”
“Me and Chris hooked up, and I can’t even tell you how many times we passed each other,” said Ballance. “We battled all the way to the finish line.”
After passing each other countless times, Borich held the lead heading to the finish. Ballance tried a last-ditch effort to get around, and the two hooked tires, but Borich held on to win.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s William Yokley took a hard-earned third.
“I got off to a good start, but I stalled it coming out of the canyon,” said Yokley. “Later on I tagged a rock really hard and did some damage. I had to get off and check to make sure my wheels weren’t going to fall off!”
Santo DeRisi got his season started strong with a fourth-place score, while Matt Smiley debuted his new Polaris ride with a fifth-place finish.