GNCC report on Paul Whibley's overall win by 4 points
Monday 05 November: Jen Kenyon reports. It was a head-to-head battle at Saturday’s Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series finale between AmPro Yamaha’s Paul Whibley and FMF/KTM’s Kailub Russell in the XC1 Pro class.
After a nearly flawless race at the Parts Unlimited Loretta Lynn’s GNCC,
Whibley

went on to win the season finale and secure his second-career
title.
Whibley kicked off the afternoon by grabbing his thirteenth
straight $250 MotoSport.com Holeshot Award, getting out front early on.
Meanwhile, Whibley’s championship rival, Russell, was held up in the
first corner after getting tangled with another rider off the start.
Although Russell began the opening lap in nearly last place, he managed
to work his way into fourth place by the start of Lap 2.
"I just rode my own race today and couldn't ask for the season to
end a better way,” Whibley said. "It’s been an awesome year, we've had
some huge battles with a lot of the guys and it's been exciting for the
fans being this close down to the final round.”
Consequently, the much-anticipated championship showdown
between Whibley and Russell never materialized. However, the season-best
rides showcased by AmPro Yamaha’s Jordan Ashburn and former JNCC champ
Takeshi Koikeda certainly made the race exciting as they flip-flopped
the second place position during the first half of the race. Ashburn
proved to be a little stronger near the end, maintaining his second
place position until Russell tracked him down with two laps to go.
Shenandoah Honda/Offroadchampions.com rider Thad DuVall ran into
issues early on to set him as far back as ninth place, but as the race
wore on, DuVall charged his way to the front. Meanwhile, Koikeda
continued to drop back and eventually surrendered the fourth place
position to DuVall in the final two laps. Obermeyer Yamaha-backed Chris
Bach started off strong on the heels of DuVall but the effects of an
early crash set in and Bach eventually pulled off on Lap 6.
Russell continued to minimize his deficit on the leaders but it
wasn’t enough to ultimately top Whibley for the race-win, which
ultimately crowned the 2012 champion.
"I just didn't show up to ride today,” Russell said. "I got taken
out on the start and didn’t catch a flow after that because I pumped up
really bad. I got going about halfway in but that’s probably the most
tired I've been all year. I'm not really sure what happened.”
After an impressive ride in his home state of Tennessee, Ashburn
was able to secure the second podium finish of his rookie season.
Ashburn’s third place finish landed him sixth place in the championship
standings, building a solid platform for 2013.
"It’s been a lot of hard work all year,” Ashburn said. "Heading
into this race, I was looking for a top five finish. But when I started
following Paul, I realized I could run his pace.”
Whibley’s big win at the Loretta Lynn’s finale locked in the New
Zealand native’s second-career GNCC championship, his first coming in
2009.
"You can't really compare this championship to the last one in
2009, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into back then,”
Whibley said. "To win the championship it was a dream come true and then
to get it taken away the next year consumes you and all you want is
that number one plate back. So to finally get there, it’s awesome. It’s
hard to put into words the feelings and emotions and what we’ve been
through to get here and hold this number one plate again.”
WMR/KTM’s Rory Mead finished sixth, securing third place in the
championship standings. New Zealand’s Adrian Smith came in seventh,
followed by American Honda/JG Offroad’s Nate Kanney in eighth. Brenden
Ritzman and Chris Bach rounded out the Top 10.
XC1 Pro Results:
- Paul Whibley (YAM)
- Kailub Russell (KTM)
- Jordan Ashburn (YAM)
- Thad DuVall (HON)
- Takeshi Koikeda (KTM)
- Rory Mead (KTM)
- Adrian Smith (YAM)
- Nathan Kanney (HON)
- Brenden Ritzman (HON)
- Chris Bach (YAM)
XC1 Pro Standings:
- Paul Whibley (320/4 wins)
- Kailub Russell (316/5 wins)
- Rory Mead (234/2 wins)
- Thad DuVall (229/1 win)
- Charlie Mullins (198/1 win)
- Jordan Ashburn (196)
- Chris Bach (168)
- Nathan Kanney (156)
- Takeshi Koikeda (155)
- Garrett Edmisten (153)