Defending champion Paul Whibley has bounded back to the podium at the second round of the 2010 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series held near Washington Georgia yesterday.
The Am-Pro Yamaha rider finished second overall after round one's disaster were he finished a disappointing 15th.
"With some work done to make sure the problems we had in Florida were a thing of the past, I was confident of a better result this time out," Whibley said.
"My jump off the line was ok but got pinched out coming into turn one. I was able to duck up the inside and into the top 5 and avoid a pile up. During the first lap there were several lead changes but eventually my teammate Thad Duvall made a break for it and took control of the race.
"He set a fast pace and built a lead of over 40 seconds. The track was in good shape and the mud holes were minimal, although still catching some riders out. It was also pretty rough with the puggy soil in the woods cutting up fast.
"I was racing with Josh Strang for 2nd place in the first half of the event until I collided with a lapped rider and lost a lot of time trying to restart my bike. Josh closed in on Thad and they duked it out until Thad crashed heavily and retired from the race.
"Late in the race I wore through my grip on the throttle side and could feel it balling up under my thumb but it didn't really effect my speed. Josh was riding good and no matter how much I tried I couldn't make up any time and had to take second."
Even though the round was a good result Whibley remains focused on the job at hand.
"I was happier with the result but these first 2 races have highlighted some things we need to work on and we plan to be a lot more prepared by the Steel Creek GNCC and be ready to make up some lost points," he concluded.
Results
1st: Josh Strang, Suz
2nd: Paul Whibley, Yam
3rd: Chris Bach, KTM
