Motocrosser Alex Martin gave Paul Whibley (pictured) his greatest challenge so far in the Parts Unlimited Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals, but when round six – the Motion Pro Spring Creek Grand Prix at Spring Creek MX Park in Millville, Minnesota – ended, Whibley used his superior conditioning as well as his woods speed to keep his win streak alive. Martin easily held on for second while Whibley’s teammate Scott Watkins rounded out the podium.
If anyone was going to beat Whibley, it was Martin at this, his home track (he literally grew up at the facility his father, former AMA National Hare Scrambles Champion John Martin, owns and runs). A break in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship gave Martin the chance to mix it up with the OMA’s best on his Spring Creek MX/Ti Lube/Storm Lake Honda CRF250R. Though the dead-engine start found him lagging the field, he quickly stormed through the pack until only Whibley remained in front of him.
JG Off-Road/GEICO Powersports/Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Whibley did most of the leading, but he couldn’t shake Martin, who demonstrated clearly superior speed on the motocross track he’s done so many laps around over the years.
To no one’s surprise, the woods proved to be Whibley’s strong point. “I knew he was going probably as good as he could go in the tight stuff, and I wasn’t overly concerned that I couldn’t beat him. I knew I could still go faster in the tight stuff.”
He almost had to. A badly bent brake pedal almost two hours in forced an unscheduled pit stop for the RG3/Pirelli/Moose KX450F, but Martin needed a second splash of gas – a slow splash due to having no dry-break system on his stock MX tank with its twist-on gas cap.
“Right at the end there, I was still putting down those fast laps and that was good, but, unfortunately, Paul ended up getting [back] around me and I kind of dropped anchor big-time after that,” he admitted. “I felt like I still finished the race strong and I’m fairly happy with my performance.”
Watkins ran a solitary third – a couple minutes behind the leaders and a couple minutes up on fourth – aboard his Silkolene/FMF/Shoei-backed KX250F. Cole Kirkpatrick was likewise a lonely fourth after breaking out of the pack early on his Cycle Shack of Lubbock/Enduro Engineering/Moose KTM 250 XC.
Chris Bach, once again, topped the A division and claimed fifth overall on his Spastic Designs KX450F, edging YZ250-mounted Adam Bonneur by a few seconds at the finish, though on adjusted time (each line starts one minute apart) he had a minute and four seconds in hand.
Husaberg’s Nick Fahringer fought back from crashes and brake issues to earn seventh overall followed by Jeff Melik on his YZ450F, Justin Williamson aboard his Gas Gas EC250 and Husaberg FE450 racer Dylan Debel.
