GNCC competitors, DNFed the opening round in Palatka, Florida, a facility that was so wet it resembled a
swamp-buggy track more than a
GNCC course. "My problems there
weren't anyone's fault but my own,
really. But I needed to come back
strong here."
"I'm not waiting around anymore,"
Lafferty said. "That first lap felt just
like an enduro, where I had to read
the trail."
By winning round two, Lafferty
restored his reputation in the tough
races and his championship hopes.
He will get a further boost in the
points when the MSR/Yamaha/Dun10 p/Wi seco/ Ma xx is/F MF /K lotz
GNCC Series drops his lowest finish
of the season from the final points
tally, a change made due to a
course-marking problem in Florida
(see Briefly... ).
The competition may need the
throwaway, since last week's winner,
Yamaha's Barry Hawk, may be up
front to stay. The Am-Pro Yamaha/
MSR/Bridgestone/FMF-backed Hawk
overcame a bad start in Georgia by
putting in a strong last-lap charge
and launching past Team Green's
Fred Andrews and FMF Suzuki's Rodington, Georgia. Several weeks of
rain had left the red Georgia clay soft,
and when a record 1300-plus riders
took to the course over the weekend,
the track became a rutted, muddy
mess that left many bikes stuck. But
not Lafferty's big KTM 450, which
was pointed in all the right directions
on the way to delivering its rider to
his second career GNCC victory.
"This one was for Florida," said
Lafferty, who like most of the top
IAbove) Like Lafferty, Barry
Hawk has also proved that
he's for real In the GNCC
series. His opening-round
win combined with a second
in Georgia gives him the
points lead.
(Right) Fred Andrews was
running up front early, but
crashes hurt his results.
ney Smith into second place at the
finish.
"I felt like I couldn't make any mistakes out there," said Hawk of his
last-lap dash. "If I had ridden like that
the whole race, I probably would have
won by five minutes."
Still, second is impressive, and the
seven-time GNCC ATV Champion
has stretched his early season points
lead. Smith, the defending series
champ, nailed third at the General,
with Hawk's teammate Jason Raines
fourth and SCR Yamaha's Robbie
Jenks fifth. Sixth went to FMF Suzuki
veteran Steve Hatch, seventh went to
Andrews, eighth to Yamaha's Randy
Hawkins, with KTM's Brian Garrahan
and T~am Green's 250cc A con-
(Left) Defending
champ Rodney
Smith finished third,
putting him back in
the series running.
cue
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MARCH 26. 2003
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