Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ricky Dietrich came to Washington with the intentions of winning the back-to-back Olympia rounds of the World Off-Road Championship Series and that is exactly what he did after topping his second Sunday Pro 1 main event in a row. Dietrich, who won the previous week’s combined AMA Western Hare Scrambles/WORCS main event stayed in Washington and returned to Olympia to win again just one week later. The two victories also put Dietrich soundly into the point’s lead for the WORCS Championship.
“This is my home state, where I learned to ride,” said Dietrich. “I won here for my friends and family who came out to support me. I love coming back to Washington.”
When the gate dropped, Kawasaki-mounted Jamie Lanza grabbed a massive holeshot in front of Destry Abbott and Mike Brown. But the lead trio quickly went off course as soon as they entered the woods section.
“They changed the course for the Pro race,” said Lanza. “I thought the course went straight and it turned and we all busted through the banners and had to turn around.”
KTM’s Brenden Ritzman took over the lead and held it for most of the first hour. But Dietrich came onto the MX track in second and consistently closed the gap. He made the pass for the lead with 55 minutes to go and never looked back.
“I was riding as hard as I could,” said Ritzman. “But Ricky was just faster, so when he caught me, I had to let him by and hope he makes a mistake. He didn’t, but I’m real happy getting a second here.”
KTM’s Mike brown took the third slot to stay in the hunt for the title. After his off-track excursion, Brown fought back onto the podium battling his way past teammate Justin Soule (who finished fourth), Lanza, JCR’s Tim Weigand, and local hero Lance Smail.
“I would’ve liked to have stayed up front,” said Brown. “But me and Lanza and Destry all followed each other and messed up. That’s racing sometimes. I’m on the podium again and this championship isn’t over. There are still two more races to go and I’ll be there.”
Dietrich now leads the WORCS Championship with 177 points and five wins over Brown, who has 166 points and one win. Defending champ, Bobby Bonds, who did not race due to injuries, is third with 129 and two wins. Soule is fourth with 126 points.
