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/128234
AM A G r a n d National C r o s s C o u n t r y S e r ie s Rou nd 1 1 : D un lop S p a rta n G NCC Lafferty, Watts a nd Smith dueled. "My a rm s got wo rked up a litt le bit at th e be g inn ing ," Lafferty said. "The t rac k wa s s lip pery , a n d n ow t ha t I s witc hed b a c k t o t he two- s t roke, I haven't ha d m uch time on it. It to ok a little while to ge t a djusted ." "I c aught Lafferty a nd cras hed, and th e n I ca ught him again a nd crashe d, so I ha d a lot of ground to m ak e up," S m ith s aid . "Then Watts a nd I g ot togethe r a nd worked o ur way b a c k up ." Watts started cha rging a few laps into th e ra c e , and he lo oked good . But a broken d rin k system ca used de hyd ration to set in, a nd the n he ran out of gas with just a mile to go . This le ft Smith alo ne in th ird . The on ly batt le left wa s be tween Summe rs a nd Laffe rty , a s Su mmers was closing in quickl y on Lafferty. "I he a rd him behind m e, so I just p ut m y hea d do wn," Lafferty said . "I e nd o f th e fi rst la p . Ha wk t rie d t o c a tc h h im but could ne ve r m a k e much of a de nt in his lea d . "It was ha rd to ma ke up time ou t the re ," Ra ines said . "It was rea lly s lip- pe ry in sectio ns , a nd it seemed the h a rd er yo u p us h e d , t h e m ore m is ta ke s you wou ld make. " Wit h th e Ya maha du o go n e o u t front, the real battle was for third , as Mike Lafferty rode well on his new two-stroke KTM and finished fourth. Lafferty (7 ) grabs the holeshot at the start of the Spartan GNCC in Kentucky. ca ug ht h im with two m iles to go , but I m a de a mistake , a nd he got awa y." Me anwhi le , Hawk hi t t he c rui se I b utton , a nd Raine s kept on c ha rging a ll t he wa y t o a win by ne arl y tw o m inut es , th e la rgest margin of victor y' I this season. Dunlop Spartan &NCC Sparta, Kentucky September 21,2003 [Round 11 01131 c~ I I I a /A : 1. Jason Raines ( Yam) ; 2. Barry H a:w ~ (Yam ); 3 . Rodney Smit h (S uz) ; 4 . Micha el Lafferty (KTM); 5. Scott Summers (Hon) ; 6. Doug Blackwell (Han); 7. Robbie Jenks (Yam ); 8. Brian Ga rrah an (KTM ); 9 . Randy Hawkins (Ya m) ; 10. Natha n Kanney (Yam). I A MA GRA N D NAT IONAL CR OS S CO U NT RY SERIES PO INT S STANDINGS (Afl e r II of 13 rounds) : 1. Barry Hawk Jr. (278/ 5 wins); 2. Jason Raines (2 16/1 win) ; 3. Michael Lafferty (19 4/1 win)} 4 . Fred And rews ( 175/1 win); 5 . Robbie Jenks (154), ' 6. Randy Hawk ins (1 43 ); 7 . Steve Hatch ( 137 ); 8 Rodney Smith (129/1 win); 9. Doug Blackwell (87 )1 10. Chuck Woodford (85/ 2 wins). j 34 O C TO BE R 1. 2003 ' cue I e n e 1ftls