At round one in Phoenix, Arizona,...
At round one in Phoenix, Arizona, the "MX Kied" took the new RM-Z450 to the Pro-class win.
Suzuki jumped back into the West Coast off-road wars by sending a message: Watch out for Mike Kiedrowski and watch out for the new RM-Z450.
After winning the 2002 title in the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS), the "MX Kied" joined the rest of the Suzuki off-road team in concentrating primarily on the GNCCs. Unlike his teammates, he never really enjoyed the races back east as much as he did those closer to his Southern California roots, so when the opportunity to concentrate on the western-based WORCS tour in 2005 came up, he jumped at it.
Lance Smail led the first...
Lance Smail led the first half of the race, but he couldn't build a large enough cushion.
Team Green's Lance Smailan early season threat last year who had to sit out much of the season while recovering from a knee injury and subsequent surgeryled the way on his KX250 for most of the first half of the two-hour race at Speed World MX Park. But after Kiedrowski got past, he found himself unable to charge as hard as he wantedfighting blisters (like most of the field) and fatigue which left him unable to charge like he wanted. Smail would finish solidly in second.
Third place went to defending series champ Nathan Woods on his Montclair Yamaha/Zip-Ty Racing YZ450F, the former motocrosser admitting that limited time for testing hampered the entire team when it came to suspension settings, which turned out to be on the soft side for the high-speed, square-edged holes that developed at Speedworld MX Park.
Supercross rider Tim Weigand...
Supercross rider Tim Weigand with Kurt Caselli in tow.
Tim Wiegandshown leading Kurt Casellihad a busy weekend. On Saturday night, he raced the 125cc main at the Phoenix supercross. On Sunday, he beat himself up for two hours at the WORCS opener, working his way to fourth on his CRF250R. Caselli would go on to finish ninth. Rounding out the top five was local favorite/desert racer Destry Abbott on his Team Green KX250.
Pro Results from WORCS Round One, Phoenix
Defending WORCS champ Nathan...
Defending WORCS champ Nathan Woods didn't have the best of days, but still hung on for third.
1. Mike Kiedrowski, Suzuki
2. Lance Smail, Kawasaki
3. Nathan Woods, Yamaha
4. Tim Weigand, Honda
5. Destry Abbott, Kawasaki
6. Bobby Garrison, Honda
7. David Pearson, Kawasaki
8. Russell Pearson, Yamaha
9. Kurt Caselli, KTM
10. Robby Bell, Honda
11. Mark Tilley, Honda
12. Homero Diaz, KTM
13. Brian Garrahan, Suzuki
14. Matt Karlsen, Honda
15. Nicholas Burson, Kawasaki
16. Nick Pearson, Kawasaki
17. Cole Calkins, Kawasaki
18. Ty Davis, Yamaha
19. Justin Williamson, Yamaha
20. Jesse Barstow, Honda
21. Ryan Dudek, Yamaha
22. Damien Galford, Kawasaki
23. Bryan Bruning, Kawasaki
24. Kyle Beshaw, Kawasaki
25. Patrick Garrahan, KTM
26. Tony Sherman, Yamaha
27. Brent Harden, KTM
28. Jason Goimarac, Kawasaki
29. Craig Wesner, Kawasaki
30. Adam Dehner, Suzuki
31. Ricky Dietrich, Kawasaki
32. Mike Pineda, Honda
33. Eric Rhoten, Honda
34. Jared Buoy, Kawasaki
35. Shane Esposito, Kawasaki
36. Micky Griffin, Yamaha
DNF Nathan Kanney, KTM
DNF Ryan McIntyre, Yamaha
DNF James Summers, KTM
DNF Wallace Palmer, Suzuki
DNF Bobby Bonds, KTM
DNF Shawn Edwards, Yamaha
DNF Joshua McLevy, Kawasaki