Shane Watts salvaged fourth place despite running out of fuel at Round 2 of the OMA Nationals held in
Decatur, Arkansas over the weekend.
Conducted in perfect conditions following an overnight rain storm, the KTMHutt.com/M2R/Maxxis Offroad rider began the 7 lap, 2.5 hour race with a great jump out of the hole on his 200XC to claim the $1000 holeshot award. Watts was able to slowly ease away from the field until he was joined by Jarrett at the front, where they both traded the lead, and continued to gap their competition. The scene was getting set for a last lap showdown until Watts ran out of fuel with a lap and a half to go.
Fortunately Watts was able to get enough fuel for the next 5 miles of that lap from amatuer racer and KTM rider, Bill Yocum, even though it was "straight" fuel from Yocum‰Ûªs 4 stroke! Watts then nursed the his KTM to the completion of that lap, then topped off with enough pre-mix to make a final lap charge back past some rivals to take fourth overall.
‰ÛÏYeah, I was pretty disappointed about running out of fuel. That‰Ûªs the second time it‰Ûªs happened to me this year and each time it‰Ûªs been on a different bike, but with the same problem of the carby floats starting to leak during the middle of the race. Other than that I was happy with the way things went for me during the race. I haven‰Ûªt been feeling physically very strong on the bike lately so I just rode a consistent pace at the front, and with Jarrett we were able to get a huge lead over the other Pro riders. Now that my other commitments are starting to ease up, I can dedicate a lot more time to my training program, and get myself back to the point of being able to charge for the whole race and take a convincing victory.‰Û
