Reigning World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) Champion Robby Bell talks about getting back on the horse at round three in Lake Havsu after a leg injury.
The Havasu racecourse is well known as one of the toughest on the WORCS circuit. The top third of the track is a rocky, square-edged motocross section with the remaining course being composed of slow-speed soft-sand whoops that take their physical toll. Throw in lap times that average around 6 minutes and the quantity of laps the pro riders complete in nearly 2 hours makes for ever-changing and quickly deteriorating conditions. To put it into laymen’s terms: It gets really rough, really quickly.
Adding more difficulty to what was already going to be a tough weekend was the fact that I was carrying a pretty bad knee injury from about three weeks prior. I had been on the couch with my leg up for the better part of a month (which led me to miss the Laughlin Hare Scrambles), but if I wanted to keep my hopes of defending my WORCS championship alive I knew I needed to come out and give it a right go.
As we lined up for the start of the pro race I tried to keep my mind clear. I knew I wasn’t at my best, but I didn’t want that to affect me mentally. I wanted to get out there, see how I felt, and adjust my goals accordingly.
The start was to be dead engine-style, and in a carbon copy of the previous round, I suffered a three-kicker. In all honesty I think subconsciously I didn’t really want to be right up front from the get-go; I didn’t want to take the risk of pushing too hard and re-injuring myself. Whatever the real reason, I was mired well back in the pack as the race began to take shape.
It was definitely slightly careful times for me in the opening laps as I didn’t want to risk coming together with anyone and going down, but I was able to make a few passes and move into the top 10 within a lap. I could see the leaders just a couple straightaways ahead, and everything inside me wanted to be up there battling them, but I could tell after the first couple laps I needed to ride smart and pace myself to get a decent finish.
By lap five I had made my way up to sixth place, and I could see that I was beginning to reel-in Eric Yorba. Within a lap of catching up to the back of Eric I was able to make a move around the outside of him and take fifth position for my own.
From then on I rode my own pace, more or less just getting through the laps. I could see Justin Jones just ahead of me for a little bit, but I didn’t have the strength to catch him. After a long day in the Havasu sand, I would finish fifth place.
Considering the fact that I was well less than 100 percent coming into the weekend, I’ll take a fifth-place finish. I knew it was going to be tough, but I was able to get some decent points toward the championship and, more importantly, not re-injure my knee.
I’d like to thank my supporters: Precision Concepts, Kawasaki, THR Motorsports, MSR, Shoei, Sidi, Spy, Focus Apparel, USWE, EVS, FMF, BRP, Alamo Alarm, Ryan Abbatoye Designs, Northland Motorsports, Jan’s Towing, and ATP Mechanix. I’m definitely disappointed for my team and my supporters as it’s been a bit of a tough start to the season and I really want to get on to the top step of the podium for them.
Thanks to my mechanic Phil for always working so hard for me, my wife for coming out and supporting me, and I’d also like to thank all of the fans who kept enthusiastically cheering me on during the race; it means a lot to me.
From here I’m focused on getting back to full fitness so I can start to turn my season around. I miss that feeling of being able to push my body to its limits, and I’m hoping to soon be able to build that feeling once again.
Robby Bell
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