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David Knight wins opening round of the GNCC series in Florida

Photo by Jason Hooper.

David Knight proved stronger than ever at the Parts Unlimited Triton GNCC, the opening round of the 2008 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Championship. The Red Bull KTM rider from the Isle of Man dominated on a physically demanding GNCC track featuring sand whoops, tree roots and mud bogs. FMF Suzuki’s Jimmy Jarrett and Walpole Kawasaki privateer Garrett Edmisten rounded out the podium.

Knight and the rest of the field battled X Games Champion Travis Pastrana, who promised to challenge Knight. Pastrana led the first lap and fought with Knight and Red Bull KTM’s Nathan Kanney on the second lap. Then fatigue set in, so Pastrana went into survival mode and managed to finish 18th overall.

Knight overcame a terrible start to get the lead by the halfway point and check out. Once in the lead, he dominated.

“I thought I was done,” said Knight. “I had such a bad start. I was following guys and picking them off one by one, but they were kind of holding me up. I realized it was easier if I went faster and just stayed on top. So you couldn’t cruise, but there was no place to rest. It was pretty brutal.”

Knight’s teammate, Kanney, was flying early on, but he was suffering from food poisoning and started losing time at the halfway point. This opened the door to a big fight between Jarrett, Edmisten and Barry Hawk, and it came down to the final lap when Hawk attempted a pass on Edmisten but came up short.

Jarrett’s known for working into shape as the season goes on, so his runner-up performance on one of the most physically-taxing GNCC tracks was a revelation.

“I didn’t get a good start, and then I got arm pump, and I knew this wasn’t a good way to start the day,” said Jarrett. “It went away, and then I took a few good lines through those bog holes and I was right back in it. I put my head down and had a good battle with Garrett and Barry. They were right there. It felt like that last lap took two hours. A few years ago I would have pulled off. But now I’m in it to win it.”

Edmisten, a Florida native, had tons of fan support, and he needed it after using all of his energy reserves.

“For sure, that was all I had,” said Edmisten. “I had a huge blister open up, and that was on the first lap! I tried to rest out there at times but then people would catch me. I charged on the last lap but Barry was right there. I just wasn’t going to let him by. I dug deep, the people out here cheering me on really helped.”

Hawk’s fourth was followed by New Zealand’s Paul Whibley in fifth on an RM-Z450.

Expected title contender Charlie Mullins was running in the top five early on when he smashed his exhaust pipe and ran into other mechanical gremlins throughout the day. He finished tenth in the XC1 Pro Class.

In the XC2 Pro Lites Class, Am-Pro Yamaha’s Thad DuVall railed to a victory despite riding with a broken thumb. DuVall hooked up with Monster Energy/Andrews Yamaha’s Josh Weisenfels and battled for the lead all day. “My dad put on the pit board that I had a good comfortable lead, and next thing I knew Josh was chewing all over me,” said DuVall. “Me and Josh, we had a good battle and I think I got more comfortable. I was able to go faster and not use as much energy. On the last lap I put the hammer down.”

Weisenfels took second. “A year ago I let a podium get away here, and ever since I left the track then I’ve been looking for redemption,” said the Arkansas-based rider. “I’ve been drinking gallons of water a day for the last few weeks, just doing absolutely anything I could to get ready.”

Gibson fought his way back to third. “You just had to find the lines and try to keep pushing,” said Gibson. “I never went 100 percent at any time, but I was going maybe 95 percent the whole way.”

As for Pastrana’s battle with Knight, they both tried to talk smack when passing each other.” At first I felt awesome,” said Pastrana. “I was thinking “Yeah I can run this pace!” but then I realized, you know, it’s a three-hour event, and maybe that’s why they pace themselves. But I thought I would be a little stronger, because I only made it to the second lap. Then I just died. I really have respect for these guys, and I have even more respect for what Doug Henry did a few years ago, coming down here and winning. This is brutal and these guys are amazing athletes.”

“I caught up to him and tried to shout some abuse at him as I went by,” said Knight. “But I couldn’t because I was too knackered!”

Kawasaki rider Russ Pearson won the Racer X Holeshot Award in the XC1 class, and Powersports GrafX KTM rider Kailub Russell won the Thumpertalk.com Holeshot Award in the XC2 Class.

The Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series continues this weekend with the Maxxis General GNCC at Aonia Pass Motocross Park in Washington, Georgia. See the GNCC website for more information.