Am Pro Yamaha's Paul Whibley has struggled to lock down consistent finishes so far this season but when you get this Kiwi on a roll - there's no stopping him. After getting a solid start at the Rock Run GNCC, the Yamaha rider set his own pace that the rest of the riders were forced to conform to. Whibley made his own schedule out of this year's unfortunate rain cancellations, racing several local races as well as the OMA series on the off-weekends - better preparing him to get back to GNCC Racing. Whibs has a new wave of confidence coming off his second win, making for an exciting season-to-come in the XC1 Championship title chase.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Whibs rocked the rock section
Paul Whibley: Thanks. Well, I wasn't pushing too hard out there, I was just riding kind of cautious because I was a little bit concerned with the rocks and the condition of the track. That's not my favorite kind of riding so I was definitely being a little bit cautious. I got a good start and Charlie was in front of me for maybe the first 2 miles - he got past me early on. In the mud hole, I think it was the 3-mile marker, I got back in front of him and just rode my own pace and ended up opening up a bit of a gap. The whole race it seemed like there was a safe little gap for me.
On a 14-mile course, there's much of the race that fans never actually see. Were you leading the whole race?
Actually Josh Strang caught up and passed me, so no. I made a mistake down here maybe around lap 3 and around the 8-mile mark I took a bad line after I saw spectators were pointing up this hill. The track pretty much split there and I decided to take the right-handed side up the hill, which ended up being the longer line. I had been taking the left line the entire race and it ended up being the fast line. I lost a bit of time there and Josh got around me and I got back around him before we got back to the pits here so a little bit of action out there on the track that people don't really see.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Back on top of the podium for the Kiwi
Just be smooth. I didn't really push too hard or take any risks or chances. I was just kind of being smooth and trying to get through nice and clean and not using too much energy and obviously it must have been working a little bit (laughs). There's too big of consequences if you go down, you can break your bike and your body pretty easy. It could be the end of your season right there; you've got to be kind of a little bit smart and a little bit careful.
So you won round 2 in Georgia earlier in the season, how good does it feel to get that second one?
It's good to be back up on that box and win another race. The last two rounds I didn't have really good results. I got bad starts and was struggling to come from the back of the field to get the guys up front; they got good starts and were just getting me. It was good to get up front today and make the race mine; I guess make the pace how I want to run it. Everything went good this weekend - the bike went good, the suspension was good and that makes my life a lot easier (laughs).
Did you do anything differently in the 7-week break to prepare for this weekend?
I spent a week riding in the rocks up here before this race but I race the OMA series as well so I've gone racing pretty much most weekends. Even the weekends when the GNCCs were cancelled - we did races those weekends as well. We're keeping busy and I think it's good; it's the best kind of practice.
Photo By: Shan Moore
Smooth and steady was the name of the game at Rock Run
Snowshoe is going to be very similar to this weekend's race. Maybe a little tougher with the rocks and maybe a little more mud in some of the track. I'm not really excited to go there but after we won this one, I know I can be competitive in those races even though I don't like it. We're just going to go there and prepare the best we can and see how it turns out.
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