It wasn't quite the result he'd hoped for, but all things considered a fifth place result wasn't all that bad for David Knight at round seven of the US GNCC Series. Starting well before quickly moving to the front of the of the XC1 Pro class, the series points leader struck his head as he raced under a fallen tree that lay across the track, which severely de-tuned the Red Bull KTM Off Road Race Team rider and in part resulted in him failing to finish on the podium.
Third as he left the start Knight moved past his KTM team-mate Nate Kanney and Suzuki's Charlie Mullins within no time at all to take an early lead in the Spartan GNCC - a lead that he held for the remainder of the opening lap. Feeling comfortable out front and having opened up a small 45 second gap at the head of the field Knight looked to be headed towards yet another US GNCC race win. But on lap two things didn't quite go to plan as Knight was left dazed, and a little confused, having bashed his head against a fallen tree.
Feeling like he'd been `knocked stupid' and having troubles seeing properly Knight decided to slow his pace and follow Australia's Josh Strang while he recovered from the unexpected blow. Soon feeling like he was ready to move back to the front once again Knight found himself struggling with the front end of his KTM - something later traced to a badly damaged front mousse caused by the many square edge bumps and high temperatures.
With Australian Glenn Kearney and New Zealander Paul Whibley having caught him during the later stages of the race Knight's hopes of winning the race ended half way around the final lap as he performed a perfect flying `W' after he hit a rock fired up from the rear wheel of Strang's bike. Ending up crashing and getting his foot stuck between his bike's rear tyre and silencer, Knight realised that his chances of victory were well and truly over and settled for fifth.
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."
Results - US GNCC '08 Rnd 7, XC1 Pro class
1. Paul Whibley (Suzuki) 2:49.38
2. Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna) 2:50.25
3. Josh Strang (Suzuki) 2:50.50
4. Nate Kanney (KTM) 2:51.28
5. David Knight (Red Bull KTM Off Road Team) 2:51.43
6. Charles Mullins (Suzuki) 2:52.08
7. Jason Raines (Yamaha) 2:52.57
8. Jimmy Jarrett (Suzuki) 2:54.12
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