Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128109
AMA Grand N ational C r o s s Country Ser ies R ound 8 : S carecro w GNCC inta ct, but Lafferty was o nly two seco nds behind. Woodford a nd Andrews hel d down t hi rd a nd fo ur th, respectively , with just a few seconds separat ing them . Ruts were develop ing in the mud , an d it looked a s if a close rac e was deve lop ing . As the race continued , it looked as though Hatc h was go ing to take his first win of the sea son, but th en disa s ter struck. He pitt ed for fue l a fte r the thi rd lap, an d afte rward, as he started to round the second co rne r, his bike sta rted having problems, a nd the lea d was lost. "My bike was running like a roc ket sh ip a ll da y until the se cond corner of th e fourth la p," he sa id. "I'm not sure wh at happened - ma yb e I got some wat er in the gas or something . It woul dn't start; it too k us about 20 m inute s to get it started again , and it was still hav ing problems. After two laps we nt b y we got it started, so I we nt out the re to hel p m y team m e m ber Rod ney S m ith to get on the podiu m a nd ma y b e w in t he cha mpi o ns hip. I've been tra ining reall y hard, la te ly . Tod a y, I was so foc used on g e tt ing on the pod ium, an d I really wan te d to win this one bad. " With Hatc h out of the race, Laffe rty too k the lead , only to develop a s urp rise c h alle nger beh ind him . It wa s Wa tt s , w ho h a d wo rke d h is way th ro ug h the pack from 1 1th on the first lap. It had be en a while since a Watts vic tory had occurred, and the Aussie was hungry to take over from teammate Lafferty. Watts pulled the to p lap time of the da y on the fourth lap (a t 22 minutes, 36 seconds) , and when he did ge t around Lafferty, his STOR Y AND PHOT OS BY R A Y G U ND Y (]HRICHSVILLE OH, J(]NE 3 , he GNCC tour's th ird visit to the Scarec row c ircuit was a noth er good one, with a surprise o ld-school winn er thrown in fo r good m easure. Th e course incl uded two woods portion s a nd a motocross track that was a dded to th e course last year. After the Saturday ra in showers, the course be c ame extremely muddy and tricky for ma n y o f the riders , wh en th e s pect at ors s a w the muddy wo ods tra ils on race day (S unda y) morning , th e y kne w Mother Nature wa s goin g to ma k e ea ch of th e 21 pro rid e rs e arn a finish . FMF Su zuk i's Rodn e y Sm ith - a two -time GNCC ch a m p - ca me to th e S c a recrow ho lding th e number -on e s pot in the se ries standings , le ad ing o ver defending c ha m p Shane Wa tts of KTM. Kawasa ki T eam Gr een 's Fr ed A ndrews (another fo rme r champ) was th ird . T 30 JUNE 20,2001 • c u e ... Th e to p five riders lined up on the outside of the track, thinking that the gra ss would be a factor . As soon as the fla g dropped , FMF S uzuk i rider Steve Hatch took the ho leshot a nd the lea d, with KTM's Nati on al Enduro Cha m pio n Michael Lafferty a nd FMF Suzuki's Mike Kiedrowsk i fo llowing. Both Andrews a nd Chuc k Woodfo rd sta rt ed to work their wa y up to the front of the pack . Smith was a ls o having h is troubles . "It wa s a tough ra ce out th e re ," Smith sai d. "In th e first lap in th e first wood se c t io n , I h it a tree an d it knocked m e off m y bike ." Watts had a typ ical poor sta rt him se lf, s e tt in g himself up fo r a lot of work as he tried to catch the leaders . As Hat ch and La fferty ma de their way around the c ou rse , Kaw a s aki Te am Gre en ' s Woodford t o o k ove r t h ird plac e , c apita lizing o n th e pr oblem s some of the riders we re ha ving with the c ourse. Hatch popped o ut of th e woods after one lap wit h h is le ad n e vv s (Above) Though most otthe attention this season has centered on Rodney Smith and Shane Watts, tonner champ Fred Andrews (above) has managed to sneak in an occasional win. Vi ct ory n umb er two came at the m uddy Sc arec row rou n d. (Right) Anned w it h an Improve d b ik e , two-time champ Rod ney Smit h is on a m ission t o reg ain his title this year. His runner-u p finish in U h ri c h sville exten d e d his points lead to 33.