I was passing plenty of riders, but I never really
knew if I was leading at any stage or not, because
other riders near me on the track might have
been solo riders or part of two-man teams
The NZGNCC series “cherry picks” from other
established competitions, taking the best of the
bunch to compile its own five-round series and
the Woodhill race was also round two of the
Woodhill Two-Man series, with only the ‘Ironman’
(solo) riders eligible for NZGNCC points.
Whibley (Yamaha YZ450F) found himself on the
third row of the starting grid at Woodhill, but he
quickly moved away from this bunch and caught
the riders who’d been in the starting rows ahead
of him.
“I was passing plenty of riders, but I never really
knew if I was leading at any stage or not, because
other riders near me on the track might have
been solo riders or part of two-man teams and
it was only the solo riders I needed to worry
about,” he explained.
He should not have been concerned because,
when the chequered flag flew at the end of the
three hours, he was outright winner, with other
solo riders Reardon and Wightman the next
best, while fourth overall was Rotorua’s two-rider
combo of Barry Morris and Cam Negus (Yamaha
YZ250F), the first of the two-man teams.
“I did not push too hard all day,” said Whibley. “I
wanted to concentrate on riding smooth. There
was a lot of second-gear riding and tough to find
a rhythm.
“I was surprised I held on as well as I did
because my fitness is not at its peak. I plan on
doing a bit more riding between now and round
two.”
With a dozen years of sleeping in motor
homes and travelling the world to race off-road
motorcycles, competing in the Enduro World
Championships and the Grand National Cross-
country Championships (GNCC) in the United
States – where he twice won the title outright, in
2009 and 2012 – the former forestry worker the
bike world affectionately calls “The Axeman” was
ready to settle down... or was he?
He created the NZGNCC (NZXC) Series to
“provide a competition that would inspire and
prepare young Kiwi racers for the kind of racing
they might encounter overseas”.
106 KIWI RIDER
Although it was never his intention, he won the
inaugural 2015 series outright, and he scaled
back his own on-track participation in the years
which followed, with fresh champions allowed to
emerge – Coatesville’s Sam Greenslade won the
series in 2016; Whibley returned to win it again in
2017 and Titirangi’s Callan May won it last year.
“I probably won’t be contesting every round
myself this year,” Whibley confirmed. “I’ll be too
busy organising things, especially round three
in September, which is in my own backyard at
Taikorea (just outside Palmerston North).”
Whibley is supported by Yamaha Motor New
Zealand, PWR Yamaha, Arai, TCX, Oakley, G2,
Asterisk, MotoSR, Vortex Ignitions, EC3D, Bush
Riders MCC, Rosscos Start Up Services, Dirt
Guide, Tire Balls, Renthal, BikesportNZ.com,
CarbSport, FMF, Michelin, Yamalube CV4 GYTR,
IMS O’Neal, Rekluse, Workshop Graphics and
Motomuck.
2019 NZGNCC CALENDAR
Rnd 1: July 28
(in conjunction with Woodhill Two-Man)
Rnd 2: August 24
(in conjunction with Tokoroa Dirt Guide)
Rnd 3: September 29
(Taikorea 500)
Rnd 4: November 9
(Matata)
Rnd 5: December 1
(in conjunction with Dead Toad XC race)