Red Bull KTM rider and current series point's leader, David Knight, and his teammate Nate Kanney had a successful weekend at the seventh round of the GNCC series, both finishing inside the top five.
Although it wasn't the dominating race weekend most fans are used to seeing Knight pull off, he did start out well, rounding the first turn in 2nd place while Kanney was right behind in 3rd. For the first few laps, the two Red Bull KTM Factory riders stayed within the top three on this fast-paced course. At one point Knight escaped with the lead as he and Josh Strang battled back and forth for that front spot.
Unfortunately, around lap 4, Knight hit the ground hard after a big crash which knocked him back quite a few positions. He remounted, but was a little shaken from the crash and only managed to fight his way back into 5th at the finish. Kanney, finished one position better in 4th for the weekend. Despite missing a victory at the Spartan race, Knight still holds a large overall point lead, while this weekend helped Kanney to move closer to the top five in overall points.
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Justin Williamson had a decent 4th place start in the XC-2 main event. He stayed within the top five for a while before he fell slightly off pace losing a few positions as he battled through the heat and dust to remain in the front pack. Near the end of the three hour race, he had settled into a comfortable 7th place position where he would finish overall.
Next Event: Yadkinville, NC - June 21-22, 2008
Results
1 6 Paul Whibley Suzuki
2 7 Glenn Kearney Husqvarna
3 8 Joshua Strang Suzuki
4 116 Nathan Kanney KTM
5 1 David Knight KTM
Standings
1 1 David Knight KTM 171
2 6 Paul Whibley Suzuki 148
3 8 Joshua Strang Suzuki 129
4 3 Charles Mullins Suzuki 112
5 4 Jim Jarrett Suzuki 112
6 116 Nathan Kanney KTM 103
26 11 Justin Williamson KTM 9
XC-2 Class Results
1. Kailub Russell - KTM
2. Dustin Gibson
3. Andrew Matusek
4. Scott Watkins
5. Brian Lawson
6. Eric Bailey - KTM
7. Justin Williamson - KTM
XC-2 Class Overall Points
1. Thaddeus Duvall - 181
2. Dustin Gibson - 151
3. Kailub Russell - 128
4. Josh Weisenfels - 127
5. Andrew Matusek - 94
6. Brian Lawson - 857
7. Justin Williamson - 77
8. Johnny Barber - 76
9. Eric Bailey - 68
10. Scott Watkins - 61
David Knight:
“All things considered I’m not too disappointed with fifth. Even with banging my head I felt like I could win. But when I crashed near the end of the race that was me finished. It’s a bit frustrating because I felt good off the start. I was off the line well and quickly moved into the lead. My front mousse started to break up early in the race, which made things harder as I struggled with the front end a little bit.
“I’m not sure what happened really when I smacked my head on the tree. It knocked my silly for a while, which is why I decided to follow Josh for a while. Although Glenn and Whibley had caught me I felt like I could still win the race. But when I crashed I knew that was it. It’s disappointing, but that’s racing some times. I still have a good points lead so the race wasn’t a compete disaster.”
