Caselli Wins WORCS Opener

| January 22, 2008

The 2008 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) got underway at the Speed World MX Park in Arizona, January 20. Many new factory and privateer race teams came out in force, and Red Bull/KTM’s Kurt Caselli was sporting his new number-one plate for the first time. But when all was said and done, it was again Caselli with that big number-one up front.

Riding a Kawasaki, privateer Bobby Bonds looked to have the race in control, opening up a 30-second lead after passing early front-runner Tim Weigand. Bonds continued to hold his own through the first half of the race, when Caselli started whittling away at his lead. By the last lap, Caselli was right on Bonds’ rear fender. Caselli eventually got around the Kawasaki rider and rode off with the win, while Bonds settled for second place.

KTM privateer Kyle Summers battled all day and was rewarded with third overall, beating out Kawasaki rider Damon Huffman and former WORCS champ Nathan Woods, who is now riding for Suzuki. Woods was slowed by a flat tire. Robby Bell, Bobby Garrison, Brenden Ritzman and Rick Dietrich rounded out the top 10 overall.

In the Pro 2 class, Taylor Robert opened the new season with a hard-fought victory over Nick Brozovich and Ryan Abbatoye.

By Joe Colombero