Whibs 2010

[secondfield]

Good result!, sounds like he is finding his form at last... well done Paul

[denill]

Race Report: Mid East Hare Scramble, Winnesboro, SC
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha WR 450
Result: 1st

I got a good start and drove up the inside into second as we rounded the first turn. I moved into lead quickly by jumping a creek and set off to try gap the field. The track was mostly single track and pretty dusty on the higher ground. Down near the creek the soil was loamy, even sandy in a few sections. I opened up a good lead over Stewart Baylor (one of the top riders in the XC2 at the GNCCs) and continued to push as the laps ticked by. The weather was pretty hot and humid with temperatures in the 90s. When I came in for gas Katherine looked pretty hot from running around in the sun. At least I had some air to cool me as I raced around.

With short laps and dusty, tight conditions traffic was busy. Most riders were pretty good and were quick to move over and let the faster riders through. Although like always there are the few that want to race and make you work for the pass. On a tight track its hard to go two wide on single track, so apologies to those that my Kendas left marks on.
After two hours the flag came out. It was a good fun track and was great training in the heat and humidity.

1st: Paul Whibley
2nd: Stewart Baylor
3rd: Matthew Nix

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

[camchain]

Excellent news. That's more like it. No GNCC points but.

Quote from latest ADB: After trialing (and liking) the new YZ450F, defending champ bowed to Yamaha's will and rolled up to race on WR. Lol @ Kenda marks. Leaving sponsor imprint on competitors.

[vazza]

Haha well done. He'll be stoked.

[denill]

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/of...ain-ridge-gncc

XC1 Results:

1. Charlie Mullins (Yam)

2. Cory Buttrick (KTM)

3. Barry Hawk Jr. (Yam)

4. Paul Whibley (Yam)

5. Nate Kanney (KTM)

6. Glenn Kearney (Hsq)

7. Josh Strang (Suz)

8. Kenneth Gilbert (Kaw)

9. Jedediah Haines (Kaw)

10. Eric Bailey (Kaw)



XC1 Standings:

1. Josh Strang (171/4 wins)

2. Charlie Mullins (168/3 wins)

3. Paul Whibley (131)

[secondfield]

Jeez' wonder what happened to Strang? - good shit, slowly whittling down his series lead so far ...

[denill]

Race Report: GNCC Rnd 7 Somerset Pennsylvania
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha WR 450
Result: 4th XC1

Rain the previous day made the Pennsylvania track technical and tough. The trail is littered with rocks and some of the rock gardens found in the woods are pretty gnarly.
I got a good jump off the line but ran a bit wide on turn one. I was with the lead bunch on the first lap, learning some lines and running a comfortable pace. Charlie Mullins was in front of me and seemed happy to just follow the guys in front and wasn't pushing to make any passes.

On the second lap a minor spill resulted in losing sight of the lead bunch. I was getting signals that they were just in front but I couldn't seem to bridge the gap back to the leaders. Without seeing the leaders and riding by myself a lot I wasn't able to see and learn the best lines as easy. Although I have to thank the many people out on the track pointing lines through some of the rock gardens and bog holes.

Mid race some crazy guy was standing in the middle of the track. I slowed down, not sure what he was doing, then he took a swing at me and hit me in the shoulder. Kinda caught me off guard. Talking after the race this guy had taken a shot at a lot of riders and apparently wasn't happy with the event being held there.

I ended up going back and forth with Jason Thomas late in the race, I thought I had gapped him but I fell about 3 times on the last lap and he caught right back up.
Crossing the line in fourth in XC1 was still not the result that I am looking for but a finish was good in these tough conditions.

1st: Charlie Mullins
2nd: Cory Buttrick
3rd: Barry Hawk

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

[secondfield]

Wow, Another new obstacle to add to XC races .... Lunatic greenies ....

[Katoomer]

So long as they left their guns at home. A fist v body armour sounds better than a tree.

[takitimu]

Wow, Another new obstacle to add to XC races .... Lunatic greenies ....

Unlikely to be a greenie, Somerset is in the back of beyond in Pennsylvania ( random factoid about 5 miles from where flight 93 went down on 911 ).

More likely a local pissed about noise or some random druggy trailer park trash.

[takitimu]

So long as they left their guns at home. A fist v body armour sounds better than a tree.

Good point, they have as many guns as Texas lol, though in all honesty never seen one ever at a GNCC.

[denill]

Wow, Another new obstacle to add to XC races .... Lunatic greenies ....

That reminded me of the stupid old half wit who was pissed off with the riders at a 4 day National at Pahiatua many years ago and who drove down the road at the riders………… Broke some ones leg.

Anyone remember that. Nah, you're all far toooo yopung.

[denill]

Race Report: OMA Round 3 Rio Grande, Ohio
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha WR 450
Result: 2nd

Nice and hot. Thats how I like them. Although with the heat usually comes dust and I prefer mud. I guess I'm kinda hard to please.
Round 3 of the OMAs was hot and humid, over 32 C (90s) but since the track was fresh we escaped a lot of the dust usually associated with this temperature.

I got a good jump and Scotty Watkins and I were bar to bar down the start straight, neither of us let off and we both ran wide in turn one, handing the hole shot over to Jordan Ashburn I think. I was back in about 4th racing with Jimmy Jarrett for the first couple laps. We pushed each other forward and we ended up moving our battle forward to a race for 2nd. Thad Duvall was up front and making a break for it. While Jimmy and I swapped positions Thad built a lead of over a minute. I broke away from Jimmy and tried to chase down Thad.

At the fuel stop Katherine told me I needed to push harder if I was going to put a dent in Thads' lead. During the second half of the event I closed the gap a little but not enough to challenge for the lead. The white flag came out seemingly early, I still felt good and was pushing, can't of been pushing hard enough cause by the end of the race I still had more left. Katherine informed me the race ran a total time of 2hrs 15 min so it wasn't short by OMA standards.

So I was back on the podium in 2nd. Solid race but need to work on speed early and get into the race for the lead earlier to give myself a shot at the win.

1st: Thad Duvall
2nd: Paul Whibley
3rd: Scotty Watkins

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

[denill]

Race Report: GNCC Round 8, John Penton, Ohio
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha WR 450
Result: 3rd

The Penton GNCC has a reputation of being a dust bowl or mud fest. This year was no different. A massive downpour on Saturday as the Quad pro race was in staging delayed their start an hour. On Sunday another huge downpour just before 10 am completely soaked the place. There was a lot of talk about combining the morning and afternoon race and run a shortened race. In the end the morning race guys got their start delayed until 11:30 and ran for an hour and the afternoon race was to run 2 hours.

I got a good start and rounded turn one in the lead although Cory Buttrick just pipped me to the hole shot line entering turn two. The first few turns were on a mx track then we hit the woods where conditions were pretty wet and the mud was heavy. The trail technique was mostly get into the rut and stay there. I learned the hard way that the main slot was the fastest as I tried to make a pass on different lines and each time lost a position. I ended up behind Jimmy Jarrett and racing with him for the first lap until we got close to scoring. Early in the second lap I got wedged in a rut. It took me a long time to get the WR out. A lot of lifting and heaving to pry out my bike that now felt like it weighed a tonne. I thought my race was done again since I was so far back but I kept going hoping to salvage some points.

As the race progressed I picked up positions as the conditions began to take there toll. At the fuel stop Katherine told me I was up to 5th and that that fourth place was not to far in front.
Over the last two laps some sections of the track were removed as they were getting blocked by bottlenecks and some deep ruts. On the last lap I came to a blockage with some deep ruts. I could see what looked like Josh Strang, stuck in the rut. I decided to try go around as many others had tried too but unsure if it was possible. I pinned it up a little bank through the bushes, over a couple of logs and pushed through some vines and I dropped back down to the track, just behind Josh Strang as he emerged from the mud hole.

The track was single track and passing was near impossible so I had to just follow. We came to another rider stuck in the main line, Josh went high I went low, but I stalled my bike and lost some time restarting. I closed the gap back up by the finish but had to settle for the position I was in. Crossing the line I was surprised to see I was up to third (Josh was running 2nd).

Pretty happy with the result considering I was so far back early in the race.
A little disappointed the race was only 2 hours but I guess the call had to be made with the conditions being what they were.
A big congrats to Cory Buttrick for taking his first overall win. I'm sure the first of many.


1st: Cory Buttrick
2nd: Josh Strang
3rd: Paul Whibley

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

[denill]

Race Report: GNCC Rnd 9, Snowshoe, WV
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha WR 450
Result: 9th XC1

Another one of those days.
In the first couple of miles I began to have clutch problems. With the Snowshoe event having a long lap of around 22 miles it was some time before I was back to the pits. One problem was fixed and another was created.

I was sent back out on the track although a long way back. All I could hope for was to score some points. Since the track was rocky and pretty tough there were a few positions to be gained when others dropped out with their own issues. The race was also long in duration, running about 3 hours and 30 min and I picked up a few positions late in the race passing riders that had spent everything already on the demanding course.

The Ohlins suspension again did a fine job of gobbling up the roots and rocks and smoothing the track out. The G2 throttle cam system allowed me to tune the power delivery to find traction in the slickest sections. I'm not sure what went wrong with the clutch, my only guess is I put something in incorrectly.
A very disappointing weekend.

Front Tire, Kenda Washougal
Rear Tire, Kenda Triple (soft)

1st: Nate Kanney
2nd: Jesse Robinson
3rd: Chris Bach

Paul Whibley is supported by:
AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith, Ohlins, G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions, EC3D