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Wins, Podiums for Yamaha in GNCC ATV Races
Category: Racing News
Date: 17 Apr 2008
Time: 14:23:14 -0400
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Yamaha ATV riders grabbed four wins and several more podium finishes at the fourth round of the 2008 Grand National Cross Country season in Union, SC on Saturday, April 12. Headlining the list was Traci Cecco with a strong second in the morning Women’s race, Brandon Sommers with a fine third in the afternoon XC1 Pro race, and Donnie Ockerman with a win the afternoon XC2 Pro Am event. All were aboard YFZ450s. Adding to the spoils for Yamaha were Jeff Miller and Justin Petroff, who gave Yamaha a 1-2 sweep in Pro A, Dave Simmons, who won Senior A, and Walker Fowler, who took his third Schoolboy win of the year on the new Yamaha Raptor 250. The South Carolina GNCC course offered a bit of everything, from slick mud to tight woods, hill climbs and wide-open grassland. In the four-lap Women’s event, Cecco, Angel Atwell and Lexie Coulter all swapped positions in an exciting opening half of the race. An excellent fuel pit stop by Cecco vaulted her from second into the lead, which she held until getting stuck in a mud hole with just a half lap remaining, letting Atwell squeak past for the win. But with two victories and a pair of seconds so far this year, Cecco still leads the Women’s championship by nine points over Atwell. In the premier XC1 Pro class, Brandon Sommers continues to make waves as a rookie. At the dead-engine start Sommers fired up his YFZ and charged toward the first turn in fourth place, then ran in tight formation with leaders Bryan Cook and Taylor Kiser for the first two laps. Like Cecco had done earlier, Sommers benefited from perfect pit work and leapt from fourth to second during his fuel stop. Sommers then took over the lead and held it until Adam McGill and Cook snuck past on lap three. Though slower traffic prevented Sommers from regaining the lead, he was justifiably happy with his podium finish. “My YFZ450 started quickly and ran great the whole race,” he explained. “Both McGill and Kiser had 525cc engines but I didn’t feel out-motored at all.”