Round 2: Paradise Park
By Geoff Meyer
MACON, GA, MAR. 7
wenty-two-year-old Australian
Shane Watts continued to domi.
nate the Grand National Cross
Coun try Series with his second
win in less than a week. Watts made the
rather technical 10-mile Paradise Park
course look anythirig but difficult, as he
not only won but did so with time to
spare. Cutting through the thick forest
50 miles south of Atlanta, Georgia, with
seeming ease, the Aussie is certainly
headed in the right direction in his quest
to win his first GNCC title.
"My main aim is to have fun," Watts
said. "If I can ride the way I have been
riding, then I want the GNCC championship and the Hare Scrambles title.
These guys are great riders I'm racing
against; maybe I've just been a little
lucky. Last week in Florida (where he
won the opening round of the series), I
was really riding great, but today I got'a
little lucky."
Luck did, in fact, playa small roll in
Watts' win, but no one can deny that
fast riding put him in the right position
to take advantage of any good luck
thrown his way. For all intents and purposes, from the moment Watts decided
to go for the win, his rivals were
history.
"My aim was to get to the front and
go hard," Watts said. "That is always
my plan. It worked out that I did not
have too much trouble with lapped riders, and that helped me a lot."
t
(Left) Australian Jeff Watts followed up
his win at the GNCC series opener In
Florida with another victory in Georgia.
Once again, Watts smoked the field on his
125cc KTM.
.
(Below) Defending champ Rodney Smith
(1) rebounded from first-round mechanical
problems with a second-place finish In
Georgia.
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