WORCS round 2
February 10th, 2013
Primm, NV
The second
round of WORCS has rolled in to Primm for the last few years and has become a
fan favorite as the adjacent desert makes for a sandy, fast and flowing
racecourse. It also doesn’t hurt that the Buffalo Bill’s casino is right next
door allowing for quick access to restaurants, shopping and (if you’re not
afraid of freezing your buns off) the Buffalo Bill’s rollercoaster. A little
rain fell Friday night to aid the track conditions and, come Sunday morning,
the course was nearly perfect and all of the Pro and Pro2 riders were eager to
get out on track, adjust the throttle to maximum and get a little squirrelly in
the sand.
I was
freaking out on the start line. It was a dead engine start and my bike, rather
consistently, would only start on the second kick. I kept going through my
meticulous dead engine start routine, but to no avail; my bike simply wanted to
start second kick. I was boiling with frustration when my teammate, Ty Renshaw,
finally yelled at me, “Stop messing with it! Just kill it, kick the thing and
go!” I did as I was told for another practice start and the bike fired right
up. “That was good enough for me,” I thought, “let’s start this race.“ It was
an intense silence as a full row of Pro and Pro2 riders anxiously awaited the
slightest flicker of movement from the green flag and as it finally flew to
release us I gave the kick-starter a powerful throw of my leg. My engine lit
immediately, catching me slightly by surprise, and I let the clutch out and
rushed down the start straight. I was around fifth as I rounded the first
corner, but I was quickly able to jet by a couple of riders and move into third
position. Just ahead of me, Ty had obviously heeded his own advice as he had
taken the holeshot and led us onto the infield section, followed closely by Tallon
Taylor. As we headed into the back section, Tallon made a pass for the lead and
I found myself right on the back of Ty, looking for a way into second place.
This section of racecourse had been re-prepped overnight and was absolutely
epic; it was glassy smooth, damp sand with fluffy berms on the outside… and
yes, we were pinned. I railed the outside of a left handed sweeper and was all
over the back of my bike, looking for every mph I could muster, as I raced side
by side with Ty and before the following corner, I was just able to edge by and
into second place. I soon had Tallon close in my sights and as he took an
outside line, I dove inside and block passed into the lead. Tallon still had
the momentum of the outside line and he was trying to motor back by me. Again,
I was all over my pony, spurring her on as we raced for sole possession of the
next corner and as we rounded the following right, I had taken first position
for my own and pushed to put a bit of distance on the field.
As the
first lap came to a close, I had managed to put a few seconds on Ryan Abbatoye
and Gary Sutherlin, who had made their way into second and third, and as the
lines started to form, over the following few laps, I started to feel the flow
of the course and began expanding my lead over the pack. By the midway point I
had pulled out over forty five seconds and was really enjoying my time on the
track; I’ve never been the fondest of sandy conditions, but with the course
being so enjoyable, it was hard not to have a smile under my helmet as I was
skimming the edges of the racecourse, looking to maintain as much momentum as
possible. It was an incredible sensation, to feel as though I was in complete
control of the race, and with just a few laps to go, my mind started to get the
better of me as it began to sink in that, after seven years of trying, I was
heading for my first WORCS win. My last lap was surely my slowest as I took my
time, soaking it in, and when I finally crossed the checkers I felt a huge
swell of pride and accomplishment; I’d finally won.
It
definitely isn’t lost on me that Taylor wasn’t there, among a few other past
champions, and that’s a shame to me as I feel I’m enjoying the best form of my
career and I want to be racing a field full of the best racers on the GP scene.
Still, this is a huge accomplishment in my career and it felt amazing to at
long last be the one standing atop the box. I want to thank my team: Precision
Concepts, Alamo Alarms racing and all of the fantastic team sponsors for their
outstanding effort, my personal sponsors: Fox Racing, THR Motorsports, USWE,
Asterisk, Northland Motorsports and HookIt.com for their continued support, my
mechanic Phil, my family, my wonderful fiancé and her family for making a
surprise arrival this weekend and helping in the pits, Camron for being my
ambassador of Quan and all of my friends for believing in me all this time. I
also want to congratulate the entire WORCS crew for successfully putting
together their first “super event”. I felt the course was fantastic, the
schedule went off without a hitch and it was great to have such a packed pit,
full of spectators, racers and vendors. All in all it was an amazing weekend
for me and I’m looking to keep the momentum rolling next weekend as I’m
planning on doubling up, hitting the Adelanto Grand Prix on Saturday and then
heading out to Glen Helen on Sunday for the first ever Gary Jones Western
Off-Road Championship Series race. See everyone at the races!
Robby Bell
www.robbybellracing.com
www.facebook.com/rbell32
www.twitter.com/robbybell32
www.youtube.com/robbybell32
Thank you to all the Precision
Concepts, Alamo Alarm racing team sponsors: FMF Racing, GPR, IMS, BRP, AME
Grips, Kalgard, Dunlop, Ryan Abbatoye Designs, Acerbis, Renthal, VP Racing
Fuels, DT1 Filters, Hinson, Matrix Concepts, RK/Excel, Works Connection, Zip-Ty
Racing, SealSavers.
Top 5:
1. Robby Bell
2. Gary Sutherlin
3. Justin Jones
4. Bobby Garrison
5. Ryan Abbatoye
|
