Paul Whibley wins the New Zealand Enduro Round 1 on Saturday, then the GNCC Round 3 on Sunday.Copy and photos courtesy of Paul Whibley. It had been several years since I competed in an Enduro in NZ (ISDE 06) and even longer since I had raced a National Enduro (8 years?).
I was having trouble with the stop, start nature of Enduros after having raced the XC discipline for so long, it was tough to turn the sprint speed on and off. We entered the second loop for the day and the track was beginning to cut up, I began to feel more at home, with the freshly serviced suspension from MotoSR eating up the bumps and roots and the YZs nimble handling enabling me to dodge the stumps and get onto the good lines. Light rain also began to fall, making some of the grass sections slippery although not much of the drizzle was making it to the ground under the pines and the near perfect dirt remained prime for racing. With some good times in the second lap I was able to climb to the front of the pack and take the win. I enjoyed the change of pace and it was fun mixing it up with the Enduro boys. 1st Paul Whibley - 2nd Rory Mead - 3rd Karl Power
Day 2 of the weekends mission was Round 3 of the New Zealand GNCC series held at the same venue as the National Enduro the day before.Rain late on Saturday had the track primed for the early races although the fear that the blazing sun would dry everything out by the time we lined up. When the flag flew, signalling the start of the final race of the day, I grabbed the hole shot and led the way. The track now had begun to rough up, with some nice ruts and berms from the weekends traffic, probably the closest conditions to a US GNCC as I've seen in NZ. Also there was some dust and deep powder on a few hills early in the lap but deep in the forest the soil was still perfect. The first lap was completed in just over 30 minutes. Rory Mead and Karl Power kept the pressure on early and were riding great. Over the second and third lap I managed to edge away and create a buffer zone for when I came into the pits for gas. The IMS dump can topped the tank up in record time and I was back onto the track before second place had come out of the forest. Over the last couple of laps I was able to ride smart and safe and take a comfortable win. Completing a sweep of the weekend's events was a tough mission but a rewarding couple of days at the office. 1st Paul Whibley - 2nd Karl Power - 3rd Reece Burgess Paul Whibley is supported in NZ by: AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith, G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions, EC3D, Bush Riders MCC,Spectro, Acerbis, DID, JT sprockets, GHQ, Pirelli, Sargent Motorcycles, Yamaha NZ, Rossco's Start Up Services. The AmPro Yamaha Team is supported by: FMF Kenda Yamalube Asterisk Cannondale CV4 Cycle Gear E-Batt EBC Brakes Factory Connection Fastway Gaerne GYTR IMS Jonny Signs Leatt Brace Matrix Racing Products Motion Pro MSR Pro-Clean Rekluse Scott Shoei Slavens TM Designworks Twin Air Wiseco ZipTy Racing |
I got off to a slow start in the first couple of terrain tests as I got back into the swing of things but as the day progressed my times improved and I began to move up the leader board. 