| December 7, 2020
The 2020 WORCS Championship came to a close over the December 5-6 weekend at the Crazy Horse Campground in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Dante Oliveira came away with the win but it wasn’t enough to prevent defending champ Taylor Robert from retaining the number-one plate.
Robert came into the race holding a comfortable 24-point lead over Oliveira and didn’t put up a huge fight when Oliveira shot to the front of the pack right off the start. Robert, who just needed to score a single point on the day to secure the championship, was content with second, which was more than enough to wrap up the 2020 WORCS Championship.
Oliveira ran off with the race win, giving the RPM KTM Team rider the motivational edge going into next year’s championship. The next time they suit up, however, Oliveira and Roberts will be teammates on the FMF KTM factory race team.
“Riding at Havasu is like riding at home,” said Oliveira. “I was super comfortable out there and just tried to have fun. I just tried to keep my head up, stay smooth and I didn’t touch the ground once. WORCS did an awesome job with the course; I loved it! They left a few sections rough and I liked it. The fans were awesome, and we had a little bit of everything out there.”
“I can’t take anything away from Dante,” the FMF KTMN rider, Robert, said. “He really picked it up this year and that’s going to make for some great racing next year. That competition is what really elevates the sport.
“Knowing that I only had to score one point was a bit stressful, but I knew I had to just go out there and not have any sort of catastrophe happen. I was just keying off of Dante early on – that was actually the ideal scenario for me to just sit behind him for the first half of the race because all I had to do is complete half of the laps to score one point and then I could charge to the finish. As much as I would have wanted to win the race, I was really focused on winning the championship and it felt great to come away with back-to-back championships.”
“It is a fantastic feeling to close out the season with a WORCS championship,” said FMF KTM Race Team Manager Antti Kallonen. “Hats off to Taylor, who prevailed through all the adversity this season from long breaks to 75-minute, 90-minute and 2-hour races, and even some back-to-back race days as well. No matter what the circumstance was, Taylor was always ready to race and showed his dominance with five wins and four second-place finishes. Congratulations to Taylor and the entire team.”
Zach Bell (Chaparral/Motoconcepts Kawasaki) overcame a crash to round out the podium.
Tallon Lafountaine took the win in the Pro 2 class, but it was Mateo Oliveira coming away with the class championship. Oliveira (KTM) finished second to the Honda rider, Lafountaine, but came away with the championship with room to spare.
Deegan Vonlossberg (Yamaha) took third in the race.
It couldn’t have gotten much closer in the Pro 2 Lites division. Winner Jake Alvarez (Kawasaki) and runner-up Tyler Lynn (Yamaha) finished out the championship tied on points, so a tiebreaker was used to declare the Pro 2 Lites Championship. Since Lynn had won more races throughout the season, Lynn was crowned king.
Angus Riordan (KTM) took third on the day.
Brandy Richards (KTM) completed the perfect season in the Women’s Pro class. CN
Rocky Mountain ATV-MC WORCS Series, present by Polaris RZR and Dirt Bike
Final Round
Crazy Horse Campground
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
RESULTS (December 5-6, 2021)
PRO
1. |
Dante Oliveira |
(KTM) |
2. |
Taylor Robert |
(KTM) |
3. |
Zach Bell |
(Kaw) |
4. |
Thad Duvall |
(Hus) |
5. |
Cole Martinez |
(Hon) |
Pro2:
1. |
Tallon Lafountaine |
(Hon) |
2. |
Mateo Oliveira |
(KTM) |
3. |
Deegan Vonlossberg |
(Yam) |
Pro2 Lites
1. |
Jake Alvarez |
(Kaw) |
2. |
Tyler Lynn |
(Yam) |
3. |
Angus Riordan |
(KTM) |
Click here for complete WORCS results.