May 11, 2008
The FRE KTM ATV Off-Road Team headed to Millfield, Ohio for round six of the GNCC series. FRE KTM’s Adam McGill went into the weekend with the series points lead with fellow rider Taylor Kiser in seventh position overall. The duo was determined to put their KTMs back on the podium in Ohio. The race was a “mudder” as the Ohio area got heavy rain for days prior to the race and again on Friday night. This left the track very wet and slippery. The conditions forced the promoters to shorten the original track design so lapped riders came into play even more than normal.
The 6th round, also known as the John Penton Classic, marked a very successful day for both KTM riders. McGill got a great jump and rounded the first turn in third position off the start. His teammate, Kiser, was a few spots back in seventh. By the end of the first lap McGill had moved into second and Kiser was sitting right behind him in third.
The Pro riders left the start line from the traditional dead engine start shortly after 1:00 PM. When the flag was dropped, Brandon Sommers (Yamaha) grabbed the holeshot. The orange KTM of McGill followed Sommers around the first corner with Bill Ballance (Yamaha) hot on their bumpers. Kiser got a seventh place start, but moved into sixth place on the motocross track just after the start. Kiser kept the momentum alive and quickly passed his way up to third. Meanwhile, McGill and Ballance passed Sommers and traded the lead back and forth. Kiser took advantage of a bottleneck at the end of the first lap and passed Ballance to take over second. The two KTMs led the pack until lap three when Ballance made a charge to the front. Shortly after, Kiser tangled with a lapped rider and found himself on his back under the machine. He lost a few positions, but rebounded and forged his way back up to fourth place behind Matt Smiley with one lap remaining. Meanwhile, McGill was twenty-five seconds behind Ballance at the white flag. The two KTM riders gave it all they had on the last lap. McGill charged and cut Ballance’s lead down to five seconds at the finish, but Ballance hung on for the win. Kiser reeled in Smiley to take over third position and round out the podium.
Adam McGill
“I was sitting comfortably in third until I got tangled with a lapped rider,” commented Kiser. “Fortunately, we (the top three) had pulled a big enough lead that I was able to untangle and enter the race only losing one position.” With one lap to go, Kiser caught Matt Smiley who had moved into third while Kiser was down, and passed him to take the last podium position. Kiser finished third, behind his teammate McGill who rode a solid race to take home second overall.
Taylor Kiser
With six rounds down McGill still holds the series points lead over Bill Ballance. The points earned at this round helped Kiser move up to sixth in overall points.
Next Event: The Spartan – Spart, KY – May 31, 2008
1. Bill Ballance
2. Adam McGill – KTM
3. Taylor Kiser – KTM
4. Matthew Smiley
5. William Yokley
6. Ryan Lane
7. Bryan Baker
8. Johnny Gallagher
9. Chris Borich
10. Donald Ockerman
1. Adam McGill – 131
2. Bill Ballance – 122
3. Bryan Cook – 100
4. Chris Borich – 100
5. Brandon Sommers – 98
6. Taylor Kiser – 88
7. William Yokley – 88
8. Matthew Smiley – 78
9. Ryan Lane – 74
10. Donald Ockerman - 63
