Bobby Bonds, now riding a Yamaha, put in another come-from-behind performance to win the sixth round of the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) in Toutle, Washington, June 14, by passing KTM’s Mike Brown for the lead on the last lap of the two-hour Pro main event. It was Bonds’ second win in a row, putting him just one point behind Brown in the championship.
Brown got the holeshot and started to pull away from the field, but he crashed before the first lap was completed and dropped to fourth. Kyle Summers took over the lead, but Brown, Tim Weigand, Kevin Rookstool and Justin Soule were hard on his rear fender. Meanwhile, Bonds was buried back in the pack, as were Ricky Dietrich and GNCC-star Josh Strang.
After the pit stops, crashes, and stalls, several riders had their share at the lead, with Brown eventually settling into the point position. By the second hour, however, Bonds seemed to find a second wind and eventually caught up to Taylor Robert and Strang who were trying to run down Brown.
Going into the final lap, it looked as though Brown had it wrapped up while holding a cautious lead over Bonds. But with just a few turns to go, Brown went over the bars.
“I kept stalling today and then the back of my front fender broke down and locked into my front tire,” said Brown. “Bonds rode a great race, but I wanted to win this one.”
They finished with Bonds taking the win by just seconds over Brown, who belt Roberts behind him in third.
Strang fought his way up to fourth with Summers taking fifth.
Ricky Dietrich, who competed at the High Point National MX the day before in Pennsylvania, crashed hard and “rung his bell,” which caused him to slow considerably. Dietrich soldiered on to seventh finishing just behind Weigand.
Brown still holds the points lead but by just one point over Bonds. Dietrich is third with 117.
The WORCS event was combined with the AMA Western Hare Scrambles Series, where Weigand continues to hold the points lead after three events with 66, four points ahead of Summers. Brenden Ritzman is third with 49 points.
Joe Colombero
