JG Off Road / GEICO Powersports Race Report
Maxxis General GNCC – Washington, GA - The JG Off Road / GEICO / Monster Energy Kawasaki team goes 2 for 2 on podium appearances with Whibley, Jarrett, and Watkins all taking top 10 overall finishes at Round 2 of the 2009 Can Am GNCC series in Washington, GA.
The weather in GA was much like what you would expect for the FL round with warm breezes and sunny skies, but maybe that heat was coming from the fire that was burning from the GEICO camp. After the podium finishes from Paul Whibley and Jennifer Albright at round 1, the rest of the team was amped up and ready to join them this weekend.
Jennifer Albright entered the woods third and quickly found herself in the lead as the Womens Quad A class made their way through the U2 class. The girls swapped positions in the early laps, when Jennifer got a little off kilter which cost her a little time. For the final two laps, Albright put her charge on and made up a few positions. Jennifer just missed the podium this round with a 4th place class finish (6th O/A). With two rounds under her belt she is currently tied for 2nd place in the points standings.
Jennifer would like to thank of her sponsors: GEICO, MSR, Lojak Yamaha, MAXXIS, HMF, HiPer Technology, Rekluse, GT Thunder, Spider Grips, Precision, XFR, Cycle Gear, Scott, Flexx, CV4, IMS, ProGraph-X, Triple X Motorsports, PowerMadd, and DP Brakes.
Whibley and Jarrett set the pace as soon as the green flag flew – even after Jimmy went down after the second turn. Paul grabbed the MotorcycleUSA.com holeshot award and battled with Jimmy Jarrett and Josh Strang for most of the race. Jarrett, almost last into the woods off the start, charged hard and was already up to 5th place by the end of lap 1. In typical Whibley style, he continued to stay strong through the end of the race and was able to pull a 2 minute lead through the checkers. Jarrett and Strang had an awesome battle all the way to the finish. Strang, putting in one more hard charge to try to get second ended up colliding with Jarrett. Strang felt bad for making the move, so he actually waved Jarrett back past him to give up second at the finish. "Maybe it was a mistake, but Jimmy is a good friend and I didn't mean to run into him like that," said Strang.
"It was awesome battling like we did for the first few laps," said Whibley, "I was just trying to pick out lines. After the first gas, I think everyone picked up the pace. I didn't think I could go faster, but then I was able to do it. To finish one-two like that in our second race together, this is great."
"I went hard at mid race and got into the lead, but when Whibley caught me later on, I was done," said Jarrett. "He's just a machine out there, it's incredible."
Scotty Watkins, coming off an illness in Round 1, proved that he’s going to be a contender in for the 2009 season. Going into the woods in 4th place, Watkins was able to push hard and stay strong throughout the race. Scotty was up to 3rd and quickly gaining ground by the 3rd lap, but ran into some lap traffic mid race and lost some of that valuable time. Watkins held on to his 3rd place position, putting him on the podium as well and placing him in the Top 10 (8th) overall for the day. "I haven't felt the best the last two weeks, so I'll take the points," said Watkins.
After 2 rounds of racing, Whibley sits in the points lead and Jarrett not far behind in 3rd. Watkins has climbed up to 4th place in the XC2 Lites class.
JT and Gretchen Bennett couldn’t be more proud of the team and how all 4 riders rode this weekend. “I’m so happy for all of the riders this weekend. To take 1st and 2nd overall and get a podium in the Lites Class is just amazing,” commented Gretchen. “We’re really proud of Jennifer too. She rode hard on Saturday, even after a nasty crash.”
The team would like to extend a special thanks to all of their sponsors: GEICO, Monster Energy Kawasaki, Moose, Pirelli, Tsubaki, IMS, Works Connection, EBC Brakes, Silkolene, Renthal, Pro Moto Billet, Enduro Engineer, PG Graphics, and Acerbis.
In addition, the guys would like to thank the following sponors:
Paul Whibley – Leo Vince, Shoei, Smith, G-2, Vortex Ignitions, WER, and CTI
Jimmy Jarrett – FMF, Arai, Motion Pro, Cytomax, Applied, UFO, Twin Air, and BRP
Scotty Watkins - FMF and Shoei
And of course a huge thank you to our fans.
The GNCC series will continue on March 21 & 22 for the Steele Creek GNCC in Morganton, NC.
