TEAM HUSQVARNA DOING WELL IN GNCC

TEAM HUSQVARNA CONTINUES TO OUTPERFORM


ITSELF IN FIFTH ROUND OF GNCC RACING SERIES

Veteran Scott Summers Earns Third Win in a Row in Veteran A Class

WOODCLIFF LAKE, NJ – May 1, 2008, Husqvarna Team Manager and five-time GNCC Champion Scott Summers posted his third straight win in a row on a Husqvarna TXC 510 in the Vet A (30+) Class in the fifth  round of the 2008 Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Racing Series held at The Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, April 26-27.   The oldest race on the GNCC circuit, which draws scores of riders from across the nation, is notorious for sharp rocks, big bumps and grueling physical challenges. 

Maintaining its streak of continued improvement, Team Husqvarna posted its best performance to date with Glen Kearney finishing fourth overall, just 20 seconds from the podium, and Gordon Crockard finishing eleventh overall in the XC1 Pro Class on Husqvarna TXC 450 machines.  Kearney’s fourth is the best GNCC finish in decades for the Husqvarna brand, now owned by BMW.

“It looked as though Husqvarna was going to get its first podium finish as Glenn was in third for three laps until he got stuck behind a slower rider,” said Dirk Biehler, President of Husqvarna Motorcycles NA, LLC.  “The fact that he posted some of the fastest lap times and the team continues to outperform itself in every round is a testimony to the quality and durability of our bikes, the skill of our riders, and the support of our team’s sponsors.”

Team Husqvarna sponsors include Axo, Spectro, Pirelli, Wiseco, Tireballs, Arai, Scott, EK Chain, Twin Air, UFO, Tag, Mechanix Wear, Holeshot Motorsports, Powersports Grafx, CTI, LeoVince, DP Brakes, and Cycra.

Team Husqvarna will travel to Millfield, Ohio May 10-11 for the sixth round of the GNCC Racing Series – Wiseco John Penton.  The John Penton, one of the longest-running GNCCs, is held at Sunday Creek Raceway, a popular motocross track in Southern Ohio. The event is named after one of the pioneers of off-road motorcycle racing in America, John Penton, the man who originally imported the KTM motorcycle from Austria into the United States.

Veteran racegoers report that Sunday Creek Raceway is either bone-dry and dusty or covered in sticky Ohio mud -- sometimes both.  The slick Ohio clay offers little traction if it’s wet, and will stick all over racing gear and machines. If the weather holds, track conditions are typically good with a nice mix of fast trails.

Husqvarna Motorcycles NA, LLC -- part of BMW (US) Holding Corp. – announced a return to off-road racing competition earlier this year, after reaching an agreement with Scott Summers, Inc. to provide a two-man professional race team to compete in the GNCC Racing Series.  The riders pilot 2008 Husqvarna TXC 450 off-road models in the GNCC’s XC1 class.

Crockard, of Petersburg, KY, is looking forward to continuing to do battle against the best GNCC riders in the world.  The 29-year-old former World Motocross Champion contender participated with Jean-Francois Goblet and Anders Erickson in an Öhlins suspension test in southern Spain, prior to arriving in America for the start of his debut season in the GNCC series, which attracts riders from the United States, Europe, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Kearney, of Antioch, CA, rose to prominence as an off-road racer in Australia, riding for the factory Yamaha team and earning top spots on the WR250F in several series.  In the U.S., the 26-year-old Australian Enduro Champion, has proven to be one of the hardest working riders in the GNCC series, adhering to a grueling training program and possessing considerable heart and determination on the track.