Australia’s defending Grand National Cross Country Champion Josh Strang believes he should have won last weekend’s Big Buck GNCC in South Carolina.

The FMF Makita Suzuki rider let the leaders get away at the start, but rallied during the second half of the three-hour race to pull within 15 seconds of eventual winner Charlie Mullins.

“I caught up with Charlie fairly easy there on the last lap and I think I should have won it,” said Strang. “I felt good today, but I just messed up the first two laps and I let those guys get away.

“My FMF Makita Suzuki ran good today, but I just ran out of time and had too much distance to make up at the end.”

With four rounds in the books, Strang stands second in championship points, just two back from the leader 100 to 98, with Loretta Lynn’s looming for the next round in the series.

“We’ve got three weeks until Loretta’s and I’m going to go home and work hard and come back and get the win,” added Strang.

The 2011 FMF Makita Suzuki team’s next event is Sunday, 1 May, in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, for the Loretta Lynn’s GNCC.