Briefly...
(Above)
Just
q5
he hos
dcne ot the
previous
fwo
GNCC
round!,
Juho
Solminen
(l
I I
)
got
out in front
eorly ond
ron
ofI
with rhe
win. this
time ot lhe Steele Creek GNCC in
North Corolino.
(Righr)
Rookie Chorlie Mullinr con-
tinue5 to impreis wirh his
second
runner-up
performonce
of
the
yeor.
The Stecle Cr6€k GNCC featured
ti8ht,
rough
trails, mud and hillclimbs - standard
GNCC terrain, really. There were plenty of
riders, too, with
over 1500 racers spread
throughout a variety
of classer. Allthree
GNCCs in 2006
season ro far have topped
the
previous
rider
counts at those races.
Veteran
Vanae Early won the &vo-hour
moming GNCC overall,
and Ohio's Corey
Buttrick won the Youth
overall.
The
GNCC TV Series on OLN kick
off
April I
and runs every Saturday and
at 3
p.m.
ESI
KTMHutt.com's
Shane Watts says he is
working himself into
shape this
year
but has
no expectations a5
hr as
results.
"l
iust
did-
n't have the moio
todax but that's okay," he
said.
"l'm
still sorting things out,
and
if lcan
8et
stronSer as th€
year goer
on
-
it's
all
good,
mate."
RER Motorcity Yamaha
privateer
Nathan
Kanney ripped his radiator
off on a tree
durin8 the race and
retired early- Kanney
was riding well, though, and he said that he
hopes for better things at the hext GNCC
round,
While
the A'n Pro
Yamaha factory Te.m
has been experiencing
mixed resuks on the
track, they're having a
p.ett,,8ood
time off
the track. A few days
before
the
Steele
Creek
race,
several riders were down at
Rendy Hawkin'r house in
South Carolina
bElhing into each
other
and runnint
wide-
open - in
junk
cars- Each racer purchased
a
iunk
car for th€ bash-and-crash fest,
but
no
one seems to agree who won the demoli
tion derby.
I
I
"When
you're
the first
guy,
it is hard.
because
you
can make the mistakes
instead, and everyone
gets
to follow
you."
As for Smith, it was the best challenge
yet
that the live-time GNCC Champion
has logged against Salminen. Smith missed
the maiority of last season with a broken
leg
and had been slow to find his old form.
After first-turn crashes at the first two
rounds of this season, Smith
got
a
good
iump
this time and chased after Salminen
with his teammate, Kearney, in tow.
"l
ran
good,"
Smith said.
"l
made a stu-
pid
mrstake on the
first lap. lreeled
in
Juha,
and we climbed to the top of the
big
uphill together. lt was
great
and I was hav-
ing fun, and then I
just
spun. Then it
hooked up, and I made a right turn,
and
CYCLE NEWS. APR|L12,2w6
43
