Yadkinville, NC - Red Bull KTM Factory Team riders David Knight and Justin Williamson earned podium positions at the eighth round of the GNCC Series.
Williamson earned his best finish of the season in the XC-2 class after getting a great start and remaining up front all day. Williamson came around the first turn in 4th, found his rhythm and quickly moved into 2nd. On the second to last lap Williamson passed for the lead and looked like he might take his first win of the season when he crashed into a bush and lost 20 seconds. The time lost was all it took for fellow KTM rider Jason Thomas to pass Williamson to take the win. Williamson finished 2nd overall just eight seconds behind Thomas. Williamson's 2nd place finish moved him up to 5th place in overall points.
"I am really happy for Williamson. He has been testing different set-ups and finally found one he is comfortable on. He looked great today and has found a rhythm he can carry throughout the rest of the season," commented Red Bull KTM Team Manager Antti Kallonen.
At the start of the XC-1 class, Knight, accidentally hit the start button too soon and although he got a great start he was later penalized 30 seconds for jumping the gun. Meanwhile, his teammate Nate Kanney was 4th off the start. Defending WORCS Series Champion, Kurt Caselli, also joined the team in his first GNCC of the season and he came around 5th off the start. Despite Knight's penalty on the start, he was still running up front until he realized he had taken the wrong trail on lap one and was set to suffer another penalty, this time one and a half minutes in length as he came around for lap number two.
"It was unfortunate that I had to incur two penalties today, but I agree with the rules and realize that it was my fault and am glad that despite the penalties I was able to finish on the podium," commented Knight.
After the two penalties, Knight was sitting in 5th and came up on his teammate Kanney who was currently in 4th. After some time, Kanney let Knight pass, realizing his speed was a little bit faster through that section. Knight moved into 4th and then eventually 3rd before the finish. Kanney was still holding on to 5th until the 2nd to last lap when he crashed pretty hard and lost some time falling back to 8th. Kanney recovered and caught a couple riders passing back into 6th on the last lap. Caselli finished 10th overall for the day. "I had a lot of fun racing the GNCC, but I need to work on my bike set-up and endurance," commented Caselli. "I tired on the last two laps and struggled with my bike set-up since I was still on my WORCS bike. I am looking forward to coming back for the next round where I will race on the two-stroke KTM 250 XC which I feel will suit me much better."
Next Event: GNCC Round 9 - Somerset, PA - July 5-6, 2008
XC-1 Class Overall Results:
1. Joshua Strang
2. Charles Mullins
3. David Knight - KTM
4. Paul Whibley
5. Glenn Kearney
6. Nate Kanney - KTM
7. Jason Raines
8. Garrett Edmisten
9. Jim Jarrett
10. Kurt Caselli - KTM
XC-1 Class Series Points:
1. David Knight - 196
2. Paul Whibley - 166
3. Joshua Strang - 159
4. Charles Mullins - 146
5. Nate Kanney - 129
XC-2 Class Overall Results:
1. Jason Thomas - KTM
2. Justin Williamson - KTM
3. Dustin Gibson
4. Thad Duvall
5. Scott Watkins
6. Kailub Russell - KTM
7. Eric Bailey - KTM
8. Brian Lawson
9. Kevin Korn
10. David Snyder
XC-2 Class Series Points:
1. Thad Duvall - 199
2. Dustin Gibson - 172
3. Kailub Russell - 143
4. Josh Weisenfels - 134
5. Justin Williamson - 102