O.M.A. NATIONAL'S - ROUND ONE.
7th Sep 2010
THOMAS KEEPS IT COUNTRY IN NASHVILLE.
Monster Energy Andrews Yamaha rider Jason Thomas took a
trip to Nashville, Tennessee this weekend to compete in round one of the
OMA National Off-Road series and came home with a fist full of dollars
and a 3rd place overall in the Pro class.
The 25 year old from Machynlleth, in Mid-Wales, finished hot on the heels of Jimmy Jarrett (Kawasaki) who took 2nd and Paul Whibley (Kawasaki) who won the event. The Maxxis Hangman XC OMA event also marked Jason`s YZ450F debut. He will remain on Fred Andrews factory YZ250F for the GNCC series, but wants to use the OMA`s to gain some experience on the larger capacity machine. Jason had this to say after the race:
`Its been great to come down here to Tennessee and compete directly with Paul & Jimmy at an OMA. This series has helped me a great deal over the years & it`s always good to race with these guys. Bill (Gussie) and his team know how to run a First-Class event & this one was no exception. I`ve been wanting to do some three hour events on the YZ450F for a while. Several of the top XC2 Pro-Lites riders practice on 450`s between GNCC`s, but I`ve only just been given this one and have been practicing on a YZ250F since I got here in early January. Its been great to get a good result on the 450 today and I loved racing it. Joey, my mechanic, & I fitted a large fuel tank & an 18` rear wheel during the week, but other the silencer it`s pretty stock. With the way the industry is at the moment it`s important to keep all your options open & I want people to see that I can be competitive on a 450 as well as a 250.`
The OMA series dates are planned out so that they don`t clash with the GNCC`s, but run on alternate weekends. This means that several regular GNCC riders take part in the series, notably Paul Whibley who is the current OMA Champion, Jimmy Jarrett, who has won the OMA series several times, Shane Watts, Justin Williamson & Scotty Watkins.