Am-Pro/FMF Yamaha’s Thad Duvall bounced back from a disappointing round two and dominated the Maxxis Coal Miner Cross-Country National, round three of the Parts Unlimited Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals, outside of Rio Grande, Ohio, May 30. Coupled with his win at the opening round, Duvall moved up in points, as did his teammate, two-time and defending series champion Paul Whibley, who finally seemed to avoid the bad luck that’s plagued him so far this season in earning second for the day, his first podium for the series this year. JG Off-Road/GEICO Powersports/Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Scott Watkins maintained his series points lead thanks to his third place, the only competitor to land on the podium at every race so far.
The third event on the calendar provided conditions the polar opposite of the previous race. Instead of a Tennessee deluge, competitors arrived at the Fallon Family Farm to find hot, humid conditions under a blazing clear sky, though the trails in the woods proved to be nearly ideal.
First-year Pro Jordan Ashburn proved quickest off the line on his Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green KX450F, snaring the $200 K&N Filters Holeshot Award for the second time this year. But there was no holding Duvall back and he quickly worked his way to the front to stay aboard his Yamalube/Factory Connection/MSR-backed WR450F.
“I tried to get away as fast as I could because I wanted a little bit of a cushion in case my shoulder started bothering me,” he said, referring to the shoulder injury he suffered a month ago. “I just kind of put my head down and charged all day long to see if my shoulder held up and it held up good, and here we are with the first-place win!”
For much of the race, Whibley battled for second with round two winner Jimmy Jarrett, but Whibley finally broke away just after the halfway point, though by that time Duvall owned too much real estate. “Hopefully, we got all our bad luck out of the way at the start of the year,” Whibley said. “It’s kind of been a little weird, things happening like at the last race getting hit and [losing] the front brake.”
Jarrett would slip to fourth behind teammate Watkins at the finish, the victim of some bad luck of his own in the final couple laps that reached the lowest point when a lapper’s bike slammed into Jarrett’s as he blasted up the biggest hill on the course. The collision not only knocked him off his bike, but it left his KX450F with a damaged exhaust and a dented fork leg, leaving the four-time series champ with a bike that ran poorly and handled little better.
While Watkins was satisfied to finish on the podium for the third straight time, he admitted, “This’ll be my second year running this series and I’d really like to win one for once!” And he’l need to if he wants to maintain his hold on the series points lead, which Duvall sliced to just two, 71-69. Jarrett is third with 60, Ashburn fourth at 55 and Whibley fifth on 54.
Ashburn settled into a fairly solitary fifth after the third lap, though Jarrett’s last-lap woes brought him to within 15 seconds at the finish. Kawasaki privateer Adam Bonneur beat Husaberg’s Nick Fahringer to the finish by five seconds for sixth place overall followed by Lite A winner Michael Williams, Lite A runner-up Duane Conner and Pro Kenneth Gilbert.
