It has been a pretty rough season of racing for Pahiatua’s motorcycle ace Paul Whibley.

The Yamaha ace won two major cross-country titles in the US last season, clinching the Grand National Cross-country Championships (GNCC) and the Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV (OMA) crown as well, but his 2013 campaign to defend both titles has been plagued by problems.

“I had a pretty hard get-off and broke a small bone in my hand earlier in the season and I also suffered a concussion in that practice crash,” Whibley explained.

“But, even before that, back in February, I had strained my groin. At the time it seemed like any other little injury that is commonplace in our sport. I rested it a little and then got back into training.

“The pain and discomfort seemed to linger and began to worsen as the season started to heat up. Through the course of the season it has progressively deteriorated.

“It has been painful to grip the bike with my knees and I lack core strength to hold my position on the bike. This condition seems to be more of a problem for me in muddy races, where my results have obviously suffered. A few months back, I began seeking medical advice and, after several visits to different doctors and specialists, a diagnosis was reached that I was suffering a sports hernia.

“I went through a course of physical therapy to work on strengthening and on increasing my flexibility, with the hope this would rectify the problem. Unfortunately, with little improvement from therapy, I returned to the specialist to look at other options. It seems now that the next step is surgery.

“No dates have been set yet, but we are looking at July, during the summer break (in the GNCC series). There is a lengthy recovery time required after this complicated operation and, because of this, I am not sure how long I will be out of action.

“The results so far this season have been disappointing and it is not how I planned to defend my No.1 plates.

“It has been tough at the races with all the fans and supporters urging me on and pinning their hopes on me. With me knowing I can’t deliver the results they want it makes it hard to stay positive. The hope is from here I can regroup, and return to 100 percent for the 2014 season.

“I really want to say thanks to everyone for their continued support.”

Whibley is assisted by Monster Energy, Sargent Yamaha in Masterton, MotoSR suspension, BikesportNZ.com, Graphic MX Creation and Yamaha Motor New Zealand.

© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com