The true mark of a champion is when a racer shows the ability to surmount major obstacles to complete his mission - and that's exactly what Pahiatua's Paul Whibley had to do in the United States at the weekend.
Contesting round three of the American Off-road Motorcycle and ATV (OMA) series in Arkansas, the Yamaha ace was put to the test.
The 33-year-old Whibley is a four-time consecutive winner of the OMA series and was one of the favourites to win again in 2012 and make it five championships in a row.
But this time he was forced to battle back after a crash early in the race left him with bent handlebars on his Yamaha YZ450F.
Whibley got off to a good start along with Russell Bobbitt who lined up beside him and held the inside line into turn one. There Whibley got pushed wide and clipped Nick Fahringer as he swept around the outside.