AmPro Yamaha’s Ricky Russell took advantage of the break in the GNCC season to race – and win – the Washington WORCS race. Photography by Harlen Foley
By Harlen Foley
AmPro Yamaha’s Ricky Russell wowed his homestate crowd by taking the win at round seven of the 2015 Rocky Mountain MC World Off-Road Championship Series presented by Maxxis and Dirt Bike held at Straddleline ORV Park in Washington. KTM’s Gary Sutherlin, who netted his second runner-up finish on the weekend, and Jacob Argubright rounded out the pro podium. RPM / KTM’s Eric Yorba claimed the Pro win Saturday night in the WORCS X event.
After just over a two-month Summer break from racing, the racers headed to the Pacific Northwest for the seventh round of the WORCS season, which is typically a cool and damp race location, but that wasn’t the case this year with record heat and dry conditions, which made for an unusual dusty race through the trees.
Besides the normal Pro main event on Sunday, racers also competed in a special WORCS X race on Saturday night, which also counted toward the WORCS Pro championship, so this was one round not to miss for those in the hunt for the title.
For the Sunday event, Justin Seeds jumped out to the early lead followed by Ricky Russell, but Seeds let Russell by once they got into the woods, which allowed Russell to build a gap on the competition.
“I wanted to prove myself here,” said Russell. “We have a lot of people here. We’re only an hour and half from home, so it’s nice to win. This is the driest Washington has been in a while. So it was a dust fest, but we got the win. After the sight lap, I knew the start was going to be very important. We were off to a good start. I passed Justin (Seeds) in the woods and then just ran my own race.”
For Russell this was redemption from finishing in the runner-up position in 2014 after Sutherlin made a last-second pass. Russell focuses on racing in the GNCC series, where he currently sits second in the battle for the GNCC XC2 Pro Lites championship. Russell made the trip to Washington to race WORCS while the GNCC season is on its summer break.
Gary Sutherlin had a difficult weekend, although he finished second in Saturday’s WORCS X, as well as Sunday’s event. “I guess this weekend was all about second-place finishes,” said Sutherlin. “I fell in the first turn and I instantly knew it was going to be a long day. I just stayed patient, but I didn’t have anything for Ricky. I know he was looking for redemption. My hat’s off to him.”
Jacob Argubright claimed the final spot on the podium, just as he did at his last WORCS event over two years ago. Argubright has spent most the year recovering from a wrist injury, but it didn’t show in his performance this weekend as he battle for the final podium spot with Justin Morgan for several laps. “I was riding behind Justin (Morgan) for quite a while, but he ended up stalling his bike, and I took third,” said Argubright. “I’m pretty happy with third. I planned on doing all of these all year, but this is the first one I’ve been able to make it to, and I’m glad to be back. The pros are really coming back, so it’s getting a lot more competitive.”
Morgan wasn’t used to the type of course featured here: “I got a decent start and the YZ just pulled and pulled,” said Morgan. “I ended up in third, but I stalled and Argubright took third. I’m from San Diego, so the track here is a lot different for me, but I like it.”
Justin Seeds was riding a “classic” Kawasaki KX250 in Washington. He started fast, but faded near the end. “That was a hard-fought race,” said Seeds. “I got off to a great start. I was leading for a while, but Ricky was on it. I let him go rather than clean myself out. I tried to run his pace, but those guys really know how to run these woods. This 12-year-old KX250 can still show people up at the start.” For Seeds, his top-five finish boosted him into the top-five in the championship.
The WORCS points leader Robby Bell returned to competition this weekend after a hard crash three weeks ago at Glen Helen, which knocked out nine teeth and fractured his jaw. Despite not riding since the accident, Bell salvaged some valuable points this weekend, finishing seventh and eighth on Saturday and Sunday.
“I came here just to finish, so I’m ecstatic with my finishes,” said Bell. “I figured if I lost 25 points or less [it would be good enough]. I did better than that. I came in here to make sure I didn’t hurt my ankle anymore and not catch my face on a tree. I’m leaving here healthy so that’s good.”
His mid-pack finishes were as good as a victory considering the severity of his recent motocross accident.
“I was at Glen Helen for a local race,” Bell explained. “I got dehydrated. My engine was running a little sour. So I was a little distracted. I forgot where I was on the course and I jumped 30 feet right into the face of the next jump. I hit my chin right into the cross bar, right next to the pad, so I hit the metal. I knocked out nine teeth and fractured my jaw.”
Bell’s finishes in Washington allow him to hold onto a 39-point lead going into the final two races of the season.
While Eric Yorba finished ninth on Sunday during the Main event, he was on fire on Saturday as he went on to claim his first WORCS Pro win in the WORCS X race. “I got a decent jump and was able to put the power down,” said Yorba. “After the first turn, I was running my own race. I could hear Gary (Sutherlin) behind me, and it was scary. He was a little further back than I thought he was, though, so I just kept enough of a gap and got the victory.”
Ty Tremaine rounded out the WORCS X Pro podium behind Sutherlin on Saturday for a KTM podium sweep, and Tremaine was in the running for another podium finish on Sunday when he went down and mangled his motorcycle, which forced him out the race, but fortunately he wasn’t injured in the get off.
In the Pro2 class, Dalton Shirey claimed both wins this weekend, which gave him a big boost in points over Justin Wallis finishing in second and third this weekend. “I knew I had to get the holeshot to get into the trees first,” said Shirey. “I rode hard and held on for the win. It was nice to win both races this weekend. This helped me a lot today in points.”
Logan Chambers claimed the Pro 2 Lites class win in dominant fashion on Saturday during WORCS X, but the top honors on Sunday went to Dante Oliveira with the win followed by Carson Giles and Mitch Anderson.
The next round of the Rocky Mountain M/C World Off-Road Championship Series presented by Maxxis and Dirt Bike is nearly two months away on September 26-27th for Round 8 at Glen Helen Raceway in southern California.
RESULTS
