Press Release –
Bill Ballance drew extremely close to his seventh consecutive GNCC professional ATV championship with a win at the Unadilla Valley Sports Center in New Berlin, NY on Saturday, Sept. 23.
The victory is Ballance’s sixth this season aboard his YFZ450, and puts him almost out of reach of nearest competitor Chris Borich, who led much of the race before finishing fifth.
A podium finish in either of the two remaining races will comfortably seal the championship for the Yamaha rider.
Ballance led just two of the five laps around the long Unadilla circuit, including the one that counted – the final lap. Title rival Borich first jumped into the lead on lap one and built up a gap of 11 seconds, but Ballance made up the time and got by Borich to narrowly lead lap two.
Borich then re-passed Ballance and stretched out a margin of some 38 seconds heading into the final lap before encountering difficulties. Ballance was quick to capitalize and gunned his Yamaha to the win with a comfortable three-minute lead over Chris Jenks at the flag.
Meanwhile YFZ450-mounted Traci Cecco, already crowned the 2006 Women’s champion, claimed her ninth win – and fifth in a row – on top of an incredible season in the four-lap Women’s race.
Cecco did it in fine style by leading every lap. Making the results even sweeter, the Women’s podium finishers – consisting of Cecco, Lexie Coulter and Angel Atwell – all raced Yamaha machines.
