Team Alba out in force at GNC
Season Opener at Glen Helen

FEB 6, 2005
GNC Round 1
Glen Helen, CA

It could be said that the GNC Series Opener in Glen Helen had many of the elements of the Supercross kick-off in Anaheim this year - the top riders in the sport, an amazing track and lots and lots of mud. But the mud was just the icing on a weekend filled with just about all the weather California can dish out in February. With high winds on practice day, clear sunshine on Saturday and rain and mud all day for Sunday's race, it was tough for everyone to dial in the right setup.

Just about every top rider from Team Alba was there - of course Kory Ellis was there to start off the GNC season, his first as a Factory Yamaha rider. Newcomer Sage Baker was also starting off his Pro-Am Production series with the team. Jeremy Schell was also seen around the track but was riding a pair of crutches rather than his YFZ. Team Alba also brought out some of our pros from other series to see how they could fare on California's most notorious motocross track. Desert Racer Steve Beilman and riding partner Clark Evernham were racing the 25+ division, quite a change from their typical running through the voids of Nevada at 70mph. Team Alba's Traci Cecco was also out to give the Women's A division a shot - while waiting for her GNCC season opener Feb 13.

Kory Ellis
This is the opening race for Ellis as a new Alba / Factory Yamaha rider, and the opening to a new season. The commotion at his racing trailer was quite impressive as a host of support people tried to dial in the perfect setup for the changing conditions. Precision Concepts was there as were the folks from Elka custom tuning the suspension to get that "just right" feel. Streamline was there setting up the brakes and making sure they would still work perfectly in the mud. Alba's mechanics were all over the quad, making sure everything was just right. Reps from Yamaha were all over the place in their cool blue Factory Racing jackets. It was scary. It actually looked professional. Like ATV racing was actually going "big time." Just a quick walk through the pits and you would see that there is some serious racing support going on here.

Practice
Initially, Kory Ellis has a different philosophy to practice. He doesn't just go all out like some of the other riders. Rather, he uses it as an opportunity to really study the track and observe the competition. He'll drop back from other riders and tryout different lines or sections of track, kind of putting through and getting his plan for the race. Initially Kory was the only rider who was able to triple one section - which, in itself was drawing quite a crowd.

After practice, Kory returned to the ALBA / Factory Yamaha camp and the whole routine went on again, with mechanics, and other specialists ripping apart his Alba YFZ 450 and putting it all back together again, while he retreated to the Fleetwood motor home on loan. And like clockwork, another round of riders hit the track for their practice.

ALBA Camp
Meanwhile in the "other" Alba camp, Sage, Traci & Rick Cecco, Steve, Clark and a host of other people, cycled through their individual practices, helping each other out and working to get their rides in the best shape possible. Everyone was riding Alba Yamaha YFZ's - with a variety of different set-up's and graphics. Jeremy Schell's 2005 YFZ was on loan to Traci for this event. - so it needed quite a lot of set-up to adjust to her weight and riding style. She didn't seem to mind as was quite obvious on her initial practice runs. She was typically in the front of the pack during her practice runs.

Steve Beilman and Clark Evernham, the desert racers, had their own feud going on at the track. During practice runs, they were tire to tire through most corners. Clark kept challenging, but Steve who has a good deal of motocross experience, would fend off his charge.

Sage Baker
Friday, Sage decided to get some extra practice in and size up the top pros during the final practice run. Unfortunately, just off the line his axle snapped so he never got the chance to run.

Sage was running both the Pro-Am Production class and the Pro-Am Unlimited class - on the same Alba YFZ. In fact, his '05 Team Alba race bike wasn't quite ready by race time, so he was running last year's YFZ with a stock motor - and an ALBA Pipe Kit. So for Sage to ultimately get the win in the Pro-Production class with a totally stock motor and the Alba pipe was very impressive - both for Sages riding ability and the amount of power he was cranking out with that pipe kit.

I was so excited! I couldn't actually believe I got the hole-shot! I never get the hole shot! - exclaimed Sage after the race.

Sage had a good run in his first Pro-Am Production moto, but really came to life on the second moto, where he got the hole shot - and maintained his lead for the win. The competition in Pro-Am Production was tough, in fact mathematically there was a 3-way tie for 1st, however Sage won the 2nd moto, so he walked away with the overall win. He faired well in the Pro-Am Unlimited class, taking home the 3rd place trophy there. Two podiums for the first National race - not bad for the newcomer!

Traci Cecco
The people at Alba don't get that many opportunities to hang out with Traci Cecco - given that she lives over 2000 miles away from the shop, so when she agreed to come on out and race the National at Glen Helen, we were excited. Traci and her husband Rick flew in to San Diego Wednesday and took up camp at the track. She was riding on Jeremy Schell's borrowed race quad so there was a good amount of work needed to get it set up for her. Fairly quickly they got it dialed in and she was turning out pretty quick lap times.

The motos were too short. I was just getting warmed up when the race was ending- said Traci after the race, not even braking a sweat.

This was a pretty big change for the fastest woman on four-wheels, who is usually flying through the woods, racing up stream beds and dodging slower riders. But it wasn't the whoop sections or big jumps that really put her off. Rather it was the short motos and lack of really thick mud. She didn't even look sweaty after she removed her helmet after the race. Not only is Traci fast on an ATV but she is in incredible condition. After a two-day 300 mile ride in Baja, where the rest of the riders all looked like they needed blood transfusions, Traci looked like she was ready to go dancing! Fortunately for us Traci brings that energy and stamina to the track. Traci didn't get the finish she was expecting, with a 5th overall. But, considering it was her first real motocross race, we were all very impressed.

Main Event
You could always tell when the main event motos were on - the track became littered with photographers and videographers in red vests, the limited stands were packed and every available location along the track was lined with spectators. It was great! Everyone around the track dropped whatever they were doing and came out to watch the best quad riders in the Nation battle it out on the muddy playing field.

For Kory Ellis, moto one didn't start off very well. He got a bad start in the mud and the moto pretty much went down hill from there. Not the way he wanted to start his season or follow up last years win at the opening round of the Nationals. But, like any professional racer, he had to put the bad run behind him and focus on the next race.

After moto one, all that you could hear in the pro pits was the hum of power washers as the race teams attempted to peal off the crusty layer from the race quads. Ellis's support team went to work trying to dial in everything for the next moto with the feedback from the first race.

Moto started off much better for Ellis - despite the nasty conditions. He was third going into the first climb. On the steep pro downhill, Ellis rocketed past another rider to take over second. When asked about this blazing pass, he said that he had no idea how fast he was going, he couldn't see a thing.

Tim Farr had the clean goggles out in front but Ellis was on a mission, and chased him down. Lap after lap, Ellis was trimming seconds off of Farr's lead and closing the gap, while the two of them were leaving the field. Kory closed to right on Farr's fender. It was a very exciting race and the crowd was going wild every time Kory passed by the grandstand. About 3 laps from the end, with Doug Gust and Jeremiah Jones close on his heels, Kory's quad slipped sideways in the mud at probably the worst place possible - at the base of Mt. St. Helens. Gust and Jones went by and Kory fell to 4th place, at the base of the biggest hill in motocross. Kory fought back, but couldn't overcome the gap, and ended up with a 4th place finish for the moto.

All in all, the season opener at Glen Helen wasn't the clean sweep that Team Alba was hoping for, but it was a good event nonetheless and we look forward to the 2005 racing season. We thank all of our race team sponsors for their support of the team. Without the hands-on participation and dedication of Elka, Epic, Precision Concepts, Streamline, to name a few, we would not be able to participate at the level needed to win championships.

For information on getting your suspension set up professionally - check out Precision Concepts