Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cross Country Round 12: Scarecrow GNCC AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES OCT. 10, LISB ON, OH or the fifth time in 1999, Australian up start S ha ne Watt s s co re d a n ove rall wi n on his KTM 125 in the AMA G ra nd a tio na l Cross Country Series , ed g in g Team Su zuki's Rodney Sm ith by just three seco nds at the Scarecrow GNCC in muddv Lisbon, Ohi o. Howeve r, se cond place was a ll that Smith needed to clinch his second consecutive series championship aboard his RM250 Suzuki. "We did it," summed up Smith of his a fternoon and seaso n. " It feel s great to s ta nd up h ere a nd be th e cha m p io n aga in. It was a little bit tou gher than it wa s la s t yea r, but I brou g ht a lo t of problems on mysel f at the beginning of th e ye a r. Throu gh th e summ er I had so me health probl em s. wh ich didn 't make it an y easier, but I stayed focus ed and got back up on top. You know, it wa s an up-and-d own yea r for eve rybod y, which proves the s tre ng th a nd depth of the series. Last year I proved to the fans and evervo ne that I cou ld wi n, and this yea r I proved that I can back it up. I'm really proud that a lot of people have go tten behind me, and I want to thank the fans and the peo p le at Suzuki and all of my sponso rs for winning this cham pionship." . For th e 27-year-o ld Watts, it trul y ~ was an up-a nd-d own yea r. After winnin g fo u r of the fir s t fi v e ra ce s he !l! -0 entered in the series, Watts suffered a u -sev ere knee injury that cos t him th ree o months and a shot at the series cha mpi16 ons hip . Rat her than si t out the rest of (Above) "Bring on the champagne," said KTM's Shane Watts (far right) after posting his fifth GNCC win this season at Lisbon, Ohio. Rodney Smith (center) took second behind Watts, but more importantly, clinched his second consecutive GNCC championship by beat ing out Fred Andrews , who dropped out prematurely due to brake problems. Thirdplace finisher Mike Lafferty (left) made It two on the podium for KTM. (Below) After three hours of racing, it ended this close. Watts takes the checkered flag mere seconds in front of Smith. the series, Watts returned last month at les s than 100 per cen t to try to salvage w hat he could as far as the GNCC tour goes. Af te r misfir in g a t two p revious events, he go t back on the winni ng track in O hio to take his fifth overall win - the mos t in the series . "Bri ng on th e cha m p ag ne, " sa id a th rilled Watts after the narrow victo ry, .his firs t since May. "1 was just cruising along, try ing to hang in there as long as I co u ld . My fitn ess ha s b een a bit of qu estion the last tw o rou nds, but I figured if I didn't hold any as p ira tions of wi nn ing and no t put any pressure on myself, things mig ht wo rk out my way, and that 's exac tly wha t happened." "I was trying to ride a smart race and I knew I only needed to beat Freddy (Andrews) to win the championship," explained Smith of his race. "That started playing with my mind a little bit, bu t I held the pace with the guys and hung in there. With a couple of laps to go I didn't know if Freddv wa s still in the race or not, but I knew it was time to, pick it up and go after the win ." Finishing a GJ CC career-high th ird overall - and g iv ing Team KTM two p odium fini sh er s - w a s fo rmer AMA Nati onal End uro Series Champion Mike La fferty. Th e Ne w Je rsey-based pilot was in the hunt for the ove rall win all da y lo ng for th e win , but the battle between Watt s and Smit h carried them away from Lafferty on the last lap. He settled for third overa ll, just 35 seconds behind win ner Watts. "Man, that was awesome: ' said Laffer ty, w ho is ba cked by KTM, Tr el lebo rg , Moose , Scott and FMF . " I rode pret ty smart and tried to follow the top guys , and the last.two laps 1rea lly wantIt" . 'AN O N A T ; O N A L CROSS GR COUNTRY~ . •.' • •• .11 ..-

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