GT Bicycles kept their winning streak alive by finishing the weekend with stellar results at the 2009 Fontana City Nationals held at Southridge Park located in Fontana, CA. This is the third year that the famous "Fontana" has held at a national-level event and this year provided more excitement than ever. The event was a solid success once again with an impressive turnout of racers and spectators alike. Being one of the first races of the year on the national race circuit, many top pros were in attendance to test their new bikes and pre-season fitness. Perfect weather the whole weekend kept the fans happy and the course conditions dry and fast. 

 

Saturday consisted of Mountain Cross and this year's race course was recently improved by Team GT's own Eric Carter. The course was dry, dusty and loose which made it very challenging for everyone who rode it. Joining Carter in the gate were many top pros such as Brian Schmith, Blake Carney and Dale Holmes; it was going to be an exciting evening of racing.....and exciting it was! The Pro finals consisted of Dale Holmes, Blake Carney, Eric Carte, and < qualifier, 16-year old GT rider Mitch Ropelato. Holmes had a strong gate and took the lead down the first straight with himself and Carter exiting out of the first turn and down the second straight with Carney and Ropelato close behind. Entering the third turn with plenty of speed was Holmes, Carter and Ropelato. Ropelato unfortunately rode into Carter's exit line out of the turn causing both of them to crash. They both quickly recovered and continued down the course,only for both riders to get tangled up again in the last turn resulting in Carter finishing 3rd and Ropelato in 4th.

 

 

 

Sunday was host to the downhill race and with a very challenging course layout, all the riders were anxious to complete their runs. The course consisted of technical rock sections and fast, loose and open sections. Team GT's Eric Carter and Kevin Aiello just wrapped up podium finishes one week prior at the Shimano Winter Series and they were both hungry to return to the podium especially at the first national race of the year. Well it wasn't hard for the seasoned veteran and rookie pro to show the crowd exactly what they could do. With the majority of all the top pros already past the finish line everyone was waiting for Carter and Aiello to come through and it was worth the wait......Carter 1st, Aiello 2nd! A few more riders came through the finish line but didn't come close to the times of the two GT downhill racers. Carter just added another win to his already impressive list of recent wins at Fontana. Aiello was only 3/10sec behind Carter and now heads to South Africa for Round < of the World Cup circuit. The stylish rookie pro from Southern California will be focusing on a full season of UCI World Cup races and now heads to South Africa fresh off a solid performance. Both riders were aboard the new GT Fury carbon downhill bikes which have been performing with incredible results. Congratulations to Eric and Kevin for their awesome finishes this weekend!