SHANE WATTS RACE REPORT–JUNE 6

KTMHutt.com/Fun Mart Cycles sponsored Shane Watts raced to a magnificent second place finish at Round 3 of the National Hare Scramble Championship held in Elkton, Oregon over the weekend.

Heavy rain on Saturday ensured that Sunday?s race would be conducted in muddy and extremely slippery conditions around the picturesque 9-mile course.

Watts fired out of the hole with a great start to the race on his KTM 200EXC and proceeded to lead for the first two half laps before being passed by Jason Raines for the lead. After the fuel stop Watts then had a disastrous fourth lap, which saw him crash on three separate occasions and relegated to a distant third position. From there Watts calmed down and re-focused on riding confidently in the difficult conditions, which allowed him to easily move into second position at the commencement of the final lap. Having gained a nice buffer over third place during that last lap Watts was halted a mile from the finish when the rear wheel suddenly locked up. After spending considerable time resolving the problem, which allowed third placed Brian Garrahan to be right on his tail, these two then had a mad dash to the checkers, with Watts coming out on top by the barest of margins.

“That was a close finish!” enthused Watts on the podium.
“Garrahan was all over me and I definitely felt the pressure, which made me make some silly mistakes. Conditions were fairly difficult out there today so I just concentrated on trying to ride smooth and consistent. When Raines went by I could have easily stepped it up to his pace for a while but I was a bit skeptical of my current fitness level so I decided to just keep running at a comfortable pace and not chase him. Now that I?m back in a position to resume my training program I?m looking forward to getting fit enough to be able to comfortably charge in those kinds of difficult racing conditions.”

National Hare Scrambles ? Elkton, Oregon (May 28)

1. Jason Raines (YAM)
2. Shane Watts (KTM)
3. Brian Garrahan (SUZ)
4. Pat Garrahan (KTM)
5. Billy Russell (KTM)
6. David Pearson (KAW)