The exiting WORCS Champion talks about his race win at the WORCS season finale in Primm, Nevada.
WORCS round nine
October 19, 2014
Primm, Nevada
Coming into the final round of the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) at Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino in Primm, Nevada, my ultimate goal was to end the season on a high. Gary Sutherlin had a comfortable lead in points, so I didn’t have a realistic shot at retaining my WORCS Championship, which meant that as the final round headed to Primm, there was one thing left for me to do: win. The racecourse at Primm really couldn’t have been too much better, as the recent thunderstorms in the area had softened the sand, allowing for the track to get good and rough, and the layout the WORCS crew utilized had a really good flow through the surrounding desert.
To make a true finale out of the pro main event, WORCS scheduled the motorcycle Pro and Pro 2 classes to run on the same course at the same time as the Quad Pro and Pro/Ams. It can sometimes be a little nerve-racking to race with the quads, but I have yet to have a bad experience, and it does give the Pro race a more grandiose feel to it, so I personally don’t mind.
With the lack of a starting gate, the procedure would be dead engine once again, and for the umpteenth time this season my teammate, Justin Seeds, pulled the holeshot; I think he’s batted a thousand this year with the dead engines. Meanwhile, back on the line, I was left by nearly everyone, kicking my bike, and kicking, and kicking. Four or five kicks later it finally roared to life, and I funneled in toward the rear of the group, somewhere in the mid-teens as far as on-track position goes. I do remember seeing a flapping pink superman cape just ahead of me, which meant that Eric Yorba had suffered a poor start as well.
In the early chaos I was able to make my way by a few riders, and by the middle of the first lap I had worked up to sixth place behind Steven Gibson. He showed really good speed early, and we had a good little back and forth battle for a few corners before I was finally able to make the pass stick. Not long after that, I caught up to Travis Coy, and as we raced down a fast straightaway with three ski jumps I held it on a little longer, out jumping him and moving into fourth place.
Just a few corners later I caught up to Ivan Ramirez just in time to witness his quite spectacular get-off. As Ivan accelerated out of a right-handed corner and down the following straight he clipped an embedded rock, which sent his bike into a vicious swap. It was so violent that it blew his left leg over the seat, onto the right side of his motorcycle and he was body-dragging next to his bike at around fifty mph. He had no real choice but to let go of the handlebars and he and his machine went sliding down the course as I made my way by and into third position. This left the two Justins ahead of me: Jones in the lead and Seeds just behind him in second place.
Near the end of the second lap the course came to the Pro section, a pretty technical rocky downhill. Wouldn’t you know it, an ATV rider was stuck in the middle of the best line, which affected Seeds’ line choice. I think Justin may have clipped a rock just wrong and lost his balance, and just as I approached the section I saw him drop the bike and then scramble to pick it back up. I was able to go around the other side of the quad, and though I also got a little hung up in the rocks, I was able to complete the pass and move into second place.
Justin Jones was riding very well out, front and I really had to work hard to try to cut into the 25-second advantage that he had built up in the first couple laps. It took a couple more laps of the circuit for me to finally get close enough to start applying a bit of pressure, and I started to look for a way by Justin. From past battles I knew that Justin would put up a fight, but down a fast, wide sand wash, I saw my opportunity. I held it on a little bit longer and pull up alongside Justin. We both braked very late into the following right-hand corner, but I had the inside line, was able to control the track and take the lead.
From there I tried my hardest to pull a gap on Justin as my crew had given me the signal to pit this lap, and I wanted as big a gap as possible in case Justin stayed out for an extra loop. As I said, Justin was riding very well and was able to stay close enough to pass me back as I was finishing up my pit stop. I had a feeling it was going to be a bit tougher to get by Justin a second time, and I could see in his body language that he was attacking the track harder than the previous lap. This is where my line selection played a big part in the outcome, as I had a little better flow through a fast, flowing “S” section of racecourse. Justin swung a little wide left to miss some chop, which narrowed his entry into the following left-handed sweeping corner. Meanwhile I stayed further right, carrying more speed into the left-hander and I was able to use that momentum to sweep around the outside of Justin and out-brake him into the next hard left, taking the lead once again.
Over the rest of the lap I stretched out a bit of a gap over Justin, which expanded further when he came in to pit. From then on I was able to ride a smooth, comfortable pace, maintaining the gap without using too much energy or taking unnecessary risks while getting around lapped riders. I was really enjoying the course, flowing through the corners, and I was almost a bit disappointed when the white flag came out as I didn’t feel I had had my fill yet. A lap later, the checkered flag came out and I was happy to take my second WORCS win of the year.
I’d like to thank all of my supporters: Precision Concepts, Kawasaki, Alamo Alarm, MSR, Shoei, Sidi, Spy Optics, Focus Apparel, EVS, USWE, Ryan Abbatoye Designs, FMF, BRP, A’ME Grips, Northland Motorsports, ATP Mechanix, and THR Motorsports. I’d like to congratulate Justin Jones for making it back into the top three, and Eric Yorba for earning his first WORCS podium finish. I also want to congratulate everyone at WORCS on a fantastic season. I really enjoy the series and I’m already looking forward to round one in January!
Robby Bell
www.robbybellracing.com
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