Round 2 GNCC Nationals
Photos by Raymond Grundy
Bill Ballance Battles Back at the Maxxis General GNCC
By Jason Weigandt
March 16, 2006 – After struggling at the Suzuki Grand National Cross Country opener in Florida, factory Yamaha rider Bill Balance battled back and beat his rivals at the second round in the series, at the Maxxis General GNCC in Washington, Georgia, March 11.
"I was really motivated to come out here and win," said six-time series champ Ballance, who took down Chris Borich and Chris Jenks to win. "We’ve been working really hard this winter dialing in this 2006—they made a lot of changes on it that really made it better. And I felt this was the best shape I’ve ever been in coming into the series, so I felt it was going to come to us."
After mechanical troubles slowed Ballance in Florida, he stomped through the Aonia Pass Motocross Park that hosted the General, taking the lead from Jenks, losing it, and then getting it back and pulling away on the last lap. Ballance made up major time on the motocross track.
"We’ve got a track back home, and we practice just about every week. I didn’t really want to give away any of the speed or how to do the jumps, but I felt pretty good so I went ahead and jumped them," he said. "Then I had a problem and they got around me. I had to get back around them in the woods. It was a lot of fun."
With
Ballance out front, Jenks and Borich (left) put on a great show battling for
second. Jenks took the $100 ITP Holeshot Award, but Borich edged him out by just
two seconds at the finish to grab second place.
"I started working on my ’06 and found a crack in the case, so I had to switch back to my ’05," said Borich. "I didn’t feel as comfortable on it, it did some stuff that I didn’t like. But me and Chris battled to the end, and I was just glad to give it a good run.
"Bill was hitting all of the doubles on the motocross track. I wasn’t doing them – I don’t know why, really, I was just playing it safe," Borich said. "Chris and I were just back and forth. On the last lap I just put my head down and tried to get away from him, but he put his head down and tried to get away from me, so it was a great battle."
"I felt stronger but I’m definitely not where I need to be," said Jenks. "I didn’t win the race, so I have some more work to do. We passed each other three or four times, just kind of laughing about it, I like racing with Chris. The whole last lap things kept happening. I wanted to race him clean, and he got me at the end."
All
three riders (right)are close in the early GNCC standings.
Fourth went to Yoshimura Suzuki’s William Yokley, while Pro rookie Chris Bithell snagged a solid fifth.
The Maxxis General GNCC was taped for an airing on the Outdoor Life Network in April. The series begins airing on April 1 at 3 p.m.
In the ATV morning race, Yamaha’s Traci Cecco topped an all-female podium, with Polaris rider Stephanie Parton in second and Jennifer Fulkerson in third.