Australian Shane Watts had a bit of a disappointing end to his 2005 Suzuki GNCC campaign when he finished 26th but is happy
with the way his year went after 2004 saw him announce his imminent retirement. With the retirement put on the
back burner Watts gutted it out after suffering injuries that would see most riders moving on to greener pastures to
notch up 8th overall in the highly regarded series.
"As I've said all year, this year has been a re-evaluation for me of my ability to race for the victory at
National Offroad events, and the necessary steps I need to take with my training and preparedness to achieve this.
I've actually learnt a lot about what works for me and brings the best out in me so now I'm concentrating on
getting my whole program together and being fully prepared for a big year in 2006."
The KTMHutt.com/FMCRacing.com backed racer had an eventful day at the last round of the 2005 GNCC Championship,
held in perfect conditions near Crawfordsville, Indiana over the weekend (Oct. 23).
Whilst moving towards the front of the field on the first lap, following a dismal start, Watts had his chain unexplainably
come off his KTM 200XC and then get wrapped in a wad between the sprocket and gear lever. From there Watts was able to
move back up to 11th position but then at the start of the second last lap he hit a submerged log in a river crossing
and subsequently took a face first, full body plunge into the very murky and cold depths.
After pitting for new goggles and gloves, and an unsuccessful effort at fixing a sticking throttle, from the now broken
throttle tube, Watts completed another lap before calling it a day part way through the last lap.
"I was so cold out there that it was miserable. Being cold, my reaction time was way slow so with the sticking throttle I
was an accident waiting to happen. I've had a decent GNCC season in '05 and finally finished with a position of equal
8th in the Championship."
