B
ragging rights have gone to Manawatu’s
Paul Whibley after he won a thrilling opening
round of the 2020 New Zealand Cross-country
Championships near Marton on February 16.
Whibley (Yamaha) took the lead at the start of
the three-hour senior race and he never looked
back from there.
The 41-year-old two-time former United States
cross-country champion and 2015 New Zealand
cross-country champion was in scintillating form
and he quickly built a solid advantage as Hamilton’s
Phil Goodwright (Husqvarna) and Pukekawa’s Jim
Orton (KTM) settled in behind him.
Suffering various injuries over the past couple
of seasons and generally only an occasional racer
in recent times, Whibley was hoping to mark his
return to this four-round Yamaha-sponsored
competition with a positive statement and he
102 KIWI RIDER
certainly did that at Marton, eventually winning
the main race by a comfortable margin.
“I knew I couldn’t relax and had to push near the
end,” said Whibley afterwards.
“I think the last time I’ve raced the season was
2015, so it’s been a while. My training has not been
going like it used to be. It was hard work today.
I don’t know how I hung on for three hours. It
was a quite demanding track with lots of ups
and downs.”
Taupo’s three-time former national champion
Brad Groombridge (Suzuki) and Raglan’s
defending 2019 champion Jason Dickey (Beta)
were stuck in traffic at the start and well behind
the leaders as the riders completed the first of
what would be seven brutal laps on the parched
farmland course.
Groombridge eventually fought through to