Monday Hot Press

Duvall's New Found Glory

Photo: GNCCracing.com
Coming into Unadilla the heighten sense of battle sat between AmPro Yamaha's Paul Whibley and FMF/KTM's Kailub Russell was on, as they sat uncomfortably close in points from each other. Whibley took the Motosport.com Holeshot as anticipated and moved into the lead early on ahead of Kailub Russell, Charlie Mullins, and Thad Duvall. Things quickly went awry for the top five and Duvall was the only one able to make it out and move ahead of the pack. Taking the lead on lap 5, Duvall tapped into his adrenaline fuel tank and held it together to keep Whibley off his tail, making it to his first ever GNCC XC1 career win. 

In the XC2 ranks, Steward Baylor was being eyed to pulled off another win since his last at round five. Although Cody Gragg snagged another holeshot, Baylor surged ahead and built on his momentum until a flat tire began to slow him down. Jason Thomas and Andrew Delong took advantage of Baylor's mess up, moving into the top two positions. But it wasn't long until the gravely mud pit swallowed up the riders and their bikes, leaving the two frantically trying to get out and get ahead. Delong escaped first, moving back into the lead while Morgan Moss came at him in second. Delong's teammate Nick Davis put the pressure on Moss but settled for third in class while Baylor could only make up a 4th after getting his flat repaired.

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Blazusiak Beats Webb for Top Spot at Ontario Endurocross

Since X Games in Los Angeles where FMF/KTM's Mike Brown took the ultimate Gold medal at Enduro X, the Endurocross series headed to Ontario, California for round four of the tour. This round the series-usual's were all in sight, but unlike most of 2011, it was hard to really say who would be guarunteed the top spot this round. In practice Brownie looked really solid, nearly winning the hot lap sessions. But everyone was happy to see that Stillwell Performance's Cody Webb had one of the fastest hot laps and was hungry for an overall win since his X Games Silver medal. Another one to watch this round was Monster Energy's Justin Soule, who was looking to make a comeback after his shoulder injury sustained in Sacramento that took him out of X Games. When Soule got on the track, all doubts disappeared; he looked as though he never took a day off. When it came to the Main event, Taddy Blazusiak was looking confident coming off his Heat win. Off the start, Blazusiak moved into the lead with Webb close in tow, while Kyle Redmond kept it together in third ahead of Soule. Soon Blazusiak and Webb came into a tense battle and Webb capitalized on Blazusiak's slip up- taking the lead. But it wasn't long before Blazusiak pushed Webb out of the way, moving back into the lead just in time for the finish. Meanwhile, Soule manhandled his Kawasaki with enough finess to solidify a well deserved third overall.

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Blythe Returns to Take the Monte Vista WEBE Win

Known for it's prime locations and epic racing courses, WEBE made their annual stop in Monte Vista, Colorado for round six of the series. Ian Blythe made a return to his racing roots here in the states looking to succeed this round after spending much of his recent time over seas racing the World Enduro Championships. Off the start, Kawasaki rider Cody Schafer took the holeshot, but Blythe made his move for the lead on lap one, setting the pace for the remainder of the race. Eric Bailey also moved ahead and put the pressure on Schafer for a top spot, successfully moving into second overall. Killy Rusk made another off-road appearance stepping away from his usual motocross routine, looking to score another podium spot. But coming off a bad start, Rusk spent the entire race working his way up from the back of the pack. As the checkers came out and Blythe took the win, Bailey followed in at second by just :08 and Rusk made it to the checkers in third, rounding off the Monte Vista Podium.

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