The weather remained fair until the start of the race at which point it began to pour rain.
The rain continued to worsen as the race progressed but that didn’t stop Buttrick from coming out in 2nd place in the first corner and maintaining his position from start to finish. Throughout the entire race Buttrick remained within 5-10 seconds off of the leader, Josh Strang, with the exception of an extended gas stop that put him about 16 seconds back. “Cory rode strong the entire race. He has adjusted to the XC1 class and his results are showing it,” commented FMF/KTM Team Manager Antti Kallonen.
Buttrick’s teammate, Nate Kanney, started around 10th position and worked his way into the top five within the first few laps. Kanney ran as high up as 3rd position but a few mistakes at the end of the race caused him to slip back a few positions. He eventually finished the race in 5th place.
Results
POS. RIDER MANUFACT. NAT.
1 2 Joshua Strang Suzuki
2 8 Cory Buttrick KTM
3 3 Charles Mullins Yamaha
4 1 Paul Whibley Yamaha
5 116 Nathan Kanney KTM
Standings
POS. RIDER MANUFACT. NAT. POINTS
1 2 Joshua Strang Suzuki 90
2 14 Christopher Bach KTM 60
3 3 Charles Mullins Yamaha 60
4 1 Paul Whibley Yamaha 54
5 8 Cory Buttrick KTM 53
9 116 Nathan Kanney KTM 34
Also putting in a great ride was RPM/KTM Women’s rider Maria Forsberg. She started her race in 2nd position and moved to the lead shortly within the first lap. Once out front she began to pull from the field to finish 1st with an impressive 2 minute lead over the rest of the field. Forsberg is now tied with Mandi Mastin for the points lead.
Next Event: Union, SC – April 10-11, 2010
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