Kiedrowski Runs Away With Gorman WORCS Win

Kit Palmer | September 3, 2002

Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Mike Kiedrowski (pictured) took top honors at the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) round in Gorman, California, September 1. It was Kiedrowski’s second win of the series, and it puts him in the points lead with just one round remaining.

Ty Davis, the series leader going into the race, was forced to retire with one lap to go after becoming dehydrated. Davis was the early leader but couldn’t shake Kiedrowski, who, going into the race, was just six points behind the Montclair Yamaha-backed rider in the series standings. Kiedrowski eventually passed Davis, pulled away, and went on to win, while Davis began struggling in the heat and humidity. KTM rider Kurt Caselli eventually caught and passed Davis, who later pulled off the track just before the white flag came out. Davis said that he was beginning to feel light-headed and dizzy and decided to retire to the pits. Davis, along with another dehydrated and over-heated rider, was air-lifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.

“I didn’t know if I could make it one more lap,” Davis said on Tuesday, September 3. “It was one of those calls, so I thought it was better to be safe than sorry.”

Davis was released from the hospital later that night.

Kiedrowski, meanwhile, came out of it with a healthy 21-point lead over Davis with the final round to be held November 10 at Honey Lake MX in Milford, California.

Taking second at Gorman was Caselli who finished some 30 seconds behind Kiedrowski but well ahead of the third-place rider Russell Pearson, who piloted a new Yamaha YZ450F thumper. Fourth place went to Ryan Dudek aboard another YZ450F Yamaha, while fifth place went to Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Steve Hatch. Suzuki-mounted Robert Naughton, Yamaha rider Bobby Garrison, KTM’s Brian Garrahan, Kawasaki pilot Craig Wesner and Honda-mounted Robert Fouts rounded out the top 10 overall.