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/128627
Shane Watts T he bikes are ce rtainly good eno ug h, and I guess I' m pu ttin g myself t o a d isadva ntage b y c ha ng ing aro und on all the bike s, but people don 't thin k I can win a race on every single bike . Li k e we talked ear lier, it ' s j ust to p ro v e a p oi nt , it adds a li ttle cha llenge t o eve rythi ng. Yes, I'm putting m yself at a di sad v an ta ge b y c ha nging aro und instea d of co ncentrating on on e or two m odels in t he KTM ran ge, bu t I need to c ha ll enge myself, and un fortun ate ly , if it m ean s not w inning t he c ha m pionsh ip, we ll so b e it. At the end m y car eer , I' ll k now I ac h ie ved wh at I wanted to at eac h ce rt ai n p oi nt . (Right) In addit ion to b e i ng a t o p GNCC ri d e r, Watts is also one of t he world's best World Enduro and ISDE competitors. Here, he rides to the overall w in at the 1998 Aust ralian Si x Days. (Below) Watts celebrates afte r w inning t h e f irst GNCC round of 2000 o n a KTM 200. He also h a s w ins this season on a 125, a 250, a 300 a nd a 400 f our -st rok e. A n d y o u don ' t feel the ne ed t o ch an ge an y th in g on the bik es? N ot h in g m ore t han my p ers on al th in gs, l ik e I put on T AG h a ndl eb ar s, FM F p i p e , A cerb is ro ost gu ard s, and I' m pretty much set ri ght to go . Q A Q Which bik e is the easiest fo r you to ri de? A t th e moment I'd have to say t hat th e 200 EX C is my favorite, an d one of th e four-strokes - I'm not sure which one right now . Probab ly th e 400 EXC b ecause it's t he least p o wer fu l of t h e two . KTM h as a 250 fo ur- str o k e th at t hey 've b een runn ing in th e World Ch ampionships, an d I'm tr y ing to get on e o f those . I th in k I'd really enjoy riding tha t. A Q A Q A Did you like that electric sta rter? pe rfect, have a lot o f fr iends there , h aving a good time, doesn 't matter whether it's a race o r just trail riding, or j u st p la y ing around . I'm j u st in it for the enj oyment . Yeah , it spoiled me. I really don 't enjoy kic kstarting a bike anymore . So if you had only one bike, say a 200 , that you rode week after week, would you modify that? Nah , I' d st ill rid e it stock . T h e 200 I' m riding n ow is st ill th e sa me 200 I had at [round on e in] Okeech obee. Th e m otor hasn 't eve n been apart on it. It 's still exactly the same as it was at t he f ir st race of th e sea son , m inus t h e qui ck -fill gas tank . And that's f iv e months ag o , now . I be li eve stoc k is best. The w a y th e b i k es co me f rom t h e K T M fac tory , they 'r e ready to race. Most of th e ot he r ra ce rs hav e to make all the modifi ca ti ons not just to m ak e th e Q bik e b etter , but to m ake th em sel ves feel b etter th at th ey ' v e got t h e f ast es t bi k e o u t th er e . I know m y stock bik e is certainly ca pa bl e, and it is th e fastest bik e o ut th er e. Because o f th at , I don 't have to worry abou t doin g any c h anges t o it . I hate doing t est ing anyho w - I' m not a goo d test rider. I don 't w ant to test an ything. Y o u ' r e 28 . How many racing years do you have left? l' v e g ot as many ye a r s i s i t r ema in s enj oyable . If I h ad to put a number to it , maybe I'd sa y 10 y ears. Q Shane Watts is currently in the points lead of the GNCC Series, but his apparent domi nation of the series is diluted somewhat by the GNCC points system and throwaways allowed for all the riders. By the rules, each rider in the GNCC is allowed three throwaway events during the year. At the end of the season a rider throws away his three worst finishes, and his total points are calculated from the finishes he has left. For this year though, after a protest lodged by Team Suzuki over the way the course re-routing was handled at the muddy North Carolina round, Racer Productions agreed to give the riders four throwaways for the year (effectively voiding the results of the day for anyone who didn't finish . that race as well as he liked). Watts, who believes that Pro-class riders (who are contracted by their sponsors to ride every GNCC) should be scored for every event. This would definitely be to his advantage, since he has nine finishes in nine rounds so far, and he is one of only two riders with a finish in every event (Yamaha rider Robbie Jenk s is the . other) . If you take away the four worst finishes for the year, one of Watts' throwaways at this point is a second place, and he's left with a slate of five wins. Second-place points man Paul Edmondson throws away two DNFs, a 12th and a second, and in doing so, comes very close (within three points) to Watts' lead. There are still five rounds remaining in the series, so this is bound to change, but here's the way the total points stack up, and what the top-10 riders' five best scores will net them at this point. Name Total Points Five Best Wins Races 1. Shane Watts 164 100 9 5 2. Paul Edmondson 125 97 7 2 3. Rodney Smith 94 94 1 5 4. Steve Hatch 126 89 8 o 5. Barry Hawk 120 86 8 o 5. Fred Andrews 102 86 6 o 6. Doug Blackwell 114 85 8 1 7. J im Jarrett 84 74 7 o 8. Randy Hawkins 78 69 o 6 9. Chuck Woodford 91 66 8 o 10. Jason Raines 65 65 5 o 42 AUGUST 23 . 2000' cue I e ne""s A W h a t was you r favorite race of all time? D e fi n i t e l y a r a c e where th e condi t io ns we re abso lute ly p erfect, where th er e were h andl eb ar - dr a g g in g b erm s, i n ev ery co rne r. I 'v e got a co uple o f fa vo rite s. Prob ab ly ba c k h om e , w h er e we did na t ura l -t erra in m oto c ro ss r aces o n 600 four - st ro k es. Had a co upl e goo d on es th e re , some good endu ros b ac k hom e . Pr ett y mu c h f or me , th e b est t i m e i s wh en the c o n d it io n s a re Q A YOU won the Six Days overall one time, came close another time. Does that event have any great attraction for you? Yeah , th is y ea r 's ISDE I'm abs o lute ly h anging o ut fo r. I ca n ' t w ait to go over th er e, I am reall y f ired up fo r it . You get to go o ver th ere and pu t your n at ion al pride on th e l in e again st th e oth er c ountries. I k now our trophy team h as a lot of good riders ; we f inishe d third trophy team in t he la st c ouple of y ears. I'll probably end up ri ding a 200 EXC in th e 250cc cla ss; t hat's m y int ention , alth ou g h I'd l ike to get o ne o f th ose 250cc fo ur- st ro kes and ri de tha t . That' s probably not a possibil it y since there' s only a couple of th em in existe nce. St ill, I'd li k e t o r ide t he 200 in t he 250cc cla ss , for on e because I li ke the bike , and fo r two bec au se there' s that much more o f a ch al lenge. Nobody has done well in th e 250cc class on a 200 K TM yet , and that's the ki nd o f c h all en g e I thrive on th e m ost. That's why I'm changing around on all th e different bikes in th e GNCC. T he bikes are c ert ain ly good en ou gh , but p eopl e don 't th ink th at I' m good enough to win on all the different models of bikes. Th at adds a little c ha ll enge to it . Like we sai d ea rlier , it g iv es me a c ha n ce to prove a p o int. Maybe it 's n ot a p o int worth proving , I don't k n o w, but it mea ns eve ry t hing to m e. A M an y of us enthusiasts are alw ay s in awe of s o m eo n e who ac tually has t he ability and d rive to win th e Six Days overa ll . How difficult i s it that to achieve? T h e hard es t th in g i s g et t ing o ut o f be d . But t hat's th e same w het her I'm getti ng up to ra ce o r j ust ge tt ing up during th e we ek . Pretty m u c h t he wa y I loo k at it is t h at every sp eci al test is a sep ar at e event. If y o u do the 'r ig h t things in each o n e, yo u Q A w ind up w ith a good res ul t at th e end o f th e day . If you have t he ri g ht abi li ty, an d n ot m ak e any m is tak es, y ou 'r e right.