Whibs 2010

[Katoomer]

Round 5 this morning. Paul led the 1st lap then had a hold up and dropped to 8th. Mullins won with Strang 2nd.

PAUL J WHIBLEY - SALEM, OH
Points Summary
Class Class Rank Class Points Points Behind
GNCC Bike p.m. XC1 Pro 4 88 57

Event Finish Summary

Round 5 - Loretta Lynns - Hurricane Mills, TN
GNCC Bike p.m. - XC1 Pro
Machine: Yamaha Class Finish: 8 / Overall Finish: 12

[denill]

Race Report: GNCC Rnd 5 Lorretta Lynns Tennesse
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha WR 450
Result: 8th

With the wave of the green flag I kicked the WR to life and shot to turn one. Had a great drive and rounded the corner in first, taking the holeshot and the big check from Motorcycleusa.com. The first half mile down and around the pits was pretty sloppy from the rain on Saturday, but after we crossed the road and into the woods we were back into the traditional Lorretta Lynns rock. The woods were in pretty good shape as most of the rain had run off and any excess had been splashed off by the morning race. Although most of the trail was pretty beat up, a 3 mile section of fresh single track was a welcomed relief.

I soon realized I had a problem as I went to readjust my clutch after the start and discovered the adjuster was jammed with almost zero free play. I was having a difficult time reaching the lever and began to tighten up as I struggled to deal with the issue. I continued to lead the first lap but the lack of control caused me to clip a tree mid way through the second lap, going down and handing the lead over to the hungry pack.

I was signaled into the pits at the completion of the lap for repairs. The perch was replaced but took several minutes and by the time I rolled back out onto the track the leaders were long gone. I continued to make laps and picked off a few riders, eventually moving up to 8th in the XC1 class.

Late in the race a lapped rider roosted a rock into my face, slamming into my goggles. I have heard a lot of horror storys about rocks blowing the lense right out of some goggles and tagging the rider in the face. Well I'm happy to report that my Smiths bounced that rock no problem at all.

Good news for the Am Pro Yamaha team came with Charlie Mullins taking his first win of the season and stopping Josh Strangs' win streak.

1st: Charlie Mullins
2nd: Josh Strang
3rd: Nate Kanney

Paul Whibley is supported by:
AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith, Ohlins, G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions.

[secondfield]

That seems bloody typical of Yamaha clutch perches. There was a 250 4T enduro shootout recently in ADB that mentioned the cable clutch on WR's
(yammy dirt bikes in general) hasn't changed for many years. It disengages at the furthest point with outstretched fingers and to get it operating mid-pull you have too slacken it off so much that the bugger flops around. I know he's factory and all but I bet he had a smoother pull on his KXF, which have beautiful clucth action, even better than hydraulic ones.

That said and done, Its great to see Pauls still a strong team player.. and good on Charlie as well ! about time a local won a round (snigger ..)

[takitimu]

The bit I liked was he was leading 1 & 1/2 laps, even with clutch problems, sounds like he's finally got the bike & himself sorted speed wise, from there it's just a matter of time before the results start piling in & my money is that he has a pretty large amount of frustration to take out on those tracks .

[denill]

XC1 Pro - Class Points RND 1 RND 2 RND 3 RND 4 RND 5
Plce Make Nbr Name Total Points
1 SUZ 002 JOSHUA STRANG 1 1 1 1 2 145
2 YAM 003 CHARLES MULLINS 3 4 3 4 1 108
3 KTM 014 CHRISTOPHER BACH 2 3 7 8 4 91
4 YAM 001 PAUL WHIBLEY 10 2 4 3 8 88
5 KTM 008 CORY BUTTRICK 8 6 2 6 5 84
6 HSQ 016 GLENN KEARNEY 6 12 6 5 6 70
7 KTM 116 NATHAN KANNEY 19 5 5 9 3 67
8 KAW 529 ERIC BAILEY 12 10 10 10 9 54
9 KAW 021 KENNETH GILBERT 11 9 9 11 11 54
10 YAM 009 BARRY HAWK JR 7 18 8 7 13 52

[denill]

The bit I liked was he was leading 1 & 1/2 laps, even with clutch problems, sounds like he's finally got the bike & himself sorted speed wise, from there it's just a matter of time before the results start piling in & my money is that he has a pretty large amount of frustration to take out on those tracks .

Yep, good point - but the difference is starting to mount and from here on, Whibs has to start scoring big points, else it will be too big a gap.

The big thing in Whibs' favour is that bad luck goes round too.

[takitimu]

Yep, good point - but the difference is starting to mount and from here on, Whibs has to start scoring big points, else it will be too big a gap.

The big thing in Whibs' favour is that bad luck goes round too.

This season will be tough to win agreed, but if he's comfortably fastest, then next season when with any luck the big money starts coming back & he can cash in, at the very least retain a top ride That'd be my theory .

[denill]

Race Report: OMA Round 2 Hanging Limb, Tennessee
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha WR 450
Result: 7th

With massive flooding all through central Tennessee it was sure to be a tough OMA event.
I got an ok jump off the line but got bounced around in the first turn and got filled in by the wall of roost coming from the back wheels of the bikes in front. In the first few turns the track had been turned into a sloppy mess by the quads on Saturday. I was working on making some quick passes to stay in contact with the leaders when I was basically T boned. I went down pretty hard. I dusted myself off (cant say muddied myself off, just sounds wrong) and fired the bike up. It didn't sound too good, more like an old tractor. The impact had punched a hole in my header pipe. I got going again but also had issues with the front brake. I first thought the crash had damaged the front disc with the brake hardly working. As I continued it got worse and within a mile I had no front brake at all. The technical soggy trail was a challenge to ride, even with both brakes working. I had several crashes trying to negotiate the numerous logs and hills that made up the track. Late in the lap I had a pretty good endo right in front of John Gasso's camera. It wasn't funny to me at the time but Im sure it looked pretty hilarious and I hope he got some good pics, probably of me mashing my new Monster Energy lid into the dirt.
I completed the lap and then pulled into the pits and went to work on fixing the brake. It seems the crash had knocked the brake line loose from the master cylinder. We tried to bleed it up but it wasn't happening so with the help of Ryan and Brit, a complete system was robbed from Brits bike and fitted to mine. Back out onto the track, lap one was completed in the record time of 51 minutes. I was so far behind the leaders now I had no hope of winning this race. I continued to put in laps and picked off a few riders as the race wore on, but that was a slim consolation to how the OMA season has started out.
A big thanks to Ryan and Brit for their help and Katherine for standing in the rain keeping me going.


1st: Jimmy Jarrett
2nd: Scott Watkins
3rd: Russell Bobbitt

Paul Whibley is supported by:
AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith, Ohlins, G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions.

[denill]

Race Report: OMA Round 2 Hanging Limb, Tennessee
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha WR 450
Result: 7th

With massive flooding all through central Tennessee it was sure to be a tough OMA event.
I got an ok jump off the line but got bounced around in the first turn and got filled in by the wall of roost coming from the back wheels of the bikes in front. In the first few turns the track had been turned into a sloppy mess by the quads on Saturday. I was working on making some quick passes to stay in contact with the leaders when I was basically T boned. I went down pretty hard. I dusted myself off (cant say muddied myself off, just sounds wrong) and fired the bike up. It didn't sound too good, more like an old tractor. The impact had punched a hole in my header pipe. I got going again but also had issues with the front brake.

I first thought the crash had damaged the front disc with the brake hardly working. As I continued it got worse and within a mile I had no front brake at all. The technical soggy trail was a challenge to ride, even with both brakes working. I had several crashes trying to negotiate the numerous logs and hills that made up the track. Late in the lap I had a pretty good endo right in front of John Gasso's camera. It wasn't funny to me at the time but Im sure it looked pretty hilarious and I hope he got some good pics, probably of me mashing my new Monster Energy lid into the dirt.

I completed the lap and then pulled into the pits and went to work on fixing the brake. It seems the crash had knocked the brake line loose from the master cylinder. We tried to bleed it up but it wasn't happening so with the help of Ryan and Brit, a complete system was robbed from Brits bike and fitted to mine. Back out onto the track, lap one was completed in the record time of 51 minutes. I was so far behind the leaders now I had no hope of winning this race. I continued to put in laps and picked off a few riders as the race wore on, but that was a slim consolation to how the OMA season has started out.

A big thanks to Ryan and Brit for their help and Katherine for standing in the rain keeping me going.


1st: Jimmy Jarrett
2nd: Scott Watkins
3rd: Russell Bobbitt

Paul Whibley is supported by:
AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith, Ohlins, G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions.

[Reckless]

Thanks for posting that denhill
doesn't sound like his luck is changing! Bugger!

[denill]

doesn't sound like his luck is changing! Bugger!

Yeah, it is a bugger, but one thing is for sure - Whibs is NOT a quitter.................

[camchain]

Hell's bells and buckets of blood. Can this man get a break? Someone has a Whibley voodoo doll and is sticking pins in it. Needs to sacrifice a chicken - smear blood on face/bike.
Good observation re about not being a quitter. Impressive. I'd be having a big sulk by now.

Do like the way he always slips in a nod to a sponsor though. Lol.

[takitimu]

Hell's bells and buckets of blood. Can this man get a break? Someone has a Whibley voodoo doll and is sticking pins in it. Needs to sacrifice a chicken - smear blood on face/bike.
Good observation re about not being a quitter. Impressive. I'd be having a big sulk by now.

Do like the way he always slips in a nod to a sponsor though. Lol.

You'd mention them to, if looking after them meant you could continue riding , I think he does a great job of explaining how his sponsors actually help out & when their kit does it's job, sure as he mentions when stuff breaks to .

THey reckon you find what a person is made of in adversity & looks like the axeman is one tough SOB.

[camchain]

100% with you there, didn't mean to come across like a dig, just thought his dry humour was hard case after a tough day at the office eg. Take a header - mention Monster energy lid!

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. He inspired me a bit today. The more I think about it, the less I feel bad for him & the more I respect him. Battlers like Axeman are true class and examples to admire.
Crazy society venerates vacuous plankton like Paris Hilton as a supposed 'celebrity' - someone worth paying attention to. Actors - who's work is literally to 'pretend to do things' are pretty much the most famous, wealthy, respected people on the planet. World is a strange place.

BTW. I hear Rory Mead came in a very impressive 4th in the Tough One Enduro in UK (That massive manx monster maxxed it - 1st)

[denill]

Race Report: GNCC Round 6 Yadkinville SC
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha WR 450
Result: 2nd XC1

I got a good jump of the line but got bounced around a little in turn one and surfaced in third position. Josh Strang nabbed the holeshot and was making good use of the dusty conditions. I moved into second after about a mile but Josh had already checked out. Mid lap I caught Josh a little and could see him in the tight section. When we came out into the dusty sections again I wasn't close enough to see through his dust and dropped back.

My team mate Charlie Mullins had also caught me in the tight section. Charlie is one of the best riders I've seen go through tight trees and he threaded his YZ through the pines with amazing speed. Later in the lap I washed the front end out and Charlie slid past taking 2nd position. I pushed as hard as I could but couldn't make any ground up on the leaders. At the end of the second lap I came across Josh lying on the side of the track. He had obviously gone down hard and hadn't moved far. I stopped to see if he was ok. He wasn't moving much but he said he was ok but hurt. Thad Duvall passed me while I was checking on Josh dropping me to 3rd. As I went through the pits I saw the Suzuki crew heading out to the woods to look for Josh and I tried to point them in the right direction.

Back into the race, I could see Thad in front of me but I gained and lost time depending on dust. I saw Thad picking up his bike after I'm guessing was a small crash and closed up the gap. We got back into a dusty section after the creek jump and I lost him again. Later that lap I passed a bike on the side of the track and after getting pit boards from Katherine that I was up to 2nd, realized that was Thad's bike. Later learning Thad had hurt his shoulder.

2 laps to go and Glen Kearney had his little Husky singing and caught up to me. His 250f seemed good in the tight stuff and he was right on my rear wheel through that section. I managed to extend my buffer on Glen in the last lap and was happy to be back on the podium again when the final flag flew.

A good day for the Am Pro Yamaha team taking a one, two finish. Also good to see Glen back on the podium after all the hard work he puts in.

1st: Charlie Mullins
2nd: Paul Whibley
3rd: Glen Kearney

Paul Whibley is supported by:
AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith, Ohlins, G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions.