Knight claims second GNCC victory

From the David Knight Results Service

MORGANTON, NC -- Red Bull KTM Off Road Race Team rider David Knight claimed his second XC1 Pro class win of ’08 with victory at The Steele Creek GNCC in North Carolina Sunday.

With a win at round 1 and a third place finish at round 2 already to his credit Knight overcame a poor start as he rounded the first turn last to move into the lead on lap 2. From that point on Knight charged towards his second race win in three ’08 US GNCC events.

Knight, as he seemingly always does, made a complete mess of the start and rounded the first turn of the Steele Creek GNCC dead last in the XC1 Pro class. And just like he has done so many times before was forced to work his way passed all but a handful of his XC1 class rivals during the opening 22-minute lap.

Moving into the lead on lap 2 Knight stayed out front for the remainder of the seven-lap race claiming an eventual one-and-a-half minute winning advantage over Barry Hawk with Paul Whibley rounding off the podium in third.

With three of the 13 ’08 US GNCC events now behind him Knight holds a 24-point advantage at the top of the XC1 Pro class series standings.

“Apart from another bad start the race went well," Knight said. "I pushed hard during the first lap, like I seem to have to do at every race, and got pretty close to the guys at the front. Once I got past Barry Hawk and Nate Kanney I tried to break away but I hit a tree so that didn’t really happen. It was pretty close for a few laps but about halfway through the race I started to pull away. I tried to ride like I did at round 2, using my head and making sure I stayed out of trouble, and things went OK."

Results XC1 Pro class

1. David Knight (Red Bull KTM Off Road Race Team)
2. Barry Hawk (Yamaha)
3. Paul Whibley (Suzuki)
4. Josh Strang (Suzuki)
5. Jimmy Jarrett (Suzuki)
6. Charlie Mullins (Suzuki)
7. Nate Kanney (KTM)
8. Jesse Robinson (Kawasaki)
9. Louwens Mahoney (KTM)