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Paul Whibley completed the dirt-bike double when he won the final round of the national cross-country championships in the Wairarapa today.
The Pahiatua rider, 21, added the cross-country title to the enduro championship he had won two weeks earlier, achieving a rare pair of top titles.
Whibley won all five of the Suzuki cross-country rounds he contested with his Honda CR250, and today completed the series in style by beating defending champion Adam Youren of Napier by more than a minute in the gruelling three-hour race around a 21km farmland course.
\"I\'m stoked to win all five,\" Whibley said. He is now planning to contest two rounds of the American cross-country championship later this year.
His main problem today was a strong, cold wind. \"It was bad along the ridge-tops, trying to blow us sideways,\" he said.
Youren moved his Suzuki RM250 to within a minute of Whibley with one lap to go, but then Whibley pulled away again.
Napier rider Ben Harding won his first national championship when he dominated the 200cc two-stroke class on his Honda CR125, ending the series with maximum points.
Wayne Jennings of Whakatane emulated this feat in the 300cc four-stroke class, riding a Yamaha YZ250F. It was his third national title, the three championships all coming in different classes.
Brothers Steven and Ross Bird fought out the open four-stroke class, with victory both today and in the series going to Steven, who lives in Palmerston North and rides a Yamaha WR400.
Ross Bird, from Pahiatua, grabbed second on the day on the final straight when he gunned his Suzuki DRZ400 past Christchurch rider Grenville Button - who was pushing his KTM400 because it had run out of fuel on the last corner. However Button still finished second in the series.
Suzuki national cross-country championships, final round, Wairarapa
Open two-strokes: Paul Whibley (Pahiatua) Honda CR250, 1; Adam Youren (Napier) Suzuki RM250, 2; Dean Baird (Christchurch) Yamaha YZ250, 3. Points: Whibley 80, Baird 67, Youren 64.
Open four-strokes: Steven Bird (Palmerston North) Yamaha WR426, 1; Ross Bird (Pahiatua) Suzuki DRZ400, 2; Grenville Button (Christchurch) KTM 400, 3. Points: Steven Bird 77, Button 70, Ross Bird 69.
Two-strokes up to 200cc: Ben Harding (Napier) Honda CR125, 1; Brad Graham (Palmerston North) Suzuki RM125, 2; Peter Broxholme (Tauranga) Honda CR125, 3. Points: Harding 80, Broxholme 69, Brett Gunson (Hastings, KTM 200) 60,
Four-strokes up to 300cc: Wayne Jennings (Whakatane) Yamaha YZ250F, 1; James Lavender (Christchurch) Yamaha YZ250F, 2; Lance Sutton (Auckland) Kawasaki KLX300, 3. Points: Jennings 80, Lavender 70, Sutton 60.
Veterans: Mark Fuller, Husqvarna 125, 1; David Silk, Kawasaki KX250, 2; Gerard Kommeran, Honda CR500, 3. Points: Fuller 80, Silk 62, Kommeran 52.
