Ten-Time World Champion Juha Salminen Silences the Critics at GNCC Opener - News - Dirt Rider Magazine

KTM's Jack Penton probably summed up Juha Salminen's first 2005 Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Series victory best, "I guess that answers the question if he could last three hours." The ten-time World Enduro Champion spent the entire race in Gilmer, Texas battling his KTM teammate Mike Lafferty and Suzuki's new recruit, Glenn Kearney of Australia. The trio opened up a 30-second advantage over fourth place by the second lap with Lafferty leading. Regarding how fast the pace was, the Finn casually replied, "I had no idea how the other guys ride, so I didn't know what speed to ride. Now I know.""This is even more than I expected," the Australian Enduro Champion, Kearney said. "The FMF Suzuki team is just unreal. Rodney Smith has put my girlfriend and I up at his place and has been helping me train—it's unfortunate he can't ride."Smith was beaming like a proud dad with his protege's results, "I couldn't be more pleased. He was a bit of an unknown. I can only teach him so much. He rode his heart today and coming away with second place was a great finish. I told him watching from the sidelines here, it was just being a part of his program it was almost like I got second."Early leader and eventual third place, Lafferty was happy with the fast pace early on and content to ride with Salminen and Kearney. But a last lap snarl frustrated the KTM pilot who likes to make an end-of-the-race-charge, "I got behind a lapper," Lafferty explained, "He swapped on a hill and I went around him into the briars, but got tangled up. got out of that and fell again. Times like those I just need to settle down and ride the bike. Overall, it was a good clean race and I had a good time. I didn't win, but to start off with a podium finish is good."The role of shadow swapped many times, from Team Green Kawasaki-mounted Chuck Woodford to Suzuki privateer Brian Garrahan to KTM Funmart rider Robbie Jenks and finally back to Woodford—who held off a late charge from Throttlehead.com Kawasaki's Steve Hatch. All three were happy with their race, considering the potential for crashes and damage (and the arm pump factor).Riders not suffering bike damage from the Texas terrain were usually dealing with arm pump—either early on or later in the race. One of those afflicted was Am-Pro Yamaha rider Jason Raines. After the race Raines said that early on, he felt he was riding like a C Rider. His arms pumped up so bad that had to sit since he couldn't stand and hold on. After his gas stop, he had recovered and began picking off riders, recovering to ninth by time the checkers flew.The rest of the field fought the extremely rocky terrain as much as each other and it soon became a battle of attrition. Pre-race favorite Barry Hawk was an early victim. A simple fall on lap one left his bike barely making power. After nursing his ailing YZ250 back to the Am-Pro Yamaha pits, it took Hawk and the crew a while to diagnose the problem—a frayed throttle cable that only opened the throttle a minor bit. By the time he rejoined the mix, he was too far back to earn points. Rather than risk injury, the 2003 champ called it a day. Fred Andrews was another victim of the Texas rocks. A crash off the start left his new Suzuki RM-Z450's radiator shrouds dangling. A kicked-up rock finished the job, puncturing the radiator and knocking Andrews out of the race.Suzuki's Heather Wilson made history in the morning race, becoming the first woman to make the overall podium in GNCC history. RM250-mounted Wilson finished third behind Yamaha riders Chase Bishop and Matthew Nix, who won the 0-300cc 4-stroke C and 250 C classes, respectively.Overall Pro Results:
1. KTM Juha Salminen
2. YAM Glenn Kearney
3. KTM Michael Lafferty
4. KAW Chuck Woodford
5. KAW Steve Hatch
6. KTM Robbie Jenks
7. KAW Cole Calkins
8. KTM Stephen Edmondson
9. YAM Charles Mullins
10. YAM Jason Raines
11. YAM Aaron Wegner
12. KTM Brian Garrahan
13. HON Scott Summers
14. KTM Dustin Gibson
15. YAM Kevin Bailey
16. YAM Nathan Kanney
17. KAW Jesse Robinson
18. KAW Travis Green
19. KAW Brett Zofchak
20. KTM Patrick GarrahanOverall A.M. Results:
1. YAM Chase Bishop
2. YAM Matthew Nix
3. SUZ Heather Wilson
4. KAW Sean M Gentry
5. KTM Nicholas Roughton
6. YAM Loupie Lambruno
7. KTM Jonathan Davis
8. YAM Terry Mealer
9. YAM Erik Nielsen
10. YAM Robin Miller
11. YAM Amanda Mastin
12. SUZ Jacob Blackwood
13. KTM Steven Lambruno
14. KAW Casey Campbell
15. KAW Daniel Dohogne
16. YAM Ryan Kuna
17. KTM Kevin Nations
18. SUZ Michael Schwartz
19. KTM Jordan Dobbs
20. SUZ Marty Thacker