Atwell Wins the General

FRE/KTM Race Report – GNCC Round 2

Washington, GA – FRE/KTM rider Angel Atwell took the win in the Women’s class at the second round of the GNCC Series passing for the lead with three turns to go after a two-hour battle.

At the start of the morning race, Atwell muscled her way into a 3^rd place starting position around the first corner. Atwell took the lead for a brief moment on the first lap battling back and forth with her niece and fellow competitor, Kristen Atwell. She lost the lead and dropped back to 5^th on the second lap after getting hung up in the woods. A quick pit at the end of the third lap helped Atwell climb back into 3^rd and pull Kristen Atwell and Tracy Cecco back into sight.

At the end of the fourth lap Atwell overtook Cecco for 2^nd position and began to close in on Kristen Atwell. The two riders battled for the entirety of the final lap going wheel to wheel into the final woods section. Three turns before the finish Atwell made a bold move through the trees and was able to make the pass and take home the victory winning the race by a mere 1 second.

The excitement of the day would carry on into the afternoon race where XC1 rider Byran Cook lined up for his second race aboard his new KTM machine. Cook started the race in 6^th and quickly moved to 4^th after passing Donald Ockerman who missed a jump on the motocross section. At the end of the second lap top runners Chris Bithell and Chris Borich along with Cook decided not to pit and all took over the top three positions. At the end of the third lap Bithell crashed, holding up Borich in the process allowing Taylor Kiser, Bill Ballance and Cook to get around. Near the end of the race, Borich, Adam McGill and Bithell were able to make a last minute charge finding there way around Cook. After the two-hour race, Cook went home with a respectable 6^th place finish.

In the XC2 class FRE/KTM rider Josh Kirkland started in 3^rd position around the first turn. Early in the race he hit a tree and lost a lot of time to the lead group which he fought to make up the remainder of the race. Unfortunately, near the end of the race he also encountered overheating of his rear brakes which caused him to move from his 3^rd place position back to 4^th. It was a tough race for the defending XC2 Champion, but at the end of the day, he was able to finish in 4^th position to remain in the points chase.

Overall XC1 –

1) Taylor Kiser

2) Chris Borich

3) Bill Ballance

4) Adam McGill

5) Chris Bithell

6) Bryan Cook – KTM

7) Jeffrey Pickens

8) Johnny Gallagher

9) Jarrod McClure

10) Donald Ockerman

Overall XC2 –

1) Walker Fowler

2) Brian Wolf

3) Parker Jones

4) Josh Kirkland – KTM

5) Kevin Yoho

6) Gabe Phillips

7) Nathan Thomas

8) Mark Notman

9) Blake Kramer

10) Corbin Knox

Women’s –

1) Angel Atwell – KTM

2) Kristen Atwell

3) Traci Cecco

2010 FRE KTM ATV Team sponsors: KTM, FRE, DWT Tire, FMF, Douglas Wheel, DID, Houser Racing, Baldwin Motorsports, Custom Axis Shocks, PowerMadd, FASST, Rath Racing, Wiseco, Precision Racing Products, IMS, Sidi, Scott Goggles, Quad Tech, JB Racing, Moto X-Perts, PG Graphics, Motorex, Rekluse, KTM Hard Equipment, CV-4 and Twin Air.