After conquering World championship competition, as well as the ISDE, Shane Watts came to the United States and toyed with our best GNCC riders, rotating bikes through the KTM line-up to make things interesting (see our article Shane Watts and the Six KTMs on October 26, 2000). Watts became our GNCC champ that year, but things quickly went down hill with injuries and other problems that led to the announcement of his retirement from racing in 2004 (see his own letter on the subject here).
Mr. Watts did race again, but without the consistent success, and even domination, he had shown earlier. Well, Shane Watts just won the opening round of the GNCC series in Florida last weekend, defeating the acknowledged top enduro rider in the world, David Knight, in the process. Watts did this as a pure privateer (no factory support whatsoever). According to eye witnesses, Watts looked like the speed demon he was back in 2000. What could be more fun than a battle royal between David Knight and Shane Watts this year? If Watts can stay on the form he showed this weekend, we just might see it.
