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/128608
AMA Grand National Cross Country Series Round 3: Big Buck GNCC STORY AND PHOTOS By PAUL CLIPPER/TRAIL RIDER MAGAZINE CROSS KEYS, SC, MAR. 26 Although the skeptical among us may have been predicting otherwise, KTM's Shane Watts was up to his old tricks again at round three of the GNCC series, running with the lead pack and waiting until late in the race to move to the front. He stayed back for four of the seven laps, content to let the pack sort itself out but never more than 14 seconds off of the lead pace. On the fifth lap he moved to the front and proceeded to increase the pace, knocking a minute off the time he'd set the lap before. It was just too much for the pack to respond to, and Watts went on to claim his second overall win of the young season, this time on a KTM 250MXC. Steve Hatch had controlled the race before the Aussie took over, but he subsequently hit misfortune in a very embarrassing place. The best spectator point on the course was a high-speed creek jump back in the woods. It was wild-looking to the spectators and a little more tricky than it looked, as Hatch found out when he flipped and bailed while chasing 38 APRIL 12, 2000' C u.c I .. Watts on lap five. While he was sorting himself out, Edmondson got by, and once ahead of Hatch, the Brit never backed off. He chased after Watts, but was just far enough out to fall off of the lead pace. The three finished in that order, with Edmondson down a minute and 13 seconds at the finish - Hatch a minute-54. Yamaha teammates Barry Hawk and Randy Hawkins filled out the top five. (Above) Paul Edmondson leaps the popular water jump on his way to second overall. (Right) Despite a fairly big crash, Steve Hatch recovered for third overall. (Left) Where does the Gatorade go? Shane Watts fuels up on his way to his second win of the young season. The racers were treated to fine weather, compared to the mud and rain of Georgia two weeks before. Mostly clear skies and warm spring temperatures felt good, although dust was a factor on some parts of the course. "It's not going to be too bad," said Jeff Russell, Racer Productions' course marshal for all of the GNCC events. "It would be nice if we had a quick shower, but it's a little wet underneath, and I think the dust will stay down." Russell strung together 11 miles of trail for the afternoon race, including plenty of tight trees and the aforementioned creek jump. Hatch took the holeshot, but Suzunevvs ki teammate Rodney Smith got out in front for a good part of the lap before following Hatch through the barrels just three seconds behind. The lead trio on this first lap included KTM's Mike Lafferty, who was railing through the final open section of the course, dicing with the Suzuki riders and looking his strongest yet, obviously still on a high from overalling the Georgia round of the AMA National Enduro series the weekend before. Watts was very close in fourth, just seconds down, but the order was set to change drastically, starting on lap two, when Hatch would set his fastest time of the day at 25 and a half minutes.