Knight is ready to go
By TMX Archives on 5th Mar 08
David Knight has been preparing to defend his GNCC title - and he's confident that he can hang on to it...
DAVID Knight's US Grand National Cross Country preparations took a step in the right direction on Tuesday this week when the reigning GNCC champion completed his final test session ahead of
the season-opener in Melbourne, Florida.
Spending several hours adjusting to the rough and sandy conditions, Knight finalised his bike set-up and looked both relaxed and fast ahead of the opening round of the series.
"I feel pretty good about things,” commented Knight. "This time last year I had a hand injury and still managed to finish on the podium, so I'm looking forward to making a good start to the championship with strong results at the first few races.”
With the season-opening event in Florida also one of the hardest of the 13-round championship, Knight, like many of his rivals, was under no illusions as to just how physically demanding the first round would be.
"It will be tough,” admitted the defending champion. "There's nowhere to rest because the track gets so rough. You have to concentrate the whole time
because there are tree
roots everywhere.”
While Knight starts the series as the rider expected to win the championship, a number of riders are being tipped as possible title challengers, most noteworthy is newly signed Suzuki rider, Charlie Mullins.
Winner of two races in '07 and a rider that lead the points standings for a while, Charlie is seen as the rider who will pose the biggest threat to Knight's title defence. With the speed, in dry conditions, and with a former championship winning team behind him, Mullins is also the rider under the most pressure to perform, having long been touted as the next big thing – something he's so far failed to become, despite his obvious potential.
Yamaha rider Barry Hawk, who finished second in last year's championship is an-other rider expected to be there or there abouts when the season draws to a close in Indiana in late October.
Not as fast as either Knight or Mullins, Barry will be hoping that consistency – something that he's been lacking in past years, will help him make a run for the title.
The second Suzuki rider who could make life hard for Knight is Jimmy Jarrett. Another rider that has long had the potential to win races, Jimmy finally came good during '07 and is expected by many to be a regular podium contender this year.
The fifth rider to watch is Kawasaki-mounted Garrett Edmisten. Competing as a privateer once again, the Florida native showed last year that Knight wasn't the only rider who could hustle a four-stroke onto the podium and produced a strong season's worth of results.
But no matter what the outcome of the first two rounds, Knight's confident that he can retain his title. "I'm confident that I can win again. The other riders will be fast but you need to be fast and consistent to win a championship. Last year there wasn't one rider that was pushing me hard all season. This year there are a few riders that will be hard to beat, but over the whole championship I'm confident I can do it.”
For full pictures, see T+MX NEWS, Friday, February 29, 2008