guys and this one I owned it. I
won, straight up."
AmPro Yamaha's Liam Draper,
who has been riding well lately,
was sixth overall and second in
the XC2 250 Pro class.
"I was like mid-pack off the
start, but I just worked my way
up," said Draper. "I was in fourth
at the end of the first lap and I
stayed there most of the race
until going into the fourth lap
where I was pitting and I passed
Jonathan Johnson for third and
kind of sprinted away because
I knew I had to fuel, and he had
already fueled. I got fuel and
then went out behind him, and
I passed him back and pulled
a few seconds ahead of me. I
kept getting the board 'minus
10' from Craig. That was for the
podium. He pushed hard too,
because he caught Stew. So, I
was just too little too late."
Coastal Racing GasGas' Ryder
Lafferty cracked the top five and
grabbed the XC2 250 Pro win,
his second class win in a row.
"I earned this one," said Laf
-
ferty. "I got out front and pushed
away,
got a gap and kind of was
by myself. I feel like this was
the first round I surprised those
long day, so I was just trying to
ride effortlessly, which is impos-
sible in Florida, but I was trying
to
ride as effortlessly as I could,"
said Russell. "I felt good. I was
just smooth and steady, and I
was able to pass Craig at the
halfway mark. I was able to start
pushing and I was feeling really
good. Then we pit and after the
pit, they got away from me and I
kind of lost focus a little bit and
just wasn't hitting my marks. I
hit a wall a little bit. Once they
gave me the white flag, it kind of
sparked me back up, knowing
that there was only one more
lap. I was able to give it a little
bit of a push. Craig was only
ROUND 2 / MARCH 5, 2023
HOG WALLER RACEWAY / PALATKA, FLORIDA
OFF-ROAD I GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
P84
Ryder Lafferty was the top XC2 250
Pro rider in fifth overall.
