2024 General GNCC: Josh Toth makes history with overall win on a 250
Josh Toth makes history with The General GNCC overall win from the second row XC2 250 Pro class – a feat never achieved before in Grand National Cross Country series.
Conditions in Georgia were typically hard for General weekend. Rain affected both days and made the Sunday races a hard slog through mudholes, ruts and what most riders were calling gnarly. It was not, you’d think, the place to find finally find a 250 four-stroke on top of the box.
AmPro Yamaha’s Ricky Russell earned the holeshot as the XC1 Open Pro class battle seemed to change each lap with Rocky Mountain Red Bear Kawasaki’s Steward Baylor leading on lap one, and then FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Johnny Girroir on lap two only to find Russell leading the way on lap three.
Girroir made the pass back around Russell on lap four and held the physical race lead for the remaining two laps of the race, earning his third-straight win in the XC1 Open Pro class.
Toth’s moment in history
However, as the XC2 250 Pro class starts a row behind the XC1 Open Pro class, there are time adjustments in GNCC and with that Team Enduro Engineering’s Josh Toth was leading the way for the majority of the race.
Toth was also physically up to second overall at one point in the race but would eventually come through third on the ground and remain in the number one spot with the adjusted time for that second row start.
That meant Josh made GNCC history in Georgia as he became the first overall winner from the XC2 250 Pro class. Suck that in for a moment and consider all the riders who’ve gone before in GNCC and failed to achieve that in the past.
It is something of a resurrection for Josh Toth who for many years held a place in the FMF KTM factory team but these last two seasons has been running his own programme, not racing any one championship fulltime and switching between disciplines like Hard Enduro, GNCC, Sprints and National Enduros. EnduroGP and Pro Motocross are also on the cards in ’24 – we look forward to seeing you in August Josh!
2024 The General GNCC results overall:
Classes round-up
As Toth made history earning the overall win from the XC2 line, FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Johnny Girroir claimed the class win and continues to leads the standings with a 1-1-1 result in XC1.
Jordan Ashburn worked hard on the final lap to make sure of his second overall on the day in class, third scratch with Steward Baylor third in XC1 to maintain his championship challenge.
FMF KTM Factory Racing Lander’s Grant Davis earned second in class and eighth overall on the day. AmPro Yamaha’s Liam Draper, defending XC2 Champion, finished ninth overall on the day and rounded out the XC2 250 Pro class podium at The Specialized General GNCC.
FMF XC3 125 Pro-Am class saw Liqui Moly Factory Beta Racing’s Jhak Walker earning his second-straight class win of the season ahead of Dustin Simpson and Zach Davidson.
Shelby’s maiden win
History was also made in the WXC class, if you’re Canadian that is, as Shelby Turner took the women’s class overall. It was the second week in a row that a new rider claimed victory in WXC after Brandy Richards in Florida and a double-bubble for the Enduro Engineering camp with Turner joining Toth with the trophy haul.
Shelby took the win ahead of early leader and champion, Rachel Archer who had to fight hard with Korie Steede for the podium places.
2024 Specialized General GNCC Sunday AM race results overall:
Photo Credit: Ken Hill + Mack Faint
