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By Jeff Henson
Yamaha's Taylor Kiser Response to Titan GNCC Two Position Penalty
GNCC Round #6 –
Weekend Warrior Titan
May 6, 2009 - Upon further review of video
footage from lap one of the Titan GNCC Racer
productions officials have concluded that three
XC 1 Pro riders ventured more than the allotted
25 feet from the marked course boundaries, and
as a result have been docked the number of
positions that they gained in the incident as
well as an additional “penalty position”. The
riders shown on the video Adam McGill, Donald
Ockerman, and Taylor Kiser went on to finish out
the race in 6th, 4th and 1st place positions
respectively, and now after these adjustments
will receive final scores of 9th, 7th, and
3rd in the XC1 Pro class.
When asked of his feeling on the incident and
resulting penalty GNCC #6 Taylor Kiser had this
to say. “It’s an unfortunate situation for me to
have a win I worked so hard for taken away, but
I agree that something needed be done and I feel
the race officials have made the right call.
Late in the first lap I was following Adam and
Donnie into a ravine section of the course when
Adam made a hard left hand turn into an unused
trail. Donnie and I instinctively followed his
line and we reentered the worn in trail a short
distance later and continued on to finish out
the lap. It was not until having completed that
same section of track on lap 2 and actually
riding the original marked course that it
occurred to me that the line I had taken on lap
one while following Adam had been more than 25
feet outside of the course boundaries.
I wish it were possible to go back and redo
that first lap because I honestly don’t feel
that the few seconds and one positioned I gained
had any bearing on the eventual outcome of me
crossing the finish line in first place. That
being said I take full responsibility for having
taken the line and am in agreement with the
penalty issued to me by Racer Productions. I
take with me a valuable lesson from this
incident about choosing my own lines, and will
focus all of my efforts on preparing for the
fast approaching Mountain Ridge GNCC where I
hope to put my Houser/Ohlins Yamaha YFZ450 in
the center position of the victory podium.”
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