Ryan Hughes (Team Suzuki/FMF Off-Road) took the win in Round two of the WORCS series to establish himself firmly in the lead for the Championship. On a fun, but brutal course, "Ryno" gated in the top ten and then moved into the lead late in the first lap. From that point on, over the next two hours, Hughes never looked back and kept up a relentless pace.
The Pro field of some of the fastest riders on the planet charged after Hughes. The only rider who could keep him in sight was Kurt Caselli (KTM). Hughes worked up an almost 50 second lead -way through the event, but Caselli continued to attack and to close the gap in the later stages of the race, cutting Hughes lead down to just seven seconds at the white flag. But Hughes would not be denied his first big victory since breaking his right arm almost eight months ago. Hughes cruised across the finish line a full five seconds ahead of Caselli to take the win and the points lead in the WORCS Series.
Third place went to Nathan Woods (Team Monster Energy/Kawasaki Off-Road). Woods (the 2005 WORCS Champion) road hard and fast, but out of touch with the leaders, finishing 20 seconds behind Hughes and 15 seconds short of Caselli. Woods third place finish made it a clean sweep for Moose Racing of the podium.
Casey Johnson took forth, Kyle Summers took fifth, with Matt Karlsen sixth, Mike Kiedrowski seventh, Justin Soule eighth, Derek Costella ninth, and Robby Bell filled out the top ten.
The defending WORCS Champion, Ricky Dietrich tragically was unable to race. Dietrich crashed hard during the parade lap just before the start. Dietrich, who won the opening WORCS round just weeks ago cart-wheeled across the track and suffered a broken shoulder and a trip to the hospital.
Joshua Morros took the win in Pro-2 action, beating out Brian Goolsby and Jamie Lanza to complete a Kawasaki sweep of the class. Justin Morrow, Brodie Humpries, Taylor Robert, Brett Saunders, Jonathan Davis, Andrew Couto and Tracon Kirk rounded out the top ten.
The next round of the World Off Road Championship Series takes place March 16-18 in Lake Havasu, Arizona.