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AMA Grand National Cross Country Series Round 1: Kirton Ranch STORY AND PHOTOS BY KIT PALMER OKEECHOBEE, FL, MAR. 6 here's a reason why Shane Watts carries that big number-one digit on his KTM race bike: he was the fastest Grand National Cross Country rider last year, and he appears to be the fastest again this year. At least he was at the opening round of the 2001 GNCC Series at the dry and sandy Kirton Ranch in rain-starved Southern Florida. Riding a nearly box-stock KTM 200E/XC, complete with an operating headlight and sidestand, the Australian simply put it to the large, tal-' ent-filled Pro class, almost making the win look easy. Even the endless whoops, square-edged holes, deep sand and heavy dust didn't seem to faze Watts, as he immediately put his little KTM to the front and opened up a big lead. Less than a quarter of the way into the 12-mile-a-lap course, Watts had already opened up an approximately 10-second lead, which he expanded to around a minute before the first lap was over. From there, Watts' lead gradually got bigger and bigger until it was over two minutes by the time he took the checkered flag a little over three hours later. Watts officially took the win two minutes and 15 seconds ahead of Team FMF Suzuki's Mike Kiedrowski, who finished nearly a minute and a half ahead of teammate Steve Hatch. As you can tell, this one wasn't close, but Watts liked it that way. "I got a fourth-place start, picked a couple of guys off and got out in the lead there and thought, 'Well, hey, let's just go for it and see where it takes us.' It took us straight to the podium, so I'm totally stoked about it." Watts didn't seem to think that the dry and dusty conditions played a major role in the outcome of the race. "I didn't think it [getting a good start to stay out of the dust] was all that important," Watts said. "I've won the last two years here comiDg from the back, and the dust wasn't all that bad because the wind blew it off. So we can say that the best rider won today." But the one thing that Watts couldn't deny was that this was a very physically demanding race, mainly because of the whoops and hard-to-see holes that were hidden in the many silt-like sections. "The race was extremely physically demanding, it was," Watts said. "My conditioning wasn't so well going into the event, but it worked out well. It got extremely rough, and that's what three-hour cross country racing is all about." After settling into fourth place, Kiedrowski began his drive to the front, but it was slow going for the Suzuki rider. He first had to get around fellow Suzuki rider Jim Jarrett, who was definitely on the gas. And then Kiedrowski found himself reliving old memories after getting into a scrap over second place with motocrosser Larry Ward, who was competing at Okeechobee just for the fun of it on a Moto Planet Honda. The two former National MX competitors mixed it up for a long time before Kiedrowski was able to shake the Honda rider. By the time Kiedrowski had gotten firm control of second, however, Watts was long gone. "I was about third or fourth going into the first turn," Kiedrowski said. "I had a really good jump, and everything was going good, then we went around the speedway and Watts came around underneath me. Then we went into the trees, and it was real dusty. I hit a root, and it took my front end and I fell over and lost a bit. The dust was pretty bad, but I caught up to Jimmy [Jarrett] when he fell back in the tight stuff. Then we came around, and I got him in a long straight." After getting around Jarrett, Kiedrowski suddenly found himself ahead of Ward, as well. (Top) Near the end of the race, Shane Watts (1) moves around a slower rider on his way to a win at the seriesopening GNCC race during Daytona Bike Week. The Australian hopes to win every round. (Left) Jimmy Jarrett (71 grabs the holeshot on the Pro-class start ahead of Steve Hatch (41, Doug Blackwell (51, Mike Kiedrowski (121 and Chuck Woodford (8). Jarrett eventually finished fourth. 38 MARCH21,2001' a U a I. n."".