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Race Report: Round 9 OMA Series
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: Moose, Parts Unlimited, Honda
Bike: Honda CRF 450X
With a spare weekend before the final GNCC I hitched a ride to Round 9 of the OMA series with Marty Michels.
We pulled into the venue early Sunday and saw the start in a corn field with a 500m start straight. Just like home.
Off the line my bike fired up perfect and I grabbed the holeshot and led the way out through the corn fields.
Some of the sections early in the lap were tapped out through the corn fields. It was a real blast.
Then we hit the woods and in true OMA style they were tight and virginal. I was leading the way searching for the track, trying to follow the arrows and everyone else just followed me. I soon learned my lesson and just followed someone else.
This race had a lap of 35 miles and there was to be only 2 laps.
Near the end of lap one I decided to put my head down and make a break. Lap one was completed in an hour and 20 minutes and I had a gap of 15 seconds over Jimmy Jarrett.
I made a small mistake on lap 2 and lost the track allowing Jimmy to take the lead. I soon caught back up and the race was back on. It was a lot of fun to race with Jimmy as we swapped positions and pushed each other.
We had gapped the rest of the field so it was to be a 2 rider race right to the end, until a stump clipped by gear lever. The impact left my bike jammed in 4th gear, and Jimmy began to pull away.
It was hard work to get the bike through some of the tight sections, the clutch got a real workout. I managed to hang onto 2nd spot with Jimmy winning by about 20 sec and Brian Garrahan in 3rd.
It was a really fun race and I will be back next year for sure.
Thank you to my following sponsors:
Parts Unlimited, Moose, Honda, Honda Pro Oils, HRCA, WER, Cycra, RG3, Motion Pro,
Braking, Sunstar, Wiseco, Ek, Tag, Powersport Grafix, Thumper Racing, Pirelli, CTi,
Smith, Alpinestar, Tire Balls, Vortex Ignitions, IMS, Moto SR, Stringfellows,
Darbi Accessories
