Salminen takes opening GNCC round

Even Florida's deepest sand whoops could barely slow down defending Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Champion Juha Salminen. The 10-time World Enduro Champion from Finland put his amazing sand skills to work by topping over 900 motorcycle racers at the opening round of the 2006 GNCC Series, the Suzuki Orange Crush GNCC in Florida.

“Everyone has been training, but I have been training too,” said Salminen, who led all day. “The track was so tough. The bumps were deep and the sand was very soft. It was much tougher than last year. My legs are very tired, but now I feel good.”

The race wrapped a four-day GNCC weekend which saw over 1,300 competitors racing in motorcycle and ATV classes, making this the largest race of Daytona Bike Week in terms of entries.

Last year Salminen had to deal with a challenge from AMA National Motocross Champion Doug Henry. This year the challenge was supposed to come from Travis Pastrana, but unfortunately, Pastrana’s bike expired before he got a chance to even get going.

“It’s just the same old story,” said a dejected Pastrana. “I wasn’t even warmed up. I felt great on those sand whoops. I was really having fun. I’m just so bummed. Sorry.”

Pastrana crashed in the first turn along with fellow Suzuki riders Rodney Smith and Glenn Kearney of the FMF Suzuki off-road team. It wasn’t a big crash, but the impact apparently put a hole in the radiator of Pastrana’s RM250. Within six miles he had passed his way all the way into fourth, but by then the bike was out of water, and soon it stopped running.

As for Smith, the crash proved disastrous, too. The five-time GNCC Champ went over the bars hard trying to come from behind, and he banged himself up bad enough to call it a day. Smith will be ready for the next race in Georgia, however.

Salminen had grabbed the Racer X Holeshot, and he was gone from the get go. Am Pro Yamaha’s rookie pro Charlie Mullins moved into second and held it all the way to the end, an amazing ride for a rookie.

“I was only hoping for a top five. This is the best I’ve ever felt in the sand,” said the Ohio-based Mullins. “But there was no way I could have gone as fast as Juha, even if I had pushed as fast as I could go. I have been working really hard this winter in the woods and on trails. I want to win this championship.”

Championship aspirations are big for a rookie, but Mullins has so much talent that it could be possible.

Third went to seven-time AMA National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty, who rode brilliantly in the rough terrain.

“I got a really bad jump off the start and had to work my way up,” said Lafferty. “I was taking chances and just hanging it out. I knew I had to get to the front. I’ve been working on staying strong late in the races. The only thing that’s holding me back from winning these things is me, and I’ve worked hard this winter to try to fix that.”

Fourth went to Team Kawasaki’s Nathan Woods, who was visiting the series from the West Coast. Am Pro Yamaha’s Barry Hawk rounded out the top five, battling past Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Fred Andrews on the last lap. Kearney picked himself back up from the first-turn crash to finish seventh. Ricky Dietrich was eighth, Nathan Kanney ninth and Englishman Ryan Voase tenth.

KTM’s Shane Watts was going fast early and running second, but he broke his clutch lever off and lost a lot of time in the pits getting it fixed. He finished outside of the top ten.

While the deep sand in Florida proved to be an excellent physical test for the GNCC elite, the true test begins this weekend as the series ventures to the Maxxis General GNCC in Washington, Georgia. This is a much more traditional GNCC, with woods and trails replacing the miles of sand whoops at the Orange Crush. For more information, log on to GNCCRacing.com.

In the two-hour GNCC morning race, Yamaha’s Kevin Foley busted through for the overall win, topping John Ayers Jr. and Jan Hrehor. 

© 2006, American Motorcyclist Association