    |
 |
|
|
|
Race Report: April 15th, GNCC Round 4 Union, South Carolina
Team: Parts Unlimited, Moose, Honda
Rider: Paul Whibley
Bike: Honda CRF 450X
On Saturday we arrived to watch some quad racing. The track was hard-pack and very dusty. The quads were polishing off the corners as they slid around sending up plumes of red clay dust. The overnight forecast was for thunderstorms and possibly 2 inches of rain. Believe me I was hoping they were right.
Not long after nightfall the rumble of distant thunder could be heard.
Arriving at the track in the morning revealed there indeed had been a substantial amount of precipitation over night.
The morning race beat the track in and by the time we were due to start the conditions were looking good.
From the start I rounded the first corner in a top 5 position. I was in sight of the leaders and was riding comfortably until a heap of roost hit me early in the lap and broke my roll-offs.
I fought on but visibility was limited through the now caked goggles. I tried to clear some mud off with my hand and lost a couple positions in doing so.
I came around part of the course near the pits and signaled to Kath that I needed to swap goggles. So on the first pass through the pits I stopped and got a fresh set of goggles, losing a couple more positions.
After all the dramas of the first lap I think I was 11th. I had some work to do (as usual). I set about picking off riders and was moving up through the field. By the fuel stop I was up to 6th.
After gassing I got into a battle with Team Suzuki, first passing Jimmy Jarret then swapping positions with Glenn Kearney. Glenn and I raced together for a while until he lost some time on a rutted hill that was blocked with bikes.
I was on a mission and got a pit board saying I was two and a half minutes down on Hawk in 3rd. This is a pretty big gap but you never know what can happen in these races. I managed to pull in a minute and a half on Hawk but ran out of laps. Finishing 4th.
Thanks to the following sponsors for their support:
Moose,
Parts Unlimited,
Honda,
Pro Honda oils,
RG3,
WER,
EK chains,
Sunstar,
Pirelli,
Powersport Grafx,
Braking,
CTi,
Alpinestar,
Wiseco,
Thumper racing,
Cycra,
Smith,
Honda Riders Club America,
Tire Balls,
Tag,
IMS,
Motion Pro,
Moto SR,
Stringfellows
