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I can do it in any kind of conditions. I
really enjoy it here."
How does winning a title stack up
among
piles
of World
Enduro
Championships, IS DE medals, trials titles
and the rest?
"This one ranks right up there with the
first title I won in Europe," Salminen said.
"This is my job, and KTM wants me to
win it for them. But it feels very good to
come here and see new things and a new
challenge every week."
This week's new challenge was
Woodford, just like it was New York
native Nathan Kanney at the last race, at
Unadilla. Woodford skipped that race to
focus on the Hare Scrambles Series, but
now that he was back to GNCC racing,
he was ready, and he pulled the start on a
muddy day and prepared for a three-hour
battle with Salminen.
Near the halfway point, as the duo
pulled in for gas, Woodford's Kawasaki
crew was able to get him in and out of the
pits quicker than Salminen, and he took
the lead. But instead of gassing it and
pulling away, Woodford calmly looked
over at Salminen and motioned for him to
go back by. It was a strange sight.
"The guy has raced all over the world,
and I thought I could learn something
from him," Woodford said. "He's the guy,
you know, so I just wanted to ride on his
wheel. He's so smooth and picks good
lines; when you stay with him, it doesn't
even feel like you're going that fast. I
wanted to be the dog and not the rabbit
at that paint."
Meanwhile, the rest of the pack was
slipping and sliding in the muddy conditions behind them. Andrews was working
his way up from way, way back, and
Mullins was solid in third after an early
crash, just out of reach
of the lead two.
':At the start, Igot the
lead from Chucky, and I
made a mistake and
dropped back to sixth, I
think," Mullins said.
':And Lafferty made a
mistake and Barry made
a mistake, and I just
picked off those guys,
one at a time. I caught
up to the leaders a little
bit. I think I was down
15 seconds. Then, on
the third lap, I went
down on a downhill and
broke my footpeg. I kind
of got winded there."
With the two-lap
board coming out and
another gas stop coming, the St. Clairsville
faithful braced themselves for a big fight
between
the
new
champ and their hometown boy. But it never
happened, as Woodford
had a tough crash and couldn't get back
into the pace.
"I kind of switched to an inside line,
and a rut caught my back wheel,"
Woodford said. "I took a tree in the center of my swingarm, and it threw me
down pretty good. It kind of twisted
things up a little bit and knocked the wind
out of myself a little bit. I was determined
to try to run him back down and catch
back up, because I really wanted to win
the race for all the people here, but I
started pushing too hard. I just couldn't
fall back into that comfortable pace.
"My hat's off to Juha," Woodford
added. "He rode a great race, and I don't
think he ever slowed down throughout
the day. So even if I had kept the same
pace, I doubt I would have been able to
keep up with him all day."
As Woodford struggled through the
final laps, Mullins was on the charge, and
he caught and passed Woodford and even
went after Salminen. The 19-year-old has
only been racing in the Pro class for three
events this year, but he's learning fast.
But it will take some work by Mullins,
or anyone, to match Salminen, who with
eight wins in 12 rounds has logged one of
the most dominant GNCC seasons ever.
"I have had a really good time here,"
Salminen said. "It's a good place to make
work. It's good to have new guys up on
the podium with me. It was a nice race,
nice track and nice spectators. There
were some bad mudholes, but I think the
morning race did a good job of drying the
track out."
After that, Salminen accepted a barrage of trophies, number-one plates
and accolades. But he won't celebrate
for long.
"Now I know next year we will be
back to the manhunt," he says. "Everyone
will be going after me."
eN
POWER LINE PARK GNCC
ST.
ClAIRSVILLE,
OH
RESULTS: OcTOBER 9, 2005
(ROUND 12 OF 13)
OVERALL.: I. Juha Salminen (KTH); 2. Charles Mullins
(Yam); 3. Chuck Woodfol'd (Kaw); 4. F...d And...... (Suz);
S. Bany H.wl