ITP Riders Find Success at Snowshoe GNCC

For the second time this year, ITP-mounted Adam McGill and Chris Bithell finished 1-2 in a Grand National Cross Country Series event. The Foremost Insurance/Warnert Can-Am teammates topped the Snowshoe GNCC, round eight of the 2011 series at Snowshoe Mountain Resort, some 4,800 feet high in the hills of West Virginia.

It was a big payday for McGill, as the Snowshoe GNCC rewards the winner an eye-popping $5,000 (the largest purse on the circuit). The win also moved McGill into close contention for the series championship with five events remaining on the 2011 schedule. Bithell holds third in the XC1 Pro class standings.

The key moment in the wet and sloppy race came on the last lap when McGill turned risk into reward by blasting directly through one of the many challenging mudholes while leader Bithell chose a more conservative route. McGill kept his momentum from there and finished the four-lap, two-hour race just 14 seconds ahead of Bithell. Both riders chose ITP’s Holeshot GNCC tires for the front of their Can-Am DS 450s, and ITP’s QuadCross XC tires for the rear.

ITP also congratulates several other riders for an excellent season to date. For example, XC2 Pro Am class competitor Patrick McGuire was third at Snowshoe and now sits in third place in the point standings.

Dave Simmons won the Masters 50+ class once again at Snowshoe (his sixth victory in seven races). Simmons is often the overall winner of the morning wave of racing at the GNCCs; he’s done it four times this season.

Finally, a shout-out to Angel Atwell, who has finished top-three five times in 2011, including one win, to hold second place in the Women’s class. Warnert Can-Am’s Lexie Coulter did not ride at Snowshoe but still holds third in the standings on the strength of two victories.

For more information on ITP’s GNCC contingency program visit http://www.itptires.com/racing.