Knight returns to winning ways

From the David Knight Results Service

Collecting his fifth win of the ’08 US Grand National Cross Country Series to extend his lead in the overall series standings to 38 points, Red Bull KTM Off Road Race Team rider David Knight put his disappointing recent run of results behind him to dominate The Mountain Ridge GNCC.

Knight claimed a controlled and deserved win in the last of the opening nine GNCC races before the two-month summer break. From a mid-pack start he quickly made his way into third behind Australian Josh Strange and KTM teammate Nate Kanney before moving past Kanney and shortly after taking the lead. Opening up a 30-second lead by the end of the first lap Knight remained out front and continued to extent his lead.

Halfway through the race Knight’s bike started to run a little rich, making it difficult to rev the bike on the faster sections of the track. Still able to make up time on his rivals in the slower more technical sections David made one unscheduled pit stop for fuel at the end of the penultimate lap but still maintained a healthy lead. He crossed the finish line just over one minute ahead of Strang and Kanney.

“It’s great to have won again, especially right before the summer break, but winning wasn’t as easy as it could have been," Knight said. “For some reason my bike started popping a little every time I got out of the tight stuff and onto the open sections of track. I think it was too rich. I had to short shift gears because I couldn’t rev the motor out. On the fourth lap I stopped and took the airbox cover off, but it made things worse for a while. It started to clear eventually so I kept pushing hard just in case. I made a stop for fuel on the last lap, just to be sure, and had a good last lap."

The US Grand National Cross Country Series starts again on Sept. 14, with The Snowshoe GNCC.

Results
1. David Knight (Red Bull KTM Off Road Team) 2:45.29
2. Josh Strang (Suzuki) 2:46.40
3. Nate Kanney (KTM) 2:46.41
4. Paul Whibley (Suzuki) 2:46.48
5. Jason Raines (Yamaha) 2:49.49
6. Barry Hawk (Yamaha) 2:51.35
7. Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna) 2:52.26
8. Charlie Mullins (Suzuki) 2:54.05