Bobby Garrison, aboard his ZipTy/Malcolm Smith Motorsports YZ450F, took his second win in a row this weekend in the World Off Road Championship Series (WORCS) at Lake Havasu, Arizona. With his second victory in only three events held so far this season, Garrison also took over the points lead from defending 2007 WORCS Champion Kurt Caselli who had his worst ride of the year with a troubled, come-from-behind finish for fifth place. Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ricky Dietrich, who finished third in the last round, moved up another spot to take second on the brutal Havasu course and teammate Damon Huffman scored his first WORCS podium with a third place finish.
This may have been the biggest turnout for the WORCS this season with over 1,400 entries over the two-day event and thousands of spectators enjoying Spring Break and the Pro races on Sunday’s schedule. Kyle Summers got the holeshot and looked as though he was ready to win this one. However, after leading for several laps, a crash and a bad landing damaged his fork and he was forced to limp his wounded KTM to an 11th place finish.
Meanwhile, Dietrich had taken over the lead and looked as though he was going to be unbeatable until Garrison came out of a mid-pack start to challenge the Kawasaki rider. The race was on as the two former rivals went at it again for the remainder of the two hours with Garrison getting the edge late in the event. Huffman also came up from a mid-pack start to set himself solidly in third during the second hour.
Bobby Bonds took the fourth place slot by pushing himself to his limits after a crash and a stalled motor dropped him back to 25th place on the second lap. Once his bike was started again, Bonds consistently picked off riders lap after lap until the checkered flag. Caselli also crashed himself back out of the top 20 early on in the event, but charged through the second hour into a fifth place finish to maintain his championship hopes.
Garrison’s victory earned him the lead in the title hunt where he now edges Caselli by three points. The next round is in April in Auburn, Washington where Dietrich (who grew up riding through the trees of Washington) always finishes well and Caselli is always strong. Garrison, who many consider a sand specialist, says he’s ready to go just as fast through the Washington woods as he did through the Havasu sand whoops.
The Pro 2 class had a very impressive run from Kawasaki’s Josh Morros taking his first victory of the season with Taylor Robert taking the second place spot followed by Suzuki’s Nick Brozovich in third.
WORCS Series Pro 1 Results
1. Bobby Garrison (Yam); 2. Ricky Dietrich (Kaw); 3. Damon Huffman (Kaw); 4. Bobby Bonds (Kaw); 5. Kurt Caselli (KTM); 6. Robby Bell (Hon); 7. Sean Collier (Kaw); 8. Tim Weigand (Hon); 9. Jamie Lanza (Kaw); 10. Kyle Lewis (Hon).
Points Standings After 3 of 10 Rounds:
1. Bobby Garrison (74/2 wins); 2. Kurt Caselli (71/1 win); 3. (TIE) Ricky Dietrich/Bobby Bonds (57); 5. Kyle Summers (49); 6. Damon Huffman (40); 7. Robby Bell (37); 8. (TIE) Jamie Lanza/Tim Weigand (31); 9. Sean Collier (28).
WORCS Series Pro 2 Results
1. Josh Morros (Kaw); 2. Taylor Robert (Kaw); 3. Nick Brozovich (Suz); 4. Ryan Abbatoye (Kaw); 5. Jason Parsons (Hon); 6. Alex Smith (Kaw); 7. Brodie Homphries (Suz); 8. Dillon Kuntz (Hon); 9. Justin Jones (Hon); 10. Kale Stately (Kaw).
Pro 2 Points Standings (After 3 of 10 Rounds):
1. Taylor Robert (85/2 wins); 2. Nick Brozovich (71); 3. Josh Morros (60/1 win); 4. Ryan Abbatoye (50); 5. Brodie Humphries (44); 6. Corey Floyd (36); 7. Jonathan Davis (32); 8. Kale Stately (26); 9. Brett Saunders (25); 10. Ian Blythe (24).
