Whibley reclaims GNCC lead from Strang

Kawasaki's Paul Whibley won his third Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series race of the year, and reclaimed the title lead, at round eight in Millfield, Ohio.

Whibley completed the six laps in a gut-busting three hours, 43 seconds ahead of teammate Jim Jarrett.

Australlian Josh Strang, who's won three of the last four races, was third on his Suzuki, just ahead of his teammate Charles Mullins.

Barry Hawk (Yamaha) just defeated Kailub Russell (KTM) in a trilling battle for fifth position.

"It was pretty cool to win," Whibley said. "It's been a tough year. I've had a few problems this year with some bad luck so this was a good race. I feel pretty good about taking the win. It's good to be back on the top again."

Strang started the race in third place but fell to sixth place on lap two. From there, Strang, Mullins and Hawk battled between each other to take third place.

"The track conditions were good," Strang said. "I was looking forward to it. I had a bad start and by the end of the first lap I was 16 seconds down or something.  By the second lap dropped 40 seconds.

"I thought I was riding pretty well.  I tried to push hard. I'm not very happy but I'll take the points. I'm looking forward to getting the points back at the next race."

Australia's second rider, Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna) only completed two laps and failed to finish.

Whibley is now on 182pts, from Strang (177), Mullins (171), Russell (134) and Jarrett (125). Kearney is 13th on 48pts.

For full results and standings, click here.