Posted April 16, 2007   Email   Print

David Knight celebrates past the checkered flag.

Knight breaks through, wins his first GNCC of the year

It took a little longer than expected, but Red Bull KTM’s David Knight is finally on track in the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series. He scored a dominant win at round four of the tour, the Pirelli Big Buck GNCC in South Carolina, coming from a bad start to track down the leaders and take his first career GNCC win. He’s the fourth winner in four rounds this season.

“I had to be patient with it. This is just completely different,” said Knight, of the Isle of Man, who struggled with a hand injury and then small bike problems through the first three rounds of the season.

“I’ve been riding enduros since 1998, and this is as different as motocross is from enduro. It does take your confidence down a bit as you wonder if you maybe have something wrong with you. But at the last race, I ran the pace, so I felt good about it. You have people beating you down, and it’s good to find out it’s not true. Hopefully this will be the first of many.”

Knight started poorly, while Am Pro Yamaha’s Charlie Mullins grabbed the Racer X Holeshot Award and pulled a big early lead. Knight eventually caught him, and the race was on.

“It was a fun race,” said Mullins. “I made a few mistakes, and that let Knight catch me. He got by me and I just kind of followed him all day. I was on him until the two-lap card. At the second check I made a mistake and fell over, and then in the back I made another mistake. I didn’t get tired, but I just made too many mistakes.”

Mullins' teammate Barry Hawk ended up third. After a bad start, Hawk worked his way to the front, but Knight had an even worse start and was coming through the pack with him.

“I got into the woods and everyone was going single file, so I just charged, and I was passing two or three guys at a time,” said Hawk. “Before I knew it I was in third or fourth place. Knight went by me, and I stuck with him for a little while. I got behind a couple of guys, and Knight pulled away from me a little bit. I just couldn’t make up those last 20 seconds or so on Knight. I was in that zone where he would go around the lappers, and they would just be pulling back onto the track. I would hear him in front of me and it seemed like every time I would just be getting to him, something would happen.”

A fierce battle broke out for fourth between a slew of riders, but Parts Unlimited/Moose Honda’s Paul Whibley dug down deep to get the spot.

“I had a good battle there with Glenn (Kearney),” said Whibley. “We passed back and fourth on the last lap.”

Kearney finished fifth. The FMF Suzuki rider was happy with his top five after exhausting himself trying to win the last race in North Carolina.

“I said all day I would have been happy with a top five,” said Kearney. “I didn’t get to train or ride much for the last few weeks, I’ve just been resting trying to get better.”

Sixth went to Kearney’s teammate Jimmy Jarrett, who outdueled Kawasaki privateer Garrett Edmisten down the stretch. Edmisten, who has shocked everyone with his solid rides early in the season, still holds the early season GNCC points lead thanks to his consistency.

The big news before the race surrounded Australia’s Shane Watts, who made the switch from KTMs to a Yamaha YZ250 before the race. Watts said he was comfortable on the bike, but he rode too conservatively and ended up losing a few positions and finishing eighth.

“I just wasn’t aggressive enough, because I was worried about the conditions being worse than they turned out to be,” said Watts. “When a guy would go past me, I just didn’t have that tiny fraction of a percent I needed to go stay with them. It’s okay though. Who would have thought that after four races, two privateers would be leading the points standings?”

Eighth overall went to the winner of the XC2 Lites class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Scott Watkins (left).

“I couldn’t be happier,” said Watkins. “I told myself that winners never quit, so I rode my heart out.”

Watkins got a terrible start but fought his way into a big battle for the win between about five riders. Am Pro Yamaha’s Thad DuVall led several laps before dropping back with brake problems, and FMF Suzuki veteran Rodney Smith held the lead on the last lap before throwing it away with a rare mistake. Watkins made clutch moves to get the lead back and win it.

Second in the Lites class went to fully unsponsored privateer Yamaha rider Josh Weisenfels, and third went to KTM/Powersport GrafX rider Dustin Gibson.

Edmisten still holds a slim points lead over Watts, but now Knight, Mullins and Hawk are right in the hunt.

“David’s a good rider, he knows what he’s doing,” said Mullins. “He’s going to be hard to beat, but I’m going to keep trying.”

When the race day began, racers were worried about the track turning into a full-on mudder. Heavy rain saturated the Big Buck facility, but things dried out enough by the afternoon to the point where it didn’t really impact the racing.

The Can-Am GNCC Series continues in two weeks with the Acerbis Loretta Lynn’s GNCC in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. For more information, check out www.gnccracing.com.

 © 2007, American Motorcyclist Association