This morning, KTM’s Shane Watts picked up where he left off last season by spanking a host of fast Americans at the opening round of the AMA Grand National Cross Country series in Okeechobee, Florida.
Watts, who won six GNCC’s last year despite missing several races with injuries, and despite racing on an essentially bone-stock KTM 125, rode a KTM 200 today in hot, rough (sand whoops equals rough) conditions.
Although official results were unavailable at the time of this writing, unofficially, Suzuki’s Rodney Smith and Steve Hatch finished second and third. Former four-time National Motocross Champion Mike Kiedrowski, riding the trick, Yoshimura-tuned Suzuki DR-Z400, finished ninth.
Although we won’t necessarily report on all of the GNCC results here at MD, Shane Watts is of special interest to us. Watts caught our attention last year when he routinely beat the factory 250s and 400s aboard a stock KTM 125 — something no one has ever done before. We hope to post an interview with Watts in the near future.
