Posted: Tuesday, 4th December, 2007 : 8:10 AM - - 5,584 Reads

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At home in New Zealand after a successful season racing in the United States, the new Suzuki signing has certainly been making the most of his “down time” before he heads back to America in mid January and the national cross-country motorcycle series there.

It was a Suzuki 1-2 finish on Saturday and then another golden Suzuki 1-2-3-4 run the following day as Whibley led by example in a busy weekend of racing in the central North Island.

Whibley (Suzuki RM-Z450) was on the top step of the podium at round three of the New Zealand Grand National Cross-country Series (GNCC) third round near Tauranga on Saturday and then topped the podium again the following day at the Belray Cross-country series near Huntly.

Marton’s Cam Smith (Suzuki RM-Z450) snatched the lead at the start of Saturday’s race, but it wasn’t long before Whibley had swooped past.

Another Pahiatua rider, Adam Reeves (Yamaha YZ250), followed the Suzuki pair, the dense bush providing a challenge for all the riders.

“Cam stuck with me for part of the second lap but as I started to pick up the pace, I was able to open up a gap,” said Whibley.

“As the race progressed, I was able to extend my lead, winning the two-hour and 30-minute race by a comfortable margin. Cam held onto second and Adam remained in third.”

There were contrasting conditions for the next day’s big race near Huntly, with dust rising in clouds from the dry terrain.

“I got a good jump and was second to turn one and was soon leading the way up the dusty bulldozed track,” said Whibley. “On the first half of the first lap I struggled to pull away as I was constantly searching in the dust for the arrows that pointed the way.

“The short green grass was also very slippery in some spots.

“By mid lap we came back onto the motocross track we had started out on that morning and, as visibility had improved, I began to gap the field. I think I had almost a minute lead by the end of the lap.

“I had a lot of fun on the fast course and the two hours was soon up. I managed to sneak through and get done one extra lap from everyone else before the two-hour cut-off.”

Te Awamutu’s Mark Penny (Suzuki RM250) had moved into second, while Smith filled the final podium spot and Waikato’s Michael Vining, on another Suzuki RM250, finished fourth to make it a Suzuki sweep of the top four positions.

“It was a good training exercise for me,” said the 29-year-old Whibley. “I need to be fresh and strong for when I return to the United States. I think the best form of practice for me is to actually race the bike.

“The bike was awesome and getting close to the final settings I’ll have for the US series. The opening round is in sand in Florida, so my next job is to get it set up to race in sand.

Main Photo: It may be his "down time", but Pahiatua's Paul Whibley is still racing and winning everything. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com “I’ll be looking for a top five finish in Florida. I ran out of gas there last year but learned from that mistake.”

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