Team FMF/Suzuki Off-road’s Paul Whibley left nothing to chance. Rather than sit back and settle for a lesser position, he ran his Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals win streak to seven in a row after running away with round nine, the Maxxis Moonshine Gran Prix at the Kirkpatrick Farms outside of Memphis, Missouri.
The New Zealand native took control of the race on the second lap after getting a better drive into one field section on his Maxima/RG3/Moose-sponsored RM-Z450 and displacing teammate Jimmy Jarrett. The four-time and defending series champ got away to one of his patented quick starts aboard his own Works Connection/Zip-Ty Racing/Sidi RM-Z450 to earn the $200 Vemar Helmets Holeshot Award.
After getting passed, however, Jarrett had a frustratingly up-and-down day – both literally and figuratively. Unable to match Whibley’s pace, he found himself on the ground several times, putting himself into the position of playing catch-up from even farther back.
But catch up he did – at least most of the way. Adam Bonneur managed to put himself out of reach after battling with fellow YZ250-mounted privateer Aaron Wegner and Storm Lake Honda.com’s Cooper Bailey. Bonneur would end up holding the runner-up spot most of times through the scoring tent, though usually by no more than 10 or 15 seconds. He scored a career-best second overall aboard his Fastway/Pro Moto Billet/Moose machine, while Jarrett stormed back from fifth due to a crash on the white-flag lap to steal third, beating out Johnnysigns.com/Kenda/Works Enduro Rider-backed Wegner by 14 seconds.
Bailey matched his career-best fifth from round four aboard his Bachman Family Racing/Maxxis/Moose CRF450R. Next came the first of the A riders, with Nathan Alering edging Marty Michels for the Open A win and sixth overall by just 10 seconds.
Storm Lake Honda.com’s Chris Nelson claimed eighth overall and sixth Pro followed Levi Clemens, the third Open A, and seventh Pro Trey Verardo, who also played catch-up after going down in the second turn.
Afterward, Whibley beamed, and not just from the seventh envelope with $1000 he’s picked up from promoter Bill Gusse. His first major championship in the U.S. fulfills one of his goals. “Thanks to Jimmy for being great competition this year,” he told the crowd. “We’ve been having some good battles. Some of his results don’t show how fast he’s been going.”
But Whibley has managed to go just a bit faster each time. After finishing second to Charlie Mullins at the first two rounds, Whibley has won every round since, while Jarrett has had good days and bad. With Valli Motorsports Yamaha racer Brian Garrahan failing to finish due to a big first-lap crash, though, Jarrett has a realistic shot at second in the championship, and it’s entirely possible for Suzuki to sweep the series, which wraps up in two weeks with the Moose Run in Morrison, Illinois
