Paul Whibley took his
second series win of the year and in a row, moving up in points to
second as
the series hit the halfway point. He's now mounted on a YZ450F.
By: Mark Kariya
Photography By: Mark Kariya
Two-time and defending series champion Paul Whibley put
on a powerful show of force to win the DP Brakes Wolverine Cross-Country
National, round five of the Parts Unlimited Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV
Nationals, July 11. Held at the Twisted Trails Offroad Park outside of Mesick,
Michigan, the Am-Pro/FMF Yamaha racer recovered from a mediocre start to grab
the lead after a little less than an hour and maintained it to the end. His
victory vaulted him to second in series points and is now just three points behind
JG Off-Road/GEICO Powersports/Monster Energy Kawasaki's Scott Watkins, who was
second on the day. Husaberg's Nick Fahringer came off his injury-forced
three-week layoff to claim the third step on the podium.
Fahringer's riding sabbatical apparently made him antsy
to get back on his FX 450, and he edged Jeremy Smith for the $200 K&N
Filters Holeshot Award - the first time in his life he'd ever gotten a
holeshot, he recalled.
After not riding or
training for three weeks to let his broken toe heal more, Nick Fahringer
was
raring to go and ended up with the first holeshot of his life--earning
the $200
K&N Filters Holeshot Award--and led the first lap before realizing
that he
was in no shape to maintain that pace. He settled for third.
But after leading a lap, he knew he couldn't maintain
that pace and let first Thad Duvall, then later Whibley and Watkins by. Duvall
ended up losing lots of time fixing a clutch problem on his WR450F and would
eventually a lap down, ninth in the Pro division.
Whibley would take the lead on the third time around the
approximately eight-mile course. He built a cushion and easily kept it to the
finish, completing seven laps in two hours, 24 minutes and 37 seconds with
Watkins almost two minutes behind and Fahringer a distant but solid third.
"It went good," Whibley said with a smile.
"After picking my way through the field, I rode my own race so it was
good."
Unlike previous races this year, Whibley rode a YZ450F.
"We've kind of got the go-ahead to start sort of development for racing
them full-time next year," he revealed.
Scott Watkins ran his
record of podium finishes this season to five in a row with his
runner-up
finish, though his series points lead is now just three with Whibley the
new
owner of second place, 117-114, unofficially.
Watkins reported, "He pulled a minute on me and
then it just stayed that - it stayed right there, right around a minute, which
was good; I was going the same pace as him, nice and consistent - and stalled
my bike there with two laps to go. I kicked and kicked and kicked and finally
got it going, but then that was it."
Financial constraints have
kept Aaron Wegner close to his Michigan base and off the OMA circuit,
but he's
as fast as ever. Coming from the Open A line, the privateer ended up
winning
the class and turning in the fourth fastest time overall.
Former series regular and Michigan resident Aaron Wegner
proved to be as fast as ever, winning Open A on his trusty YZ250 and finishing
fourth overall, 50 seconds behind Fahringer. Adam Bonneur was fourth Pro and
fifth overall followed by fellow Kawasaki rider Jordan Ashburn, Shane Klimek on
his RM250, Open A runner-up Zach Klamfoth, 30-39 A winner Steve Leivan and
seventh Pro Cooper Bailey.
Watkins
remains the series points leader after his fifth consecutive podium finish of
the series.
