Borich Suffers Flat Tire at Mountain Ridge GNCC

Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Chris Borich made the best of a bad-luck situation on his Yoshimura-equipped Suzuki QuadRacer R450 at round 10 of the 2011 ATV Grand National Cross Country series in Somerset, Pa., this weekend at the Mountain Ridge GNCC.

Although reigning ATV XC1 Champion Borich was battling up front for most of the race, he suffered a spot of bad luck on the final lap. While maneuvering through the rockiest section of the course, he wound up with a punctured tire. Once he realized his predicament, Borich tried to salvage as many points as possible and finished fifth.

“We were running good,” says Borich. “Top three all day on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki QuadRacer. But at the start of the last lap, I looked down and one of the rear tires was flat and all the tire balls were gone. So after that, I was basically trying to hang on… I ran third for a while, but it was hard to go fast with the flat and I ended up dropping back to fifth.”

Despite the fifth-place finish, Borich still holds sway in the class. With just three rounds to go before the next event in Ohio, the Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider has a 22-point lead over second place in the overall championship points.

“You can’t win them all, but you go out there and try to build up a lead in the standings in case you have a day like this,” says Borich. “Everyone has bad luck once in a while, and I don’t wish this kind of luck on anyone. But we will rebound and get back on top. St. Clair is a race I’m looking forward to… We’ll go back and do our homework and we’ll come back even stronger.”

Next, the series moves to St. Clairsville, Ohio, on Saturday, Oct. 8, for the Powerline Park GNCC.