Ashburn Wins The XC2 Class!
Race Report:
The Mountain Ridge GNCC in Somerset, Pennsylvania is known as one of the most grueling races in the entire series. The combination of loose rocks, deep ruts, and wet exposed roots challenges even the best the riders, making it hard to put in solid and consistent laps!
XC1 CLASS
AmPro Yamaha’s Paul Whibley fired off the line, grabbing yet another www.MotoSport.com Holeshot Award. However, Whibley’s lead would be short lived, as a bad line through the first nasty mud section would mix up the pack and separate the lead riders by a considerable distance. The bad luck continued for Paul on the second lap, when a large rock sent him crashing to the ground. After regaining his composure, Whibley latched on to KTM rider Nathan Kanney, where he stayed for several laps, reading lines and getting back into his usual grove. Once the opportunity presented itself, Paul made a difficult pass on Nathan and continued charging for the finish. The race would literally come down to the last corner as Kanney came in hot, going wide, while Whibs tucked inside, sending Kanney into the banners and allowing Whibley to grab the second place finish!
“This was a challenging race for me,” says Whibley. “The course was riddled with rocks and it was hard to find a consistent flow. Fortunately, I was able to get comfortable about halfway through the race and started catching up to the leaders. I battled with Nathan throughout the day and towards the end of the race, I took a risk making a difficult pass and it ended up paying off. This was one of those races you just had to stick out because anything could happen! I’d like to thank my wife Katherine and my mechanic Scotty as well as the rest of the AmPro Yamaha Race Team and all of my great sponsors! ”
XC2 CLASS
Obermeyer / AmPro Yamaha’s Jordan Ashburn launched off the line, heading into the first corner with a mid-pack start. By the end of the first lap, Jordan had passed everyone in the XC2 class. Unfortunately, on the second lap, a derailed chain would cause Ashburn to fall back into the 4th place position. After fixing the problem, Jordan put his head down and road his GYTR Yamaha YZ250F like there was no tomorrow, quickly catching the rest of the XC2 riders and gaining the lead position. From there, Ashburn finished up the day on the top of podium, making this his third GNCC win in a row!
“This race was a lot of fun,” says Ashburn. “I had a pretty rough start, but that just motivated me to charge harder. When I derailed my chain on the second lap, it was like starting the race all over again… I pushed as hard as I could go and by the end of the race, I was beat! Big thanks go out to Keith Obermeyer, with Obermeyer Yamaha and Randy Hawkins, with AmPro Yamaha. The bike is working awesome and I am excited to head to Power Line Park this weekend with momentum!”
