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/128638
AMAIWisecolYamahalO u n lo pllMSIMSRlFMFlKlo t zIMa x x islLa e g er 2000 Grand National C r o s s Country S e r ie s Final R ound : Ironma n GNCC "I know I wa s sta ying with th em ," s aid Ha wk , who was run ning third on the last la p , "but Shane got me both times o ut in that fie ld. I knew th a t if I was beh ind him , or just a coup le feet in front o f him ... If he was on a 250 , I don 't thin k he c ould have gotten us , but on th at 3 80 , he jus t m oved asi de a nd m otored by us , and th e re wa s not hin g we could do ." The ra ce d id n' t s ta rt o ut th a t way . Suzuki ' s St e v e Ha t ch t o o k t he ho les ho t a nd e nte re d th e woods fol lowed b y th re e of h is t e amma t es . Rodne y S mi th soon move d into t he p oi nt p o sit ion , w ith Ha t c h , Mik e Kied row ski and J im Jarrett a ll close b eh ind in a S uzu k i fre ight trai n . It ne ve r la s ts fo r lo ng at a GNCC, a nd th ough th e 1 0- m ile c o u rs e w a s w id e ly known t o be fa st , it is far fr o m a c ru ise a round th e bl ock . With in mi n u t e s , a gr ee n wav e S TO RY AND PHOTO S BY P AU L C LI PPE R/T RA IL R ID ER M A GA ZIN E CRAWFORDSVILLE, IN, OCT. 22 o r th e s ixth tim e th is year, Aus tr a lian Sh ane Watts wo wed th e c rowd at a GNCC , this tim e return ing to his old modus operand i - wait in a good pos ition , a nd then strike on the fina l lap - an d his old strategy pa id off wit h a n im pr e s s ive win at th e final rou nd o f th e se ries. Th e KTM rid e r fronted on a KTM 380 this time , hoping to capitalize on its O pen -cla ss power. "Yea h , I've got the b ig gi rl toda y," Watts s a id, "a nd I'll admit sh e 's too m uc h fo r m e - wa y too m uch horse power. But I th ink it'll come in handy in th os e field sectio ns ." His pre d iction wa s right o n ta rg et. Foll o win g Wa tts in were a ti red bu t -unsu rpris ed Pa ul Ed mondson and Barry Hawk . F 18 NOVEMBER 8 , 2000' cue • e n e vv s Australian Shane Watts put an exclamation point on his se a son by winning the GNCC finale on the " big girl " KTM 380. p a s s e d t he e rs twh ile fro nt -runn ers , a s Ed m o nd so n sta rte d p icki n g h is wa y t o t h e fr on t , wit h Ka wa s ak i t e a m m at e F r ed An dre w s close beh ind . An dr e ws , winner o f the pre vio us round , wa s re a dy to ta s te a little m o re o f t ha t victory c ha m pa g ne , but it was n ' t g oi n g to ha ppe n . Before th e seco nd la p wa s do n e , he crus he d hi s pi p e o n a stu mp , to re off a wa te r in le t o n his rad iato r and wa s forc e d to retire with a d rie d -out eng ine . Wh ile a ll th is wa s g oing o n, th e usua l q uestion of "Whe re is Wat t s ? " ca me up. He had jumped off the line badly on the KTM 380 a nd wa s ci rc ulating dow n a ro und six th , but he def inite ly ha d b igger pla ns. "Ye a h, I did n 't have that good of a start, wh ich a lways seems to hap pen ," said Wat t s , "but I sta rted cr uising a lo ng a nd getti ng int o it. I was j us t rid in g an d h av ing fun o n t his KT M 380. T h is th ing is so. .. If you ever want to have fun, this thi ng just wh ee lie s all th e way across the field !" By the th ird lap , Edmondson wa s e s ta b lis hed out front but unab le to pull away from the pack. The Suzu ki t e am was fad in g b ac k , with Kied row s ki (rid ing a two -st ro ke RM) strugglin g with th e rou gh and rutt ed trail co nd itio ns , a nd S mit h struggling with un s e e n fron t-w h eel prob lem s . La te in the race , Sm ith ha d to pit to re pl a c e his fro nt whe el , w hic h knock ed him fa r ba ck and out of th e lead po ints . Hatc h , too , was buc kling un d er the pressure , th ou gh he ke pt it in th e top five . Th e o nly Suzu ki rider who to ok a turn at the lead after the first la p wa s Jarret t , no doubt looking for the formula th at wo uld le ad him to his second ov e ra ll win of th e ye ar. But Ja rrett , too, fad ed ba c k unde r the p re s s ur e of a flyi n g Ha wk , wh o moved his Yamaha up q uick ly to put pressure on Edmondson. "Abo ut h al fwa y th rough , I t ried ju m ping thi s ditch over he re and got c ros s -r utted a nd fell down , " Ha wk sa id , "a nd I kno w J arret t and Sh ane and a bun ch of us we re a ll lying o n th e ground together. Th at' s p ro ba bly whe n Pa ul pu lled his lea d . I broke my Ba rk Buster , and m y ha nd le bar s we re a ll twiste d . a nd I thought, 'O h , man , I don't know how this is goi ng to go.' Afte r th a t, I just pu t m y he a d d own an d c harge d all th e wa y . Th e first th ing I knew, I caught up to a couple of gu ys who 'd gotten around me, a nd I ca ugh t up to Paul. I thought if I could get aroun d h im and keep that pace. I could probably get aw ay, and him a nd Sh an e could battle , but once yo u get up the re , it' s ha rd to pa ss . I tried to g e t aro und h im he re and t he re but then just s ett led into his pa ce." In th e me antim e , Watts seemed to pu ll out of his e a rly -ra ce cruis e mode a nd get it tog ethe r. " I was j ust ha ving s o mu ch fu n roosting it a roun d ," he said , "but th en th ings sta rte d fa lling into place , a nd I thou gh t , ' Hey , I' ve got a c ha nce a t the win , her e.' S o I c ruised a lon g a nd got my s elf into a decent pos ition , and know ing thi s wa s th e fastest bike out th e re , I thoug ht, 'Tha n k God for th a t last fie ld s ection rig ht be fore th e finish her e . I'll co me a ro und th e fina l la p in sec o nd or t h ird a nd th en g e t up into firs t by th e final s e c tio n .' And th at's exa ctly wha t ha pp en e d . It wa s unre a l." O n the final la p , the rac e -long pla n wa s revea led : have plenty of motor for the la s t g ra s s t rac k , whi ch ha d e no ug h spa c e fo r someone wanting to do ov er 10 0 m iles per hour. Eye witn e s s es sa y that Watts ca me int o t h e last field in th ird , dr aft ing th e o t her t wo like a b icycle race r, a nd