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Race Report: OMA Round 4
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: Parts Unlimited, Moose, Honda
Bike: Honda CRF 250
Mud. It's all I have been riding in lately. Round 4 of the OMA XC series continued that theme.
We were expecting a tight technical event and with the forecast rain, things were looking tough.
When we arrived at the track they hadn't had the expected rainfall prior to the event but there was a constant light rain falling as we unloaded the boxvan.
Since we were anticipating a tough race I was riding a CRF 250 at this event. I had ridden the bike twice in the days leading up to the race and was looking forward to the fresh challenge.
Off the start line I got smoked by the 250 2 strokes, but I cut up the inside of turn 1 and passed a bunch of guys. In the grass section before the woods, I carved up and actually got into the lead, passing Barry Hawk who had taken the holeshot.
I led for most of the first lap but made a small mistake and misread a turn allowing Hawk back past. He made some time on me in the really tight trees.
At the begining of lap 2, when we were in the grass track section again, I was making time on Hawk and caught back up and repassed him.
In the next tight secton Hawk and Charlie Mullins both passed me.
At the fuel stop we had a problem with the dry break system. It basically fell into the tank, leaving a three inch hole in the top of the fuel tank. We slapped a plastic cover over it and taped it on.
We lost about a minute in that one stop.
I left the pits in 4th. We did another precautionary fuel stop on the last lap, cause we were not sure how much fuel we were losing out the top, costing us some more time. Probably would have finished on the podium if we hadn't had the problem.
Finishing in 4th was still good.
I have never been a small capacity bike fan but the CRF 250 sure changed my mind. It was a heap of fun and was the best bike in the tight conditions.
Paul
