McGill wins Round 3 of Can-Am GNCC

After giving KTM its first ever victory in Round 2 of the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series, Adam McGill made it two in a row when he won the FMF Steele Creek GNCC on March 29.

McGill pulled the holeshot in the Round 3 event in Morganton, NC and never looked back in his wire-to-wire win.

“I am so happy to be on top of the podium for the second week straight,” says McGill. “This is where I’ve known I could be for a long time, but I couldn’t have made it happen if it wasn’t for the help of my team and a great bike. My KTM is running perfect and almost makes my job seem easy.”

By the end of the first lap McGill had already pulled 20 second ahead of the field, led by Yamaha’s Bill Ballance.

Ballance was never able to reel in McGill, but he did manage to cross the finish line in second. Team National Guard’s William Yokley rode his Honda to the final spot on the podium.

Yokley, who was sitting in second place after he set the fastest time on the third lap, had a little trouble in the home stretch.

“On the 4th and final lap, my bike started stalling out and I had to restart it several times,” says Yokley. “I also lost time in some bottlenecks behind lapped riders, but I finished 3rd for the day, which was my best result so far this year. It was nice getting back up on the podium.”

Matt Smiley, Honda, and Brandon Sommers, Yamaha, finished fourth and fifth.

With his victory, McGill takes a dominating lead in the standings with 76 points. KTM teammate Taylor Kiser, who finished the race in seventh, is 19 points behind McGill in second, followed by Sommers in third.

Kiser didn’t get off to a great start and was sitting in 10th place early on. He moved up to seventh by the end of the first lap, but couldn’t get any closer.

“I caught up to the front pack rather quickly but every time I tried to pass I would get stuck behind lappers in a bottleneck and lose time,” says Kiser. “It was a one-lined course and since I didn’t have the start I needed I struggled to break through,”

In the morning race, run under difficult, rainy conditions, Yamaha’s Traci Cecco captured the overall and the Women’s class win once again on her factory YFZ450. U2 class rider Michael Benson scored the top overall utility finish with second overall on his Kawasaki KFX700. Michael Swift took a Can-Am Outlander 800 to the 4×4 Limited win and third overall.

Can-Am GNCC Round 3 Results:

Can-Am GNCC Standings:

Related Reading:KTM places 1-2 at GNCC