Reigning WORCS Champion Gary Sutherlin ends Robby Bell’s perfect win streak in the Utah sand.
Reigning World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) Champion Gary Sutherlin came out on the happy end of an epic battle for the overall win during round five of the 2015 Rocky Mountain MC-sponsored series at Sand Hollow in Hurricane, Utah, yesterday.
Sutherlin engaged in an epic battle with the man from whom he took the WORCS title away in 2014, Precision Concepts’ Robby Bell, and landed the victory after Bell crashed in spectacular fashion. Bell was unhurt and was able to remount to salvage second place. RPM/KTM’s Eric Yorba finished third.
John Burr Cycle’s Steve Gibson came away from the dead-engine start with the lead, but Yorba quickly took the spot away from Gibson by the end of lap one. But both Sutherlin and Bell soon caught up to Yorba after getting off to slow starts, and both men passed him, setting up a fantastic battle to the finish.
Sutherlin and Bell battled for the nearly the rest of the race, swapping positions as they battled around Sand Hollow’s scenic 12-mile course. Their battle turned into a frantic dash to the finish line with Sutherlin prevailing when Bell hit a couple submerged rocks in the sand and bailed off at high speed.
After a rough start to his year, Yorba was finally able to claim a spot on the WORCS Pro podium with a third place finish after making a last-lap pass on Precision Concepts’ Justin Seeds, who finished fourth by less than a second. RPM/KTM’s Travis Coy barely edged out FMF/KTM’s Ivan Ramirez for fifth place. Coy was so exhausted that he collapsed to the ground right after the checkered flag, apparently having given it everything to hold off Ramirez for the spot.
Dalton Shirey claimed his second straight Pro 2 class win to extend his points lead in the class over runner-up Justin Wallis. In what turned out to be a bit of controversy, Wallis was stripped of what appeared to be a sure win when he was penalized several minutes for speeding in the hot pits and thus dropped to second place. Travis Damon finished third
In the Pro 2 Lites class, Jeremy Newton celebrated his birthday weekend by claimiong his first-ever class win. Logan Chambers went down several times during the race but managed to claim second place. Mitch Anderson was third.
Round six of the 2015 Rocky Mountain MC World Off-Road Championship Series returns to Cedar City, Utah, May 23-24 for the Iron Mine race, the last race before the two-month-long summer break.
2015 Rocky Mountain MC World Off-Road Championship Series
Sand Hollow
Hurricane, Utah
Results: Aoril 19, 2015 (Round 5 of 9)
Pro
1. Gary Sutherlin-KTM
2. Robby Bell-Kaw
3. Eric Yorba-KTM
4. Justin Seeds-Kaw
5. Travis Coy-KTM
6. Ivan Ramirez-KTM
7. Justin Jones-hon
8. Ryan Reina-Kaw
9. Jesse Lundin-Yam
10. Dylan Schmoke-KTM
2015 Rocky Mountain MC World Off-Road Championship Series Pro Point Standings (After 5 of 9 rounds)
1. Robby Bell-122/4 wins
2. Justin Jones-92
3. Justin Seeds-74
Travis Coy-74
5. Blayne Thompson-72
6. Gary Sutherlin-69/1 win
7. Eric Yorba-63
8. Jesse Lundin-62
9. Ivan Ramirez-58
10. Dylan Schmoke-52
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