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Race Report: NZ GNCC Rnd 4
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: Sargent MCC/AmPro Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha YZ450 F
Result: 1st
Blazing sun and high temperatures greeted riders lining up for the latest NZ GNCC event held in Maramarua forest south of Auckland.
Some early confusion off the start line after a track change saw myself and fellow Yamaha rider Rory Mead briefly take a wrong turn and lose some track positions.
I found myself in third behind Reece Burgess for the first few kms but with some aggressive riding moved up to second.
The track was extremely dusty and excessively fast and I couldn’t let fast starting Karl Power get away. Although by the time I got to second all I could see of Karl was the long dust trail.
I didn’t help my cause when in the dust I missed a turn and only realized when I came into clean air that I had made a mistake. End of lap 1 I had nearly a minute to make up.
I kept the pressure on and began to eat into Karls lead as I learned the track. End of the second lap the gap was down to about 30 seconds and by the end of 3rd lap I had reeled him in and locked on to his wheel.
Some risky moves were made in the dust but they soon paid off as I took the lead in the fourth lap.
Finally in the clean air I was able to ride safely and not take any more chances.
As the race progressed I was able to move out to a comfortable lead. Taking the win in the 2 hour 30 min event with Karl bringing his Honda home second and Reece Burgess maintaining his good start and rounding out the final podium spot on his Husaberg.
1st; Paul Whibley
2nd; Karl Power
3rd; Reece Burgess
Paul Whibley is supported in NZ by: AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Sidi, Smith, G2, CTi, Moto SR, Vortex Ignitions, EC3D, Bush Riders MCC,Spectro, Acerbis, DID, JT sprokets, GHQ, Pirelli, Sargent Motorcycles, Yamaha NZ. Rosscos Start up Services
The AmPro Yamaha Team is supported by: FMF Kenda Yamalube Asterisk CV4 Cycle Gear E-Batt EBC Brakes Factory Connection Fastway Gaerne 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
