Monday, July 09, 2012 - John Penton GNCC Results 2012

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The John Penton GNCC XC1 podium with Paul Whibley (center) in first, Kaliub Russell (left) in second and Rory Mead (right) in third.

Kenda's Paul Whibley is known for having an intense training program and an even tougher mental game, making the physically demanding conditions of this year's Wiseco John Penton GNCC seem effortless for the 2009 champ. Whibley powered through the nearly 100-degree temperatures to secure his third XC1 Pro Class victory and extend his lead to 6 points over Kailub Russell as the 2012 Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series wrapped up Round 9 of the series at Sunday Creek Raceway in Millfield, Ohio. 

Whibley put his AmPro Yamaha YZ-450F out front right away after taking yet another $250 Motosport.com Holeshot Award and claiming the early lead. With only a one-point margin heading into this round, Factory FMF/KTM's Kailub Russell settled in right behind Whibley on the opening lap, hoping to catch pace of the leader early on. But WMR/KTM's Rory Mead had other plans as he put himself between Whibley and Russell by Lap 2 and continued to pull a gap on Russell as the race wore on. Russell and Mead came into the motocross section of the course neck-and-neck and it was Russell who entered the woods in the second place position, putting the pass on Mead as they exited the moto-section of Sunday Creek Raceway.

"Kailub and I had a pretty good battle going there and I sort of let him go as we left the motocross track because I felt like he had a quicker pace than I did at the time," Mead said.

 As the white flag came out, Whibley turned it up a notch and increased the gap to second place by nearly two-minutes, which is where Russell finished after six laps of racing. 

"I've been training pretty hard for hot days like this and I think it's really paying off for me this season," Whibley said. "I'm really happy with the win today and I'm looking forward to picking up where we left off here when we get to Unadilla in September."

Obermeyer Yamaha-backed Chris Bach got off to a third place start and quickly tagged onto the leaders, eventually falling into battle with Shenandoah Honda/Offroadchampions' Thad DuVall for the fourth place spot. Bach held DuVall off pretty well all afternoon and just when the gap tightened up, DuVall was involved in a crash that resulted in some bike issues for the West Virginia rider. The dented head pipe set DuVall back on the final lap, but he was still able to salvage a fifth place finish behind Bach's season-best fourth place finish.

XC1 Pro Results:
1. Paul Whibley (YAM)
2. Kailub Russell (KTM)
3. Rory Mead (KTM)
4. Chris Bach (YAM)
5. Thad DuVall (HON)
6. Josh Strang (KTM)
7. Jordan Ashburn (YAM)
8. Nathan Kanney (HON)
9. Garrett Edmisten (KAW)
10. Mark Fortner (BET)

Courtesy of GNCC Racing
Monday, July 09, 2012