Slaw
FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Ben Kelley clinched the XC1 Open Pro Class title at Round 11 of the 2025 Grand National Cross Country Series on Sunday, on a weekend when defending XC2 250 Pro Champion Grant Davis earned his fourth GNCC Overall victory of the year at The Mountaineer GNCC.
The 11th round of GNCC marked an ultra-successful outing for KTM, with Kelley sealing the XC1 Open Pro Class title after picking up a second-place finish in class this weekend at the renowned Summit Bechtel Reserve, West Virginia.
Equipped with his KTM 350 XC-F, Kelley faced a challenging outing at The Mountaineer in coming from behind, with dusty conditions making it difficult to move forward.
A late charge would see him secure the XC1 Open Pro Class title courtesy of a P2 result, while maintaining his Overall title challenge with a fourth-place score – now 20 points outside the lead with two rounds to run.
Ben Kelley:“We knew that the start would be super-important at this round, and I got a decent one, although I had a pretty big crash there about halfway through. I tried to charge back toward the front as best I could, but it was a really hard track to pass on because of the conditions. I’m proud to win the XC1 Open Pro Class Championship though, especially with how far I have come from being injured the last couple of years! With two rounds to go, we’ll now keep fighting for the Overall title, and a big thank you to the team for all the support.”
Onboard the FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers 250 XC-F, Davis continued his exceptional 2025 form, launching to a strong start before laying down a couple of fast laps to open up a margin that he would manage for the remainder of the race.
With his victory at The Mountaineer, Davis earned his eighth XC2 250 Pro Class victory of this series – in addition to his fourth Overall win – which extends his points lead to 20 over Kelley. The advantage in XC2 has stretched out to 50 points.
Grant Davis:“I’m pumped! I got a good start and managed not to go down in turn three this time, like I did at the last race! Then Jordan [Ashburn] was trying to make a quick move on me, and I thought, ‘I can’t let this happen today.’ I put down some fast laps and created a gap, then maintained that margin for the rest of the day.”
XC2 250 Pro Class teammate Gus Riordan raced to fifth position in class, with the Australian and his KTM 250 XC-F caught up in the heat of the battle throughout the three-hour long duration, which sees him maintain P2 in the division with two rounds remaining.
Gus Riordan:“A bit of a frustrating weekend for me. It was super-dusty and I wasn’t comfortable sending it where I couldn’t see. We have two more rounds to go to turn things around.”
FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers’ Brandy Richards returned to the top step of the WXC Class on Sunday, climbing her way from a top-five start and an incident to first position with her KTM 250 XC-F, which marks her first victory since recovering from an early-season injury.
Brandy Richards:“I didn’t have the greatest start, so I was about fourth or fifth while the other girls were ready to go from the beginning. I started off slow, then made my way to third, and then had what was a pretty gnarly get-off. After I got up from that, I had to regroup. Halfway through the second lap, I started to get a good flow going and began to see that the times were coming down to the front-runners, so I did my best in the dust and slowly gained on them. I made a pass, and then knew it was hard to pass in the dust, so I just stayed up and managed to win. I can’t thank my team and supporters enough for working so hard and staying behind me.”
XC1 Open Pro Class Results
1. Jordan Ashburn, GASGAS
2. Ben Kelley, FMF KTM Factory Racing
3. Josh Strang, Beta
6. Craig DeLong, Husqvarna
XC2 250 Pro Class Results
1. Grant Davis, FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers
2. Nicholas Defeo, Kawasaki
3. Brody Johnson, Honda
5. Gus Riordan, FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers
WXC Class Results
1. Brandy Richards, FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Landers
2. Rachael Archer, Kawasaki
3. Danielle McDonald, Yamaha
4. Korie Steede, Husqvarna
KTM press release
