Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing‰Ûªs Josh Strang is on a silver streak as he claimed his third consecutive 2nd place finish of the 2015 GNCC season.
Temperatures at a cool 50 degrees and a dry week in Morganton, NC provided for great race conditions and perfect dirt. The just over 11 mile long course was tacky and supplied some great traction but of course offered challenging terrain. Demanding up and down hill slopes that traversed the mountain sides provided enough challenge to make up for the absence of the usual tricky mud holes.
The flag dropped for the start of the race and the 1st corner saw Strang in 3rd. In the 3rd corner another rider came together with the Australian which caused him to fall. He remounted in dead last, 10 seconds behind the final XC1 Pro rider.
From there he charged his way up to 6th by race mile 5.8 where he laid the bike down. He got right up but lost one spot. He was able to recover his position quickly and focused on the lead group from that point on. He slowly picked his way through the pack and by the end of lap 2 he was in a battle with two other riders, interchanging between 2nd, 3rd and 4th places.
On lap 3 Strang moved himself into 2nd and caught within 25 seconds of the leader. Lap 4 called for a pit stop which allowed the 3rd and 4th place riders by him, but he soon was able to catch back up to them and reclaim his 2nd place stance. He pulled a 35 second gap and was able to maintain 2nd place to the finish.
‰ÛÏToday was solid again, had a great start but came together with another rider up our first hill so I had to start from the back, it took a while to get towards the front and I used a lot of energy trying to get to the front and close to the leader." Strang explained.
"After my second gas stop I settled into 2nd and was unable to close anything more on the leader. The bike worked awesome and we will keep chipping away. Strang added.
After three rounds of racing Strang sits second in the championship standings, 15 points from the lead.
Top Image: Josh Strang on his way to his third second place finish in a row to kick off the 2015 GNCC Championship
Credit: Ken Hill (File)
