ROUND 1 / FEBRUARY 26, 2018
UNION, SOUTH CAROLINA
P82
OFF-ROAD
AMSOIL GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES
was able to set a pace and I felt
pretty comfortable there."
Kelley held on for second,
finishing a little less than nine
seconds behind Toth.
"It was a good day for me,"
said Kelley. "The first half of the
race I was pushing the pace and
battling with Josh. I tried a few
passes on him and at one point
I got around him, but he got me
right back. I had a couple of
little tip-overs on laps three and
four and after that I just couldn't
get close enough to try another
pass."
Pascal Rauchenecker, a World
Enduro rider from Austria, was
third in the XC2 class and ninth
overall on his Coastal Racing
Strang, who is still feeling the
effects of a foot injury, rounded
out the top five after leading for a
brief period on the first lap.
Josh Toth (FMF KTM) took a
big step towards defending his
2017 XC2 250 Pro title by finish-
ing sixth overall and first in the
XC2 division. After getting off to
a top-five start, the Connecticut
rider moved quickly into the lead
and claimed the victory after a
brief battle with Trail Jesters KTM
Racing's Ben Kelley.
"I tried to keep the momentum
going from last year," said Toth. "I
had confidence coming into this
year and I got a pretty good start
and just worked my way into the
lead. Once I got into the lead, I
to lead," said Baylor. "That last
lap I gave it everything I had but it
started getting sketchy out there
and those boys were on a mis-
sion so I let 'em have it."
Fourth went to Bollinger, which
made for the Honda rider's best
XC1 finish to date.
"I'm pleased with how I rode
today; I think that's the best I've
ridden in the GNCC series," said
Bollinger, a former XC2-class
champion. "I don't have much
experience running up front, and
I think that hurt me a bit today,
but for the first four laps I felt like
I was in contention. The four of
us pulled away from the rest of
the pack, but with two laps to go,
I lost touch with those guys."
Josh Toth is off
to a good start
in defending his
number-one plate in
the XC2 Pro class.
