New Zealand‘s Paul Whibley is back on top in the United States.

The Kawasaki rider from Pahiatua reclaimed the series lead when he won the eighth round of 13 in the Grand National Cross-Country Championships (GNCC) with a go-to-whoa victory in Millfield, Ohio at the weekend.

From being back in third place and six points behind leader Josh Strang after a difficult time at the previous round — when he punctured a hole in his bike’s radiator, lost the race lead and ended up finishing seventh — Whibley now finds himself back in the No.1 championship spot and three points clear of Strang.

“It was pretty cool to win,” Whibley said. “It’s been a tough year. I’ve had a few problems this year with some bad luck so this was a good race. I feel pretty good about taking the win. It’s good to be back on the top again.”

In some of the best racing conditions the Millfield track has seen in years, Whibley and his team-mate, American Jimmy Jarrett, stole the show as the two raced ahead of Australian Suzuki rider Strang.

“I got a decent start and worked my way up to third couple miles into it,” Jarrett said. “Paul and I slowly pulled away from everybody. Maybe a few miles to the end I crashed with a lapper and crashed again and I settled for second. I didn’t do anything to throw the race away and I’m happy with second.”

Whibley  took the $250 holeshot award and only got faster as the race went on, and churned out his fastest time on the final lap. Jarrett kept within five seconds of Whibley, as the two seemed to be having a race of their own.

Strang, his team-mate Charlie Mullins and Yamaha’s Barry Hawk battled between one other over third place with Strang eventually gaining the advantage.

“The track conditions were good,” Strang said. “I was looking forward to it. I had a bad start and by the end of the first lap I was 16 seconds down or something.  By the second lap dropped 40 seconds. I thought I was riding pretty good.  I tried to push hard. I’m not very happy but I’ll take the points. I’m looking forward to getting the points back at the next race.”

KTM’s Nathan Kanney started the race in fourth place until several crashes put him out of the race by the fourth lap.

Whibley was able to increase his lead over Jarrett to finish about 45 seconds ahead.

Strang came in third, a few minutes behind the leaders, with Mullins and Hawk close behind in fourth and fifth places, respectively. KTM’s Kurt Casselli finished 11 minutes behind in sixth. Kenneth Gilbert, Nathan Skaggs, Ryan Gainey and Nate Kanney rounded out the top 10.

In the XC2 class, KTM team-mates Kailub Russell and Corey Buttrick fired off the line so fast, they had to split the $100 holeshot award.

Buttrick and Yamaha’s Jason Thomas passed Russell to take the first and second place positions. Russell was back in fourth, but by the second lap, he began moving forward to second. Buttrick settled just ahead into first place the first three laps while Thomas moved back to third.

Russell’s momentum began paying off in the fourth lap when he took control of first place while Buttrick moved back into second. Thomas held onto third place with Kawasaki’s Scotty Watkins right behind.  Jake Korn came in fifth, followed by Ryan Echols in sixth. David Snyder and Eric Bailey came in eighth and ninth, respectively with Robert Santheson and Brian Lawson rounding out the top 10.

The 2009 Can- Am Grand National Cross Country series heads to Snowshoe, WV, on June 27-28.

XC1 CLASS

1.Paul Whibley (KAW)

2. Jim Jarrett (KAW)

3.  Josh Strang (SUZ)

4. Charlie Mullins (SUZ)

5.Barry Hawk (YAM)

6. Kurt Casselli (KTM)

7.Kenneth Gilbert (KAW)

8. Nathan Skaggs

9. Ryan Gainey

10.Nathan Kanney (KTM)

XC1 points standings:

1.Paul Whibley (189/3 wins),

2. Josh Strang (186/4 wins),

3. Charles Mullins (179/1 win)

4. Jim Jarrett (144)

5. Barry Hawk (119),

6. Nathan Kanney (118)

7. Kurt Casselli (110)

8.Glenn Kearney (83)

9. Jesse Robinson (78),

10. Rainey Gainey (75)

XC2 CLASS

1.Kailub Russell (KTM)

2. Cory Buttrick (KTM)

3. Jason Thomas (YAM)

4. Scott Watkins (KAW)

5. Jake Korn

6. Ryan Echols

7. David Snyder

8. Eric Bailey

9. Robert Santheson

10. Brian Lawson

XC2 points standings:

1. Kailub Russell (196/5 wins)

2. Cory Buttrick (179/1 wins)

3. Jason Thomas (161)

4. Scott Watkins (157/1 wins)

5. Jake Korn (121)

6. Brian Lawson (99)

7. Robert Santheson (98)

8. Andrew Matusek (94)

9. Josh Weisenfels (80)

10.  Eric Bailey (74)

Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com