Paul Whibley Race Report
by: Jason Weigandt
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 | 12:00 AM
Race Report: GNCC Rnd 3 Steele Creek NC
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: FMF Suzuki
Bike: Suzuki RM-Z450
Result: 3rd
Overnight rain had the track looking a little on the slick side. The morning race had done their best to spread the slop around and conditions were improving. Off the line the bike fired up quickly but I lost some positions when I spun in some slop on turn one.
I made some early passes and moved up to about 10th. I hit a slippery section of the track ended up doing a complete 180, facing the oncoming riders. I spun back around when a gap in the traffic appeared but had lost a lot of the positions I had gained early in the lap. The track was really slick in some spots and other sections, especially along the flats by the creek had massive traction. I battled through early race armpump and tried to stick with some of the top guys. By the time I got signalled to come in for fuel, I was in the thick of a battle with all my team mates. All four of us came into the pits at the same time for gas. The Suzuki crew was on it and everyone was gassed and sent back out in record time. We continued to swap positions as we raced toward the leaders. As the race progressed I was able to make a break and moved clear of Jimmy and Josh and found myself in 3rd with 2 laps to go. The rain overnight had done the track good and conditions were near perfect on most of the course now, athough some of the down hills were getting some huge braking bumps. Last lap and I was stoked to cross the line with a podium finish and get the new EFI 450 up on the box.
Results.
1st, Knight
2nd, Hawk
3rd, Whibley
4th, Strang
5th, Jarrett
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: FMF Suzuki
Bike: Suzuki RM-Z450
Result: 3rd
Overnight rain had the track looking a little on the slick side. The morning race had done their best to spread the slop around and conditions were improving. Off the line the bike fired up quickly but I lost some positions when I spun in some slop on turn one.
I made some early passes and moved up to about 10th. I hit a slippery section of the track ended up doing a complete 180, facing the oncoming riders. I spun back around when a gap in the traffic appeared but had lost a lot of the positions I had gained early in the lap. The track was really slick in some spots and other sections, especially along the flats by the creek had massive traction. I battled through early race armpump and tried to stick with some of the top guys. By the time I got signalled to come in for fuel, I was in the thick of a battle with all my team mates. All four of us came into the pits at the same time for gas. The Suzuki crew was on it and everyone was gassed and sent back out in record time. We continued to swap positions as we raced toward the leaders. As the race progressed I was able to make a break and moved clear of Jimmy and Josh and found myself in 3rd with 2 laps to go. The rain overnight had done the track good and conditions were near perfect on most of the course now, athough some of the down hills were getting some huge braking bumps. Last lap and I was stoked to cross the line with a podium finish and get the new EFI 450 up on the box.
Results.
1st, Knight
2nd, Hawk
3rd, Whibley
4th, Strang
5th, Jarrett