Unadilla GNCC Race Report

FMF/KTM Riders Podium at Unadilla GNCC Russell Tops XC2 – Kanney Earns 2nd in XC1 New Berlin, NY – The FMF/KTM riders proved they used their month long vacation well when they arrived at the Unadilla GNCC ‘Ready to Race’ resulting in a near win for XC1 rider Nate Kanney and a first place result for XC2 rider Kailub Russell and Women’s rider Maria Forsberg.
 
Kanney was looking to duplicate his Snowshoe win from the previous round on his hometown New York track. Kanney got a great jump off the line but stalled his bike in the second corner resulting in a near last start for the crowd-favorite. His teammate, Cory Buttrick, was not much farther ahead rounding the first couple corners in about 13th position. The two teammates spent the first lap working their way through riders and by the start of the second loop Kanney was sitting in 8th position with Buttrick right behind in 9th.
 
At the two lap mark Kanney began to put his charge on the pack and by the end of the lap had passed into 2nd position with his sight set on current leader Jimmy Jarrett. On the fourth lap Kanney took over the lead from Jarrett and began the start of their neck and neck battle through the end of the race.
 
"Every time I would begin to pull on Jimmy (Jarrett), I would come up on a lapper and lose all the time I had gained from the previous lap. As hard as I tried to lose him he was always right there as soon as I made the smallest mistake and he really made me work for the lead," remarked Kanney.
 
About halfway into the final lap, Kanney remained out front with Jarrett a few seconds behind. "I saw a lapper ahead in the trail and knew I had to get him between me and Jarrett to get out front and stay out of trouble for the remainder of the race," stated Kanney. "I took an outside line to get around the lapper and hit a rock in a whooped out section and went straight over the bars. It happened so fast I don’t even really know how I crashed. I remember just hoping I could still recover and finish inside the top five."
 
When Kanney recovered Jarrett had an approximate 30 second lead. Kanney put his head down and gave it everything he had to put his KTM back up front. Kanney was able to make up 25 of the seconds lost finishing in 2nd place just a mere 5 seconds down from Jarrett. "It’s really hard to lose this race because I am comfortable on this terrain and felt like I was the one to beat today. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be and the race went to the rider who made the least mistakes. I had a lot of fun racing today and am going to take the frustration of not winning here to help my motivation toward training even harder for our next round in two weeks."
 
RPM/KTM rider Chris Bach joined Kanney on the podium with an impressive 3rd place result and Buttrick eventually finished in 6th position for the day.
 
 
In the XC2 class, reigning champion Kailub Russell got off to a great start rounding the first corner in 2nd position. He quickly moved into the lead and began to check out. On the third lap Russell had a significant lead when he crashed on the motocross track losing his position. Right as he caught back up to new leader Jason Tomas he got stuck on a railway crossing and lost another 20 seconds. With two laps to go, Russell put his KTM to work and began to again reel in Thomas. On the final lap he was able to make a pass for the lead and went on to take his 6th victory of the season by three seconds over Thomas. His teammate, Steward Baylor, had a strong 4th place result to help him maintain his 5th place position in overall point standings.  
 
The already crowned 2010 Women’s GNCC Champion, Maria Forsberg, again proved why she is the one to beat with her 9th straight victory in the women’s class. Her dominate win had her crossing the checkered flag approximately five minutes ahead of the next closest competitor.
 
Next Event: Round 11 – The Titan – Lafayette, TN – September 26, 2010
 
Overall Results XC1 Class –
1)     Jimmy Jarrett
2)     Nathan Kanney – KTM
3)     Chris Bach – KTM
4)     Josh Strang
5)     Thaddeus Duvall
6)     Cory Buttrick – KTM
7)     Barry Hawk
8)     Glenn Kearney
9)     Paul Whibley
10)   Charles Mullins
 
Overall Results XC2 Class –
1)     Kailub Russell – KTM
2)     Jason Thomas
3)     Scott Watkins
4)     Steward Baylor – KTM
5)     Zach Nolan – KTM
6)     Nick Davis – KTM
7)     Nicholas Hunter – KTM
8)     Morgan Moss
9)     Jason Klammer – KTM
10)    Brian Lawson
 
Overall Results Women’s Class –
1)     Maria Forsberg – KTM
2)     Shelby Rolen – KTM
3)     Leeann Bange
4)     Mandi Mastin
5)     Ashley Crouch
6)     Samantha Steiner – KTM
7)     Aubrie Williams – KTM
8)     Nina Cobb – KTM
9)     Vanessa Marcoux – KTM
10)   Kelsey O’Donnell