Caselli Wraps Up WORCS Title
| November 5, 2007
The race for the 2007 World Off-Road Championship Series title came down to the final race of the season at the Honolulu Hills Raceway in Taft, California, November 4. Red Bull KTM’s Kurt Caselli went into the final with a slim points lead over Kawasaki Team Green’s Nathan Woods, making for a simple scenario for Caselli “ finish third and no matter what happens he’d take home the number-one plate.
Neither rider got off to particularily great starts, but the two did hook up in the middle of the pack, with Caselli latching on to Woods’ rear fender as they worked their way up to the front. Once there, Caselli was content just to follow Woods’ lines and stay in second to wrap up his first WORCS title. After 13 rounds, when all was said in done, Caselli finished just five points ahead of Woods.
“It’s been a long season,” Caselli said. “The Red Bull/KTM team has been great, and we earned this one as a team. When a season lasts this long, it’s more important to stay consistently on the podium than to win individual races, and that’s what we did. Woods is a tough competitor, and he made me earn every point. This Championship has been a major goal for me for a long time and I’m really glad to finally have the number-one plate.”
Woods, who came from well down on points during the early stages of the season, said, “I won the battle, but lost the war. Kurt did everything right today, and I guess I did everything right, too, but… I want to congratulate Kurt, he’s a great rider. I think it will be him and me again next year.”
Third place went to defending champ Ricky Dietrich who caught and passed Bobby Garrison on the last lap. Garrison, who led much of the race, ended up fourth and Kawasaki rider Damon Huffman finished fifth in his first WORCS race.
