Whibley Rides Off With Moose Run Win

Mark Kariya | October 31, 2011

To put it in baseball terms, FMF/AmPro Yamaha’s Paul Whibley ended up batting a remarkable .900 in the 10-round Parts Unlimited Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals. The only glitch in his record was a close runner-up to Russell Bobbitt at the season opener. Since then, Whibley’s results aboard his Scotty Brooker-prepared Kenda/MSR/Monster Energy-backed YZ450F have been the model of consistency with nine consecutive wins, culminating in his latest triumph at the Moose Run, presented by Moose Racing, in Fenton, Illinois, on October 30.

Of course, he’d already wrapped up his fourth-straight series championship at round eight so his latest win was simply icing on the proverbial cake, coming as it did at the expense of the first four-time OMA champ Jimmy Jarrett of the American Honda/GEICO Powersports/JG Off-road team, though Whibley was, as always, a gracious winner, insisting, “You never know. It’s one of those races where a minute and a half can disappear pretty fast so you’ve always got to be on your toes.”

Jarrett, of course, has suffered through a frustrating year of injuries and bad luck, so his strong runner-up result at the Moose Run, which was co-sanctioned by the MXC Series, was a highlight of his year, matching his second place at round two.

Jarrett’s teammate, Scott Watkins, took advantage of a late crash by K Motosports racer Adam Bonneur, the local who’d been battling with Watkins almost all afternoon, to seal third on the day and for the season. (Obermeyer Yamaha’s Jordan Ashburn had locked up second in points earlier and elected to skip the Moose Run.) Bonneur wasn’t too disappointed with fourth, as it marked the best result in his abbreviated season.

Stiller Motorsports KTM’s Brett Zofchak rebounded from an early crash to finish fifth while local Suzuki privateer Shane Klimek–who enjoyed a few brief minutes at the front of the pack–claimed sixth. Open A winner Tyson Emery, 40-49 A winner Matt Stavish and Open A riders Cody Emery and Trent Buck rounded out the top 10 overall.

 

 

 

Mark Kariya | Contributor

Kariya spends way too much time in the desert, but we’re glad he does as he’s the man who gets us our coverage of all things sandy.