Strang dominating American off-road title

Josh Strang (Suzuki) has continued to emphatically push his case to become the second Australian to win the prestigious Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC) after another arresting performance in South Carolina last Sunday.

Strang's latest conquest, a thumping victory over the Yamaha of Chad DuVall, was his fourth in a row and extended his series lead to a massive 42pts with nine rounds remaining. Strang was second in 2009.

And ominously for his competition, Strang's vice-like grip on this year's title doesn't look like ending anytime soon.

"Four in a row is awesome! I'm super happy with that," said Strang, who was competing on the 2010 RM-Z450 for the first time. "The conditions were definitely difficult today, but I just raced my own race.

"I just kept going and made some passes, and then when I got in the lead I was able to push a little harder to make sure I stayed there."

The one and only Australian to win American's pre-eminent off-road title was Victorian Shane Watts in 2000 on a KTM.

That really kickstarted a foreign invasion of the GNCC, and the last five titles have been won by internationals: New Zealander Paul Whibley last year,  preceded by David Knight (2007-2008) and Juha Salminen (2005-2006).

Strang started outside of the top five when the three-hour race got underway, and dusty conditions made it difficult for passing. However, once he got back into the trees where the dust wasn't as bad Strang was able to make several passes, moving his way into second place by the end of the second lap.

At that point, first place was held by DuVall, who had taken advantage of a bottleneck to move into the lead. And Strang didn't take long to pass DuVall, doing so in a dusty section near the halfway point of the race.

From there, the rest of the race was routine for Strang, as he finished the race with over 20 seconds to spare over DuVall.

DuVall held on for the runner-up spot, ahead of Whibley (Yamaha), Charlie Mullins (Yamaha) and another Australian, Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna).

Mullins and Whibley are currently running second and third in the title, and Kearney is sixth.

The GNCC will continue in Tennessee on April 24-25.