Warnert GNCC Report Round 2

Washington, GA (March 8, 2008) – Round number 2 of the GNCC traded the warm, sunnysands of Florida for the cold, rainy mud of Aonia Pass in Washington, Georgia,which has been dubbed by some as a “survival” race due to track conditions thatdeteriorated throughout the day. The Can-Am/Warnert race team braved huge ruts,deep mud and bitter cold as they negotiated the sometimes-treacherous course.

Warnert’s U2 class racer, Rick Cecco, managed to defeat theelements for the most part, claiming second place in his class. “I came off theline in 4th place, but with all the mud I had to pull into the pits to get newgoggles and gloves,” said Cecco, who’s pit stop put him back to almost lastplace. Cecco immediately put the hammer down and began picking off riders andfound himself in 2^nd place as he crossed the finish line with a timeof 02:14:23, putting him in 15^th overall for the morning classes.

Meanwhile, Can-Am/Warnert teammate Cliff Beasley went on toclaim his second consecutive win of the season in the 4x4 Lites. Cliff was in 2^ndplace for most of the race until the 4^th lap when leader and fellowCan-Am rider Jerime Dudding got stuck in a bottleneck in the woods. Beasley gotaround the bottleneck and took the lead. Beasley’s time of 02:10:45, gave himan overall standing of 6^th place for the day.

4x4 Open class racer Scott Kilby had a good run andfinishing 3^rd in his class, while 4x4 Limited rider. Michael Swiftencountered problems out on the track during the first lap, which put him indead last. Swift managed to hang in there and worked his way back through thepack taking 8^th in his class, finishing 4 laps with a time of2:03:51.

By the time the XC1 Pro class took to the track thatafternoon, the ruts had gotten so deep that there was no escape from some ofthem if you happened to choose the wrong line. Chris Bithell, who came off theline in 5th place, worked his way up and was running in 2^nd  for a couple of laps. Bithell wasrunning strong until he encountered several areas where bottlenecks haddeveloped. “I was running in 2^nd place for a while, then in the 4^thlap I got stuck and then I got stuck twice on the 5^th lap,” said adisappointed Bithell. “I have to thank the fans for their help though. At onepoint I had 6 people out there trying to pull me out when I got stuck,” heconcluded. Despite the help from spectators, Bithell lost several positions,which put him back to 15^th. At the checkered flag, Bithell hadmanaged to move up to 13^th with a finishing time of 2:33:13.Bithell’s XC1 teammate, Chris Jenks, had a tough go of things after a first lapcrash that took the wind out of his sails. Jenks managed to finish 4 laps in1:58:38, which put him in 16^th place.

The next round of the GNCC is scheduled for March 29-30 andwill find the Can-Am Warnert team in North Carolina at Steel Creek for roundnumber three where Cliff Beasley is hoping for his 3^rd consecutivewin in his pursuit of the 4x4 Lites Championship and Bithell and Jenks continueto push themselves to the limits in the XC1 Pro class.