Bobby Bonds finally got the checkered flag all to himself at round eight of the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) in Monticello, Utah, yesterday. Bonds, who has taken five second place finishes in the previous seven rounds, was able to stand on the top of the podium for the first time this season after winning the Monticello round by more then a full minute over second-place finisher, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Damon Huffman. Third place went to Mike Brown in his first WORCS race after recently joining the Red Bull/KTM off-road team.
When the gate dropped the holeshot and the Kalguard $500 check fell to Team FMF Suzuki Off-Road’s Ryan Orr. He was closely followed by Red Bull/KTM riders Brown and Justin Soule. Bonds, got his usual bad start, but immediately began moving up.
Team JCR Honda’s Timmy Weigand made a bold bid to the front and took an early lead before the pack of riders left the motocross course and headed into the wilds of the Utah landscape. Weigand would lead for two laps, with Brown close on his heels and Orr trying to hang, but all three riders dropped back by the end of the first half hour, Weigand with bobbles, Brown with arm pump and Orr with both.
Bonds charged the whole time and took over the lead early in the race and never looked back. Once out front, Bonds gapped the field and was never challenged again. Huffman also worked his way onto the podium after a poor start and established himself in second. He was able to outdistance the field but not able to catch the vanishing Bonds.
Meanwhile, Brown had stopped for water and fuel, and had worked out his arm pump and was on a charge. Coming from seventh place, Brown picked up Weigand along the way along with Robby Bell and Kyle Summers and the four riders were in a dogfight for the third-place slot all the way to the checkered flag.
Bonds took the win ahead of Huffman, with Brown edging out Weigand for third, while Summers finished fifth.
WORCS promoter Sean Reddish patriotically changed this race to a “none-points” round in order to allow WORCS regulars Ricky Dietrich, Kurt Caselli, Nathan Woods, and Destry Abbott to compete as USA Trophy Team members in the ISDE in Greece without penalty to their WORCS title hopes. So, Bonds win didn’t change the WORCS Championship point standings, but still gave the Bakersfield racer a well-deserved notch in the win column and a very nice payday.
