Whibley 1st and Mead 3rd at Round 7 of the GNCC
Tuesday 29 May: At the inaugural Mountaineer Run GNCC in West Virginia Paul Whibley retakes the lead by 5 points over Kailub Russell. Copy by Jen Kenyon for GNCC Racing.
XC1 Pro Class Start. Photo by: Ken Hill
Masontown, West Virginia: AmPro Yamaha’s
Paul Whibley and Factory FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell came into Round 7 of
the Can-Am GNCC Series tied for the lead in the championship point
standings, knowing that whichever rider finished up front would take
over the lead. The temperatures were at an all-time high for the early
summer months and after three exhausting hours of battle through the hot
and humid woods of Marvin’s Mountain Top in Masontown, West Virginia, it was
Paul Whibley who edged out Russell for the class win, reclaiming the
points lead to himself. Whibley now holds a mere five-point lead over
Russell heading into the second half of the season. Amidst the intense
XC1 class battles, F.A.R Husky’s Andrew DeLong and KR4 Performance’s Jason Thomas had a race of their own, and it wasn’t long before the XC2 Pro Lites
front-runners had a place within the top five overall at the inaugural
Mountaineer Run GNCC.
In addition to the high temps and blazing sun, the slick and rocky
West Virginia terrain made for a demanding test of man and machine in
the three-hour competition. Paul Whibley kicked off the day grabbing yet
another $250 Motosport.com Holeshot aboard his AmPro Yamaha YZF450. It
wasn’t long before fellow kiwi Rory Mead put his WMR/KTM into the lead
and quickly put a 30 second lead on the field as Whibley, Charlie
Mullins and Russell figured out the early pace.
Paul Whibley. Photo by: Ken Hill
"I had no idea Rory was even leading until I got the pit board from my
crew saying that he was over 30 seconds ahead of us,” Russell admitted.
"After that, we got going and caught up to him by the second lap.”
Factory FMF/KTM’s Charlie Mullins was running with Mead, Whibley and
Russell for the first two laps of the race until he all of the sudden
disappeared from the lead pack. Mullins experienced mechanical issues
with his motorcycle and was stuck in the woods for a majority of the
race, until GNCC track officials towed him back to the pits. Mullins and
his FMF/KTM team didn’t know what the problem was at the time.
Whibley and Russell eventually made their way around Mead by the
halfway point and the lead duo battled it out for the coveted points
lead in the second half of racing. "The track was really rocky and
technical but I had a lot of fun out there,” Russell said. Whibley
eventually picked up the pace and pulled a gap on Russell but coming
into the final lap in the three-hour battle, the victory was still
anyone’s game. Whibley put a final charge at the end, besting Russell
for the Mountaineer Run GNCC win and the honors of keeping the points
lead for yet another round of racing.
Kailub Russell. Photo by: Ken Hill
"The track was pretty gnarly out there,” said Whibley. "Like I said
before, I usually prefer the softer dirt over the rocks and rough stuff
but today’s win was good and I’m happy to hold on to the points lead for
sure.”
New Zealander Rory Mead came in third for his third podium
finish of the season. Mead is known for his ability to ride technical
terrain and the Round 5 winner proved this to be true as he led the
early stages of the race. Mead holds on to the fourth place position in
standings, only trailing Mullins by three points.
Andrew DeLong and Jason Thomas
set their sights ahead from the get-go as the two former teammates put
on a clean and competitive show for the West Virginia spectators. It
didn’t take long for the XC2 Pro Lites duo to make their way into the
top of the overall runners, eventually pushing their way inside the
physical top five by the end of the race.
Shenandoah Honda/Offroadchampion’s Thad DuVall rode just off pace of
the leaders and once again put in a solid performance to take home
fourth place in the XC1 class. DuVall struggled with his bike set up for
the early parts of the race but after coming through the pits to make
adjustments, DuVall seemed to ride more comfortably. Thad holds the
fifth place position in the overall point standings.
XC1 podium: Kailub Russell, Paul Whibley, Rory Mead. Photo by: Ken Hill
Japan National Cross Country champion Takeshi Koikeda (KTM) put in a
season-best finish of fifth place in the rough West Virginia terrain,
just ahead of Florida’s Garrett Edmisten (KAW). Koikeda and Edmisten
swapped positions throughout the afternoon but it was the JNCC champ who
came out on top this time.
AmPro Yamaha’s Jordan Ashburn finished seventh, just ahead of
Obermeyer Yamaha-backed Chris Bach, who came in eighth after struggling
with bike setup issues all day. New Jersey’s Jesse Groemm (KTM) took
ninth place and JG Offroad/American Honda’s Nate Kanney rounded out the
top ten in XC1.
XC2 Pro Lites point leader Steward Baylor Jr. was forced to sit out
at Round 7, due to a previous hand injury. Baylor still tops second
place’s Jason Thomas
in the standings after today’s absence. Jesse Robinson holds third
place in the standings after a third place finish this weekend.
Obermeyer Yamaha/Raines Riding University/Offroadviking.com’s Brad
Bakken grabbed the $100 Motosport.com XC2 Holeshot Award but ran into
problems after that. Bakken’s teammate, Jedediah Haines, is coming off
his first-ever XC2 podium finish at Round 6 and secured fourth in the
class behind Robinson. Waynesburg Yamaha’s AJ Stewart put in a
season-best fifth place finish with an impressive ride in front of his
hometown crowd.
XC2 podium: Jason Thomas, Andrew DeLong, Jesse Robinson. Photo by: Ken Hill
The battle for Top Amateur honors has been intense all season long and
it was 250 A class winner Grant Baylor, who claimed it this weekend with
an impressive 12th overall. Fairmont, West Virginia’s Layne
Michael led Baylor for most of the race, but a last-lap pass put Baylor
into the class lead and the top finishing amateur spot. Michael followed
close behind in 14
th overall in front of his hometown crowd as well.
It was the Master’s A (50+) riders who topped the overall morning
podium with Tennessee’s Mark Patterson (SUZ) leading the way. Maryland’s
Randall Riggs followed close behind with second in his class and on the
overall podium. Riggs then went on to compete in the three-hour
afternoon race, where he finished an impressive 17th in the
250 A class after already conquering two hours of intense racing in the
morning. Super Senior A (40+) saw a new winner this weekend as Ohio’s
Rick Matteson took the class win, as well as the third spot on the
overall podium.
Round 8 of the 2012 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series heads to Snowshoe, West Virginia June 23 and 24 for the Can-Am Mountaineer Run
GNCC.
XC1 Pro Results:
- Paul Whibley (YAM)
- Kailub Russell (KTM)
- Rory Mead (KTM)
- Thad DuVall (HON)
- Takeshi Koikeda (KTM)
- Garrett Edmisten (KAW)
- Jordan Ashburn (YAM)
- Chris Bach (YAM)
- Jesse Groemm (KTM)
- Nathan Kanney (HON)
XC1 Pro Standings:
- Paul Whibley (177/2 wins)
- Kailub Russell (172/4 wins)
- Charlie Mullins (129)
- Rory Mead (126/1 win)
- Thad DuVall (115)
- Jordan Ashburn (103)
- Garrett Edmisten (93)
- Chris Bach (92)
- Cory Buttrick (77)
- Nathan Kanney (76)