WHIBLEY AND MEAD | Bikesportnz

Kiwi international Paul Whibley has been seemingly unstoppable at home this summer.

The Pahiatua man pocketed another major victory at the weekend – teaming with fellow Yamaha ace Rory Mead, of Taupo, to win the annual Raglan Rox four-hour dirt bike race near Oparau – as he continues to build towards another season of racing back in the United States.

No.3 in the Grand National Cross-country Championships (GNCC) series in the US, Whibley was favoured to win at Oparau, especially with fellow Kiwi international and former national enduro champion Mead as his running mate on the Sargent Motorcycles Yamaha YZ450F.

The riders gathered on start-line, overlooking spectacular views out over the Kawhia harbour and coastline, but Whibley was one man not to be distracted and managed to pull a solid holeshot.

“I worked hard on the first lap and opened up about a minute lead over the chasing Kawasaki team of Jayden Grey and Ben Townley. Over the next couple of laps I maintained that lead without taking any risks on the fast track.”

International motocross ace Townley, of Taupo, on the comeback from injury sustained during the Australasian Super X series late last year, took over from Grey and set a fast pace as he worked hard to eat into the lead established by Whibley.

“Rain began to fall as I handed the bike over to Rory for his turn at the fuel stop,” said Whibley. “Unfortunately, Rory had a crash on the increasingly slippery track, allowing Ben Townley to make up a lot of time and take the lead.”

Townley and Grey worked well together and put some time on the Yamaha duo as persistent rain made the terrain increasingly treacherous.

“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 passed 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, to take share the win with Rory.”

Whibley will continue his pre-season build-up by racing at the 50th annual Woodville Motocross this weekend, before flying back to the east coast on the US to again tackle the American GNCC series.

LEADING RESULTS:

1. Paul Whibley/ Rory Mead (Yamaha YZ450F)

2. Jayden Grey/ Ben Townley (Kawasaki KX450F)

3. Scott Birch/ Cullum Birch (KTM 250 SX-F)

4. John O’Dea (Suzuki RM-Z450)

5. Dougy Herbert (KTM 350)

6. Sean Clarke/ Nigel Scott (Yamaha WR250)

7. David Till/ Jesse Wiki (Honda CRF450)

8. Mark Penny/ Chris Penny (Suzuki RM-Z250)

9. Duncan McLaren/ Mark Newton (Husaberg TE300)

10. Mark Fuller/ Phil Swann (KTM 200 EXC)

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