Caselli Back On Top

Mark Kariya | September 5, 2006

In only his third series race and his second since coming back last month from his early-season injury, KTM’s Kurt Caselli rallied back from a so-so start and arm pump to win the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC World Off Road Championship Series race at Bull Hollow MX near Monticello, Utah, September 3. Early leader Bobby Garrison of the Zip-Ty Racing team finished second, about a minute and a half behind, while Team Green’s Nathan Woods got on the box for the first time this season with his third-place finish.

Caselli wasted little time getting up towards the front on his Tag/FMF/Moose 250 XC with some good line choices, though he had to wait for a bit to really charge.

“I got arm pump in the beginning and just kind of cruised for a little bit and relaxed,” Caselli said.

Relaxing is one thing Garrison couldn’t do, as he led on his Race Tech/Montclair Yamaha/Moose YZ450F. “I think [being nervous] is what the problem was,” Garrison admitted. “I had the lead, and I came into that rock section, and I knew everybody was right behind me. I had so many lines picked out; I just couldn’t [remember] them.”

That handed the lead to Caselli, and from that point, he controlled the race to pick up his first WORCS victory of the season – a season interrupted by his knee injury after round one. So, Caselli’s 2-2-1 record gives him 80 points and moves him to 12th in points with three rounds remaining.

“I’m just happy that I’m back up to where I want to be,” Caselli said. “I feel good. The rest of this year, I’ll just try to win as many races as I can and look forward to next year.”

Garrison’s runner-up finish moved him to the second in series points with 176.

Team Green-supported Ricky Dietrich came into the race tied for the series points lead with Team FMF Suzuki Off-Road’s Ryan Hughes (who was absent for the third race in a row, as he continues to recover from a broken arm). Dietrich crashed hard on his Carter Powersports/Pro Circuit/ARC KX450F, but he picked himself off the deck and managed to finish fifth, though battered and bruised. Doing so minimized the damage, points-wise. Dietrich now has sole possession of first with 182 points.

Mark Kariya | Contributor

Kariya spends way too much time in the desert, but we’re glad he does as he’s the man who gets us our coverage of all things sandy.