Whibs 2010

[denill]

Race Report: NZ GNCC Rnd 4
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: Sargent MCC/AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha YZ450 F
Result: 1st

Blazing sun and high temperatures greeted riders lining up for the latest NZ GNCC event held in Maramarua forest south of Auckland. Some early confusion off the start line after a track change saw myself and fellow Yamaha rider Rory Mead briefly take a wrong turn and lose some track positions. I found myself in third behind Reece Burgess for the first few kms but with some aggressive riding moved up tosecond. The track was extremely dusty and excessively fast and I couldn’t let fast starting Karl Power get away. Although by the time I got to second all I could see of Karl was the long dust trail. I didn’t help my cause when in the dust I missed a turn and only realized when I came into clean air that I had made a mistake. End of lap 1 I had nearly a minute to make up.

I kept the pressure on and began to eat into Karls lead as I learned the track. End of the second lap the gap was down to about 30 seconds and by the end of 3rd lap I had reeled him in and locked on to his wheel. Some risky moves were made in the dust but they soon payed off as I took the lead in the fourth lap. Finally in the clean air I was able to ride safely and not take any more chances.

As the race progressed I was able to move out to a comfortable lead. Taking the win in the 2 hour 30 min event with Karl bringing his Honda home second and Reece Burgess maintaining his good start and rounding out the final podium spot on his Husaberg.
1st; Paul Whibley
2nd; Karl Power
3rd; Reece Burgess

Paul Whibley is supported in NZ by:
AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith,
G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions, EC3D, Bush Riders
MCC,Spectro, Acerbis, DID, JT sprokets, GHQ, Pirelli,
Sargent Motorcycles, Yamaha NZ. Rosscos Start up
Services

[NordieBoy]

I have the same problems in the dust.

Except I have clear air until they lap me...

[denill]

Race Report: Bush Riders XC Rnd 2
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: Sargent MC/AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha YZ450 F
Result: 1st
The latest round of the Bush Riders Cross Country series was held in blustery dry conditions south east of Pahiatua.
The traditional “run to your bike” start was abandoned in favour of holding the back guard as the strength of the wind would have leveled the field before the shot gun could signal a start. Even the modified start couldn’t hold the YZ back, grabbing a massive holeshot and control of the race. First lap I played it safe, learned the track and rode smart in the gale force westerly.
The 22 km lap was long and took some remembering but by the second lap I had most of the dodgy bits memorised and stepped up the pace, opening up a gap on the chasing riders.
Katherine manned the IMS dumpcan and at the end of the second lap I was gassed up ready to tackle the last two laps. The conditions were mentally draining with high concentration levels needed to maintain a mistake free run as any idle mindedness along the ridgetops was punished by riders getting the front wheel blown out from under them.
The last two laps were put in the books trouble free and my lead was even stretched further taking the checkers just after the two hour mark.
After the race most riders were unanimous in that the wind spoilt an otherwise fun and flowing track. I did hear a report post race of one poor rider who we will just call, um, Woodchopper, actually getting blown over a fence!!! All made worse that it happened within sight of the scoring tent.

Paul Whibley is supported in NZ by:
AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith,
G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions, EC3D, Bush Riders
MCC,Spectro, Acerbis, DID, JT sprokets, GHQ, Pirelli,
Sargent Motorcycles, Yamaha NZ, Rosscos Start Up
Services

[NordieBoy]

Woodchopper?
Oh dear

[denill]

Race Report: Raglan Rox 4 Hour
Rider: Paul Whibley/ Rory Mead
Team: Sargent MC/ Yamaha NZ
Bike: Yamaha YZ450 F
Result: 1st

The annual Raglan Rox 4 Hour XC was held at a new venue near Oparau. I had teamed up for this event with fellow Yamaha rider Rory Mead.
Lining up on the start with spectacular views out over the Kawhia harbour and coastline could have been distracting some of the riders as I managed to pull a solid holeshot from a not so favourable position on the line. I worked hard on the first lap and opened up about a minute lead over the chasing team of Jayden Grey and Ben Townley.

Over the next couple of laps I maintained that lead without taking any risks on the fun and fast track. Ben Townley took over from Jayden and set a fast pace as he worked hard to eat into our lead. Rain began to fall as I handed the bike over to Rory for his turn at the fuel stop. Unfortunately Rory had a crash on the increasingly slippery track allowing Ben to make up a lot of time and take the lead. Ben and Jayden worked well together and put some time on Rory and myself. The track had become extremely slippery with the now persistant rain and several of the hills were giving riders some grief. I jumped back on after Rory's session and was surprised by how much the conditions had changed, getting caught out on a slick corner and going down. I worked hard at putting in mistake free laps after that and began to close in on the lead. We were running out of laps but on the last lap I caught and past Jayden. Over the last lap I managed to pull a small lead. The track was now littered with bikes especially on several of the slick hills that climbed up through the bush section. I managed to weave my way up the toughest hill safely, threading my way through the cooked and stuck bikes.

Arriving at the finish in first and sharing the win with my team mate Rory. Big thanks to Carol and Gordy Brooker for all their help.

1st: Paul Whibley/ Rory Mead
2nd: Jayden Grey/ Ben Townley
3rd: Scott Birch/ Cullum Birch

Paul Whibley is supported in NZ by:
AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith,
G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions, EC3D, Bush Riders
MCC,Spectro, Acerbis, DID, JT sprokets, GHQ, Pirelli,
Sargent Motorcycles, Yamaha NZ, Rosscos start Up
Services

[takitimu]

Damn I hope I get to see a gncc this year, sounds really positive how paul is riding.

Though maybe just me, but sounds like bt was not exactly feeling crook either, which is also damn good news.