Cycle News

Cycle News 2014 Issue 13 April 1 2014

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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OFF ROAD AMSOIL AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES, PRESENTED BY MAXXIS ROUND 3/MARCH 30, 2014 STEELE CREEK/MORGANTON, N.C. P82 secutive rounds and just when he thought his title defense couldn't get worse, the Ohio- native missed two more rounds with a broken arm before sitting the season finale out to welcome his baby boy into the world. In 2009 Paul Whibley claimed his first GNCC Championship with big-time support from Ka- wasaki but as the times began to change, Whibley lost his lu- crative living. So in 2010, Whib- ley remounted his number-one plate on an AmPro Yamaha ma- chine. At the time Yamaha was in the midst of pushing its new WR model, therefore the stars of the sport were also riding the company's newest bike, which meant a little bit of readjusting for the New Zealand-native who was used to riding a different model. Needless to say, the adjustment period didn't work to Whibley's advantage as he went winless until the last two rounds of 2010, finishing third overall. Whibley dialed in his program with the AmPro Yamaha team through the next two sea- sons, eventually captur- ing a second title in 2012. Once again the "Axe Man" headed into another sea- son with the coveted num- ber-one plate, only to expe- rience another roadblock. Midway through the season Whibley admitted to having a serious sports hernia that was causing stress on his abdominal and groin mus- cles to the point of not be- ing able to hold on. Whib- ley underwent surgery and missed two rounds at the end of the season, salvag- ing fifth overall for the year. Enter factory FMF/ KTM's Kailub Russell who had a dominant season in 2013, capturing seven overall vic- tories en route to his first GNCC National Championship. Russell had his work cut out heading into the 2014 season, as every past champion since 2009 has returned to the XC1 Pro-class healthy and more competitive than ever before. While round one seemed to be par for the course in terms of Russell's title defense, the reigning champion bounced back from a 14th overall to secure two consecutive wins (Left) Kailub Russell closed the gap on series leader Charlie Mullins with the Steele Creek GNCC win. (Right) Trevor Bollinger captured his very first win in the XC2 Pro Lites class in front of his home fans.

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