JG Off Road / GEICO Powersports Race Report
The JG Off Road / GEICO / Monster Energy Kawasaki team headed to Morganton, NC for Round #3 of the Can Am GNCC Series.
North Carolina had experienced some heavy rain in the week leading up to the race, but skies cleared by the weekend, leading to perfect track conditions.
Jennifer Albright was off to a good start when the flag went up. Going into the first corner she lost a couple spots but as the Womens Quad A class rounded corner two she settled in behind Traci Cecco and Angel Atwell. She hit the woods in 5th and anxiously tried to get to the front. By the end of the second lap, Albright was able to make up some time and found her way into second place. Positions swapped back and forth once lap riders were brought into the mix and with one lap to go, the top 5 in the class came through the scoring tent like a freight train. Unfortunately for Jennifer, she was in the heat of battle and decided to pass by her pit stop, causing her to run out of gas. Luckily Phil was able to get to her and get her gas before losing too much time and she was able to pull off a 5th place (7th O/A) finish. After 3 rounds, Jennifer is sitting in 4th place in points, just a mere 2 points out of 2nd place.
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.
The boys took to the course on Sunday afternoon, and after a 3 hour, 7 lap wheel to wheel battle, Whibley found himself back in a familiar place – on the podium. Although Paul battled suspension problems throughout the race, even falling to 4th place at one point, he was able to rally during the final lap and gain some time on the leaders. "I was a little uncomfortable out there," Whibley said. "Third is still good. I'm happy to be up on the podium. It's still a good day." Whibley ended up taking the number 3 spot on the podium for the day and was able to retain his points lead.
Jimmy Jarrett also battled some issues on the tough course which ended his day early. After just 4 laps, Jarrett had a nasty crash that took him out. No worries though, Jimmy is ok and will be back for Round 4 and is looking to redeem himself. Jimmy currently sits in 5th place in the points standings.
Scott Watkins had a great battle on his hands all day in the XC2 class. Making his was up from 6th place to 3rd throughout the day. Watkins rode strong through the first 6 laps of the race, but dehydration took its toll on the 7th lap, wearing Scott down and dropping him off the podium. Scotty finished 5th (16th O/A) for the day. Watkins is hungry for another podium finish and is looking forward to the Big Buck in Union, SC. Scott is currently sitting in 3rd place in the points standings.
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 April 4 & 5 for the Pirelli Big Buck GNCC in Union, SC.
