GNCC Round 4 Race Recap
Story: Rachel Gutish | Contributor - Enduro.Media
March 26, 2024
Dante Oliviera came over from the west coast to take his first GNCC win.
Image Ken Hill courtesy of GNCC
Dante Oliviera Goes P1 for First GNCC WIN
The XC1 class finally saw a new face on top of the box, with Dante Olivera (FMF KTM Factory Racing) taking his first-ever GNCC win! The California native has only raced a handful of GNCCs in his career, typically pursuing west coast series such as the AMA West Hare Scrambles and the National Grand Prix Championship, but is currently a fill-in rider for the injured Ben Kelly (FMF KTM Factory Racing). Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) became the first repeat winner in XC2 this season, and teammate Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) also became the first WXC repeat winner on the year.
WHAT?
Current points leader Johnny Girroir (FMF KTM Factory Racing) took a close run second place – the two teammates battled each other hard all day. Grant Baylor (Monster Energy Babbits Kawasaki) took third after Steward Baylor Jr. (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) was assessed a one-position penalty for being more than 25 feet off the marked course.
XC2 was a photo finish, with Gus Riordan (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) becoming the first repeat winner in the class this season. He barely edged out Grant Davis (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) for the win, placing sixth and seventh overall. Thad Duvall (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) made his first podium appearance, finishing third in class and tenth overall.
On the women’s side, the WXC class also saw its first repeat winner this season. Brandy Richards (FMF KTM Factory Racing Landers) came out on top, a much-needed rebound after a struggling a little in the Georgia mud last round. Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) was running a strong second before running out of gas less than two miles from the finish. This allowed Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) to move up into second and Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA Moose Racing) into third.
In the XC3 Pro-Am 125cc class, Jhak Walker (Factory Beta USA) earned his third win of the season, ahead of podium regulars Dustin Simpson (Destructo Racing/Dixie Fuel/Total Control Suspension Yamaha) and Koda Devore (Devore Racing/KTM/FXR/SRS Suspension).
SO WHAT?
New winner, new winner, new winner! Girroir certainly “kept him honest” but someone did finally unseat the dominant rider thus far. Between Olivera’s XC1 win and Richards’ WXC win, it was a weekend of west coast domination – logical, given that while the fast, sandy trails at Camp Coker are by no means the same as a western desert race, this is probably as close as the GNCC comes to that (with the possible exception of some of the summertime dust-and-hardpack races). Olivera’s win doesn’t really upset the points battle much, as he was already going to miss three rounds total due to conflicts with the NGPC series, where he is the current points leader. It helps for Girror that he still finished a strong second and carries a twenty-eight point lead over Steward Baylor Jr, whose loss of a podium position certainly did him no favors in the points battle… people can argue all day about politically motivated rule-enforcement and the teams trying to catch each other, but that’s why it’s imperative to stay on-course… because if you’re on the course, you can’t be docked.
In XC2 the points battle is still much closer, at least between Riordan and Davis, separated by only two points. Liam Draper’s (AmPro Yamaha) 15th in Florida is still really hurting him, especially given that XC2 does not get a dropped round this season – but of course, we are only four rounds deep in a thirteen-round series. He still holds onto third in standings, ahead of another rider with a mixed GNCC season so far, Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering). Toth had a mechanical issue in Florida (damaged clutch line from a collision with a XC1 rider), had a historic win at the General, then ran out of gas at Coker.
The WXC battle is still quite close. Archer leads Richards by a single point. Though Steede is now fourteen points down after her ninth place finish at Coker, things are not as dire as they look on paper, as the WXC class does get two dropped rounds this year. Accounting for that, she is certainly still in the mix.
Walker has amassed a considerable lead in XC3, thanks to his three wins. Those wins have been dominant ones too, minutes or more, making him the clear favorite moving forward in the series.
NOW WHAT?
There will be a round of the USSE series next weekend, followed by the Cajun Classic NEPG, and only then will we return to the GNCC series with a new venue, the Old Gray in Monterey, Tennessee. As the series moves north, we will encounter rockier and more technical terrain, which does have the potential to shake things up.
The Full Story
After a nasty mudder at the General GNCC last round, riders were blessed with perfect conditions at Camp Coker. Coker is sandy, usually dry and dusty, although there are some swampy sections of the property and the water table sets so high relative to the surface that it doesn’t take a ton of rain to raise the swamp up into the lower sections of the course. However, we got exactly the perfect amount of rain Friday evening leading into Saturday morning left us with dark, loamy sand, excellent traction and no dust. In past years Coker has been known for high speeds, and there are still plenty of fast bits, but several bike-only sections with tight apexes made the course feel a little slower, but to be fair, still on the faster side for an east coast race. Exposed tree roots caused the occasional dramatic crash, but aside from that there wasn’t much that was technical about this one. Interestingly enough, despite this being one of the “faster” races, there wasn’t much passing room, moving through the pack or even lappers was challenging at times, which I think made racers extra grateful for the rain on Friday that kept the dust away. Without many technical sections or mudholes to separate riders, Coker was a test of raw speed, cornering ability, and of course, fitness – although it doesn’t whoop up to the degree Wild Boar does, it is still a sand race!
XC1
Mike Witkowski (Phoenix Honda) took the holeshot, but it wasn’t long before Dante Olivera (FMF KTM Factory Racing) passed for the lead. He and his teammate and current points leader Johnny Girroir (KTM FMF Factory Racing) put on quite the show for the remainder of the race – they never came through the barrels with more than ten seconds between them, and oftentimes it was less. Every picture I’ve seen of Olivera from the weekend, unless he’s walking around the pits, Girroir is right behind him. Olivera held up to the pressure, held off Girroir and earned his first GNCC win after a hard-fought battle. Major congrats to Dante Olivera for this one!
Series leader Johnny Girroir chasing in P2.
Image Ken Hill courtesy of GNCC
The two leaders gapped the rest of the field quickly, by three laps in they had almost a minute lead on the rest of the field. But as the lead pack was fighting for the win, the rest of the pack was having their own battle for the final podium spot. Third through sixth remained close together through the first half, freight-training through the sandy berms, trying to find the room to make passes. Witkowski held onto a podium position for the first two laps before fading back to sixth, then ninth and finally eleventh in XC1. Ricky Russell (AmPro Yamaha) briefly entered a podium position as well, before two big crashes ultimately took him out of podium position and dropped him into eighth. Russell surrendered his place to Steward Baylor Jr (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki).
S. Baylor put in a hard charge in the last half, gaining on the leaders and gapping Grant Baylor (Monster Energy Babbits Kawasaki), who had fought his way into fourth, quite impressive after coming through the first lap in fourteenth on a track with minimal passing opportunities! Despite crossing the finish line in third, S. Baylor also lost the podium position after getting docked a position for being more than 25 feet off the marked course. G. Baylor moved ahead of him into third, and Lyndon Snodgrass (Monster Energy Babbits Kawasaki) rounded out the top five in XC1.
“Man, I heard from everybody that Coker’s my round, Coker’s my round, so I figured if Coker isn’t my round I have some issues. I got a great start and put the hammer down. Charged where I could charge and managed where I couldn’t. There were some sections where Johnny was definitely a lot quicker, like in the tighter stuff, but it was so hard to pass there, there weren’t as many options as usual so I was able to control things in the tight stuff and just give her the beans and hang on in the open. The bike worked awesome… shout out to the whole team, it was sick!” – Dante Olivera
XC1 Camp Coker Bullet GNCC Results
1st Dante Olivera
2nd Johnny Girroir
3rd Grant Baylor
4th Steward Baylor Jr.
XC2
Gus Riordan took a repeat win in XC2.
Image Ken Hill courtesy of GNCC
In XC2, Gus Riordan (KTM FMF Factory Racing Landers) took the holeshot after Liam Draper (AmPro Yamaha) went down in the first corner. This was especially unfortunate for Draper as in addition to the near-last-place entry into the woods, he was also held for fifteen seconds after the scoring zone on lap one as a penalty for starting his bike early, making a very rough start to the defending champion’s day. Draper would never fully recover from the setback, as he never did see the lead pack, though he was able to salvage a fourth-place finish – points certainly, but certainly not the amount of them he wanted. Cody Barnes (Phoenix Honda) rounded out the top five, his best finish in a season that has been filled with bad luck, everything from crashing out to rear brake failure to pre-race illness.
Last round’s winner and history-maker, Josh Toth (Enduro Engineering), had charged his way up from seventh on the first lap into a very close run second, within sight and striking distance of the leader. However, he would run out of gas towards the end of the fourth lap, DNF’ing the race and receiving fourteenth-place points.
Thad Duvall (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) was also in close contention with the leaders most of the race. Though he never came through the scoring zone with the lead, he was typically only eight to ten seconds from the leaders during the bulk of the race. However, on the last lap he drifted backwards, finishing forty-four seconds down from second place, but still with a comfortable two-minute lead over Draper.
Just like in XC1, the two KTM teammates in XC2 battled it out all day. Riordan took the holeshot and the early lead, at the midpoint it went to Davis (KTM FMF Factory Racing Landers), but Davis found himself unable to pull away, and a combination of a few last lap missteps and an aggressive pass from Riordan was enough to seal the deal for him, making the Aussie the first rider in XC2 to earn two wins this season.
“Yeah it was fun, got the holeshot and led the first four laps. Then Grant got around me and I trailed him, he got away from me a bit, then on the last lap I put my head down and got pretty mad at myself and sorta caught him in the end there. It looked like he made a few mistakes and then I saw him go down. I just got him and might have made a little contact, but that’s racing. Stoked to take the win!” – Gus Riordan
XC2 Camp Coker GNCC Results
1st Gus Riordan
2nd Grant Davis
3rd Thad Duvall
4th Liam Draper
5th Cody Barnes
WXC
Brandy Richards on her way to a repeat WXC GNCC win.
Image Ken Hill courtesy of GNCC
In WXC Korie Steede (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) got the holeshot and with a beautifully clear track was able to put in a serious heater, gapping second place Rachael Archer (Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki) by over thirty seconds. Of course, she and Brandy Richards did not have the pleasure of a clear track, with Archer not getting off the line especially fast and Richards rear-ending a stalled Shelby Turner (Enduro Engineering GasGas) losing several positions before she could pick herself back up. Despite the difficulty of passing on this track, Archer and Richards did work themselves back into second and third by the end of lap one and were now faced with the difficult task of chasing down Steede.
In the meantime, positions four through eight – in order, Jordan Jarvis (AmPro Yamaha), Shelby Turner, Jocelyn Barnes (Moose Racing Husqvarna), Rachel Gutish (Sherco USA) and west coast rider Ava Silvestri (Motor Café TLD GasGas) – were all quite close. Jarvis and Turner battled back and forth the first three laps of the race, as did Barnes, Gutish and Silvestri.
In the lead pack, Archer had drifted back following a bad third lap, but Richards had successfully ran down Steede and the two of them were engaged in a relatively close battle. Unfortunately, this battle was cut short when Steede ran out of gas less than two miles from the finish. While she was able to refuel and rejoin the race, by the time the mechanics found her it was too late for her to do anything except salvage a ninth-place finish, which will almost certainly be one of her two dropped rounds at the end of the year.
Richards took a two-minute victory over Archer, who moved into second following Steede’s misfortune.
Headed into the last lap, Gutish had made passes stick on both Silvestri and Barnes. She was barely close enough to get the occasional glimpses of Jarvis through the trees or just around the bend, and upon catching and passing her, realized that Turner was also just ahead. The two rode together for several miles, before Gutish took advantage of Turner missing her mark in the straight-line-pines section. Gutish rounded out the podium, an impressive ride given that she was eighteenth off the start and sixth going into the final lap. Turner came in not far behind for fourth, and Jarvis just barely edged out Barnes for fifth place, making this the moto-turned-offroad rider’s first top five finish this season.
Camp Coker GNCC WXC Results
1st Brandy Richards
2nd Rachael Archer
3rd Rachel Gutish
4th Shelby Turner
5th Jordan Jarvis
XC3
Dustin Simpson (Destructo Racing/Dixie Fuel/Total Control Suspension Yamaha) took yet another holeshot, but once again failed to break Jhak Walker’s (Factory Beta USA) momentum, allowing Walker to pass for the lead before the first lap had ended. Walker again put some serious hurt on the other riders in his class, winning by over five minutes and earning a 33rd overall finish.
Simpson may not have held off Walker but he did remain the only other XC3 rider to stay on the lead lap, taking home a respectable 40th overall in the process. Koda Devore (Devore Racing/KTM/FXR/SRS Suspension) was back on the box again after his troubles in Georgia. Zach Davidson (Husqvarna USA) finished fourth and Sawyer Carratura (Yamaha) rounded out the top five. There wasn’t much battling going on in the XC3 field this weekend, as there was significant gaps between each rider from first through fifth.
“Let’s goo! Three in a row now, I’m stoked to keep the ball rolling and happy with my riding. Very fortunate to have a great group of people behind me.” – Jhak Walker
Camp Coker GNCC XC3 Results
1st Jhak Walker
2nd Dustin Simpson
3rd Koda Devore
4th Zach Davidson
5th Sawyer Carratura
The GNCC series will return on April 14th with the Old Gray GNCC in Monterey, Tennessee.
