VOLUME 57 ISSUE 28 JULY 14, 2020 P51
Osborne's attendance brought a
lot of attention to the race, but per-
haps due to his inexperience with
dead-engine starts, he stalled the
bike when the green flag dropped,
and it would be Toth grabbing the
holeshot and sprinting off into the
dusty woods.
Russell headed into the opening
lap in third, and with FMF/RPM/
KTM Racing Team Maxxis rider
Dante Oliveira just ahead of him.
Russell struggled with the dust
which allowed Toth to get away.
Once Russell got around Oliveira,
Toth had already built up a 26-sec-
ond lead. It was a lead that would
actually grow to 35 seconds at one
point, and many were expecting to
see Toth get his first-ever GNCC
win in the XC1 class.
Toth was still leading when he
got the two-lap board. However,
Russell wasn't ready to give in yet
and was creeping up on him.
Russell had closed the gap to
just eight seconds with two laps
to go and eventually caught right
up to him. In one of the many long
and fast fields, Russell managed
to pass Toth for the lead. But mo-
ments after taking the lead, Rus-
sell's bike started smoking, having
sucked dirt into the engine.
Russell's team urged the seven-
time champ to ride conservatively
to save the bike. Things got more
