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Race Report: Round 3 OMA Series, Rio Grande
Rider: Paul Whibley
Team: Parts Unlimited, Moose, Honda
Bike: Honda CRF 250X
The 3rd round of the OMA XC series was held at Rio Grande in Ohio.
I have had some bad luck in this series so far this season with bike problems at Round 1 and a crash which required a trip to the hospital at Round 2. This time I was determined to finish and put the OMA jinks behind me.
The track was dusty and a good start was going to be critical. I was riding the CRF 250 at this race and I got a pretty decent jump off the line and came around turn 1 in 6th.
The dust was bad in the grass section and Jimmy Jarret took full advantage of his good start and checked out. I moved up to 5th mid first lap and could see Barry Hawk in 4th ahead of me.
On lap 2 Hawk and myself moved around fast starting Chris Bach. Charlie Mullins caught me just before the fuel stop and got past me when I made a mistake in a rock section.
I latched onto Mullins and did my best to keep him in sight in the dusty sections. We soon caught Jason Thomas who was in 3rd and racing with Hawk. After a battle for a couple of laps we all got passed Thomas. All this action pushed us forward and we had closed the gap on Jarrett.
By the time the chequered flag was out Jarrett was first, Hawk was second, Mullins third. I was fourth only 40 seconds behind Jarrett.
Thanks to the following sponsors for their support:
Moose,
Parts Unlimited,
Honda,
Pro Honda oils,
RG3,
WER,
EK chains,
Sunstar,
Pirelli,
Powersport Grafx,
Braking,
CTi,
Alpinestar,
Wiseco,
Thumper racing,
Cycra,
Smith,
Honda Riders Club America,
Tire Balls,
Tag,
IMS,
Motion Pro,
Moto SR,
Stringfellows
