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The practice lap on Saturday revealed a tough, tight and extremely slippery track. Hard pack clay that had been watered well by several downpours from passing thunderstorms.
Sunday dawned fine and hot with the soil drying rapidly. By race time conditions were looking pretty good.
We had a nice surprise while hanging out in the pits. A couple of friends from NZ turned up unannounced to check out the racing while they had some downtime from the harvesters they were operating in Texas.
Off the start I got a good jump and was just pipped to the hole shot line by Jordan Ashburn.
A couple of corners later he went for a skate on a slick high speed sweeper. I nearly got tangled in his bike and only managed to avoid going down with him by running off the track and into the weeds.
Scotty Watkins inherited the lead and took point for the first mile or so. Jimmy Jarrett found a good line and snuck past both myself and Scotty and began to up the pace.
The track was tight with a lot of logs to hop over and passing was tough.
I had opted to swap to the smoothest G2 throttle cam after Saturdays look lap and I felt this was a smart choice with the WR finding good traction.
Also the setup now with my Ohlins suspension was working good and it soaked up all the logs crossings with ease.
I managed to get by Scotty when we came to a tree that had fallen on the track overnight. The confusion allowed me to move by and close in on Jimmy.
Try as I might I struggled to find a way by Jimmy for the next couple of laps.
A brief battle started with Husaberg rider Nick Fahringer when I made some mistakes looking for a way by Jimmy. Thad Duvall joined the race as well and used a hot line to swoop to the lead.
I finally got by Jimmy and latched onto Thad.
The temperature and humidity was extreme and the low speed technical nature of the track made for a physical combination. I was confident my conditioning was good enough to carry me to the front and remain strong at the end.
I got by Thad just before the gas stop and slowly edged away. Late in the race Thad ended up with some problems and dropped to 5th leaving Jimmy Jarrett to claim 2nd and Scotty Watkins filled the final podium spot.
Its good to be back on the top step of the podium. Finally I feel the result reflects some of the hard work the team is putting in.
Big thanks to Warren Treder and Daniel Bourke for coming over to check out the racing and step in and help out in the pits during the fuel stop.
1st: Paul Whibley
2nd: Jimmy Jarrett
3rd: Scotty Watkins
Paul Whibley is supported by: AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith, Ohlins, G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions.
The AmPro Yamaha Team is supported by: FMF Kenda Yamalube Asterisk Cannondale CV4 Cycle Gear E-Batt EBC Brakes Factory Connection Fastway Gaerne Boots GYTR IMS Jonny Signs Leatt Brace Matrix Racing Products Motion Pro MSR Pro-Clean Rekluse Scott Shoei Slavens TM Designworks Twin Air Wiseco ZipTy Racing
