Whibley Makes It Two From Two
APRIL 14, 2015: There
was simply no stopping Pahiatua's Paul Whibley at the
weekend.
Heavy rain leading up to the final
round of the Central Cross Country Series near Eketahuna on Sunday
had organisers scrambling to reroute parts of the track to make
sure everyone could actually ride the course, not that two-time
former American cross-country champion Whibley would have been
expected to struggle with the conditions.
And so it proved, with the Yamaha
ace from Pahiatua running away to a convincing win on
Sunday.
The 36-year-old Whibley, now
resettled back in New Zealand after a 12-year international racing
career, therefore made it two wins from two starts in the
five-round series.
Palmerston North's Charles
Alabaster won the series, his 1-1-1-2-4 score-card easily enough
for him to take the overall series trophy ahead of Eketahuna's
Daniel Christie and Stratford Yamaha rider Karl Roberts.
But this final round of the series
on Sunday belonged to Whibley (Yamaha YZ450F).
"I got away well from the Le
Mans-style start and quickly moved into the lead," said
Whibley.
"The trail led down a gravel creek
bed before we turned out and weaved our way along some flowing,
bulldozed tracks. A short run along a ridge top reminded the riders
just how strong the wind was, but before you knew it, we dropped
back down into the gulley and towards the scoring zone.
"Daniel Christie kept me in sight
for the first shortened lap but, after the pits, we ran through the
gorge and the pine section, where I started to edge
away.
"The pine trees were pretty slick
the first time through, but, after getting stirred up, the soil got
better and better. The gorge also benefited from a few bikes
powering through, with a line forming through the loose rocks and
everyone's confidence grew with the realisation that the
wall-to-wall water section was not that deep.
"I managed to pull clear of Daniel
and run my own race out front. I really enjoyed the track with a
balanced mix of bush, pines and farmland."
Masterton's Jacob Hyslop held on to
finish third, ahead of series champion Alabaster.
In the junior class, Marton's Josh
Pilet won the series outright, finishing ahead of Kotemaori's Reece
Lister, who was a no-show on Sunday because he was instead racing
at the New Zealand Junior Motocross Championships at Te Kuiti.
Third overall in the junior grade was Chris Dickson.
A total of 60 juniors and 150
seniors took part in the series.
The final prize-giving saw 34
trophies handed out, including product prizes for every entrant and
a spit roast pig and lamb meal for all.
Whibley is supported by Yamaha
Motor New Zealand, Freedom Moto Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei,
Sidi, Smith, MSR G2, Asterisk, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions, EC3D,
Bush Riders MCC, Spectro, Acerbis, DID, JT sprockets, Leatt, Kenda,
Yamaha NZ, BikesportNZ.com, Unibiker and Tire balls.
Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com