Paul Whibley's fourth OMA title

A new venue and fresh trails greeted riders at Round 8 of the OMA series in Erie, Illinois.

Dry conditions soon transformed to loam as the thirsty soil soaked in some constant misty rain. I grabbed another hole shot and led the early going, playing it cautious as the rain had made some sections unexpectedly slick. A couple miles in Jordan Ashburn had a good line over the creek and jumped past me and into the lead although his time at the front was short lived. Crossing a slick log Jordan tucked the front almost going over the bars but taking a soil sample all the same. I regained the lead and continued with my safe pace.

A lap later in the exact same place that Jordan went down a lapped rider caused me to hesitate on line choice for a split
second but that was all Scott Watkins needed and he took the lead. Half a mile later a stick jammed up my rear wheel, stopping to yank it out Jimmy Jarrett and Jordan flew by, dropping me to 4th. I got going again and chased down Jordan and Jimmy, retaking the positions after eating some serious roost. I pushed on and caught Scott and applied some pressure looking for
somewhere to make a move.

My Smith roll-offs had about enough of the now heavy soil so next time through the pits I stopped for some fresh goggles. Stalling the bike while putting the goggles on and having a tough time restarting saw all my hard work evaporate with Jordan and          Thanks to Mark Kariya for the pic.
Jimmy both going back by. I got fired up and charged, re-passing Jordan then Jimmy
before chasing down Scott.

Once in the lead I kept the heat on and pulled out to about a minute lead by the time the flag came out. With the win I have enough points to wrap up the 2011 OMA title with two rounds to spare. Now OMA champion 4x.

1st: Paul Whibley - 2nd: Jordan Ashburn - 3rd: Scott Watkins

Paul Whibley is supported by: AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith, G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions, EC3D, Bush Riders MCC, Darbis, GHQ, Sargent Motorcycles, Yamaha NZ, Rosscos Start up Services, Works Connection, Pro
Taper, Race Pace Services, Unabiker, Leatt Brace, Tire Balls

The AmPro Yamaha Team is supported by: FMF Kenda Yamalube Asterisk CV4 Cycle Gear E-Batt EBC Brakes Factory  Connection Fastway Gaerne GYTR IMS Leatt Brace Motion Pro MSR Pro-Clean Rekluse Scott Shoei Slavens TM Designworks Cycra Twin Air Wiseco ZipTy Racing AllBalls Racing Pro Taper