I rode a little bit on Friday (they let us practice on a small part of the course), but it was pretty hot and I didn't want to overdo it. Then on Saturday we had another pro practice (50-minutes long), but it was 102 out and we were all getting hammered by the weather. If it's like this tomorrow, we're in big trouble! I'm pretty sure I'm prepared for it, but I know it's going to be more of a survival race then just pure speed.
Well it wasn't as hot as yesterday, but it was still around 96 degrees. The start was at 1:00 and we had about 40 pros with some new MX riders that wanted to give it a try. When we took off I had an awesome jump, and was second coming into the first corner. The track was a little slick and I just wanted to make sure I kept it on two wheels, so a couple guys passed me pretty early. Some of the guys that passed me were going way to fast and I knew if I tried to do that I wouldn't be able to make it for the 2-hour race. I know I had the speed, but my game plan was to just ride a good pace and stay on two wheels. I had some great battles with Bonds, Costella, Soule and a few others. At the hour mark I made my pit stop and was off again. I think I was around 6th at this point. One of the nicest parts of the race was when it went by the lake. The spectators (and there were a ton of them) would splash us with water if you gave them the nod. Let's just say I slowed down here, just about every lap, and gave them the nod. Thanks guys! A couple laps later, I hit one of the many sand whoops and went flying over the bars. It took me a little bit to get going and I lost four spots. The course was just getting beat and the heat wasn't helping either. After I regrouped and got up to speed I started to make some passes again. With about 20-minutes to go I could see all the guys in front of me, besides Hughes, Caselli, and Bell (who were going really fast). I made the pass on Costella, then Bonds and Johnson just before the last lap. I was about 20-seconds from Smail, but he still had a good pace going. I came up short on Smail, but still felt good about the way I finished and the fact that my game plan worked.
Coming into this race, my goal was to finish top five. This is definitely not one of my favorite races, because I'm not the best at sand and like the hard pack stuff a lot better. I've really never had a good finish here so I'm pretty happy with 5th since this series has more talent every year it keeps going. I was happy to get out of here with some good points and move on to the next round!
Overall Results (Top 20):
1st Ryan Hughes
2nd Kurt Caselli
3rd Robby Bell
4th Lance Smail
5th Destry Abbott
6th Casey Johnson
7th Bobby Bonds
8th Derek Costella
9th Kyle Summers
10th Jamie Lanza (1st Pro 2)
11th Nick Brozovich
12th Ty Davis
13th Matt Karlsen
14th Eric Rhoten
15th Scott Simon
16th David Pingree
17th Ryan Abbatoye
18th David Gassin
19th David Kamo
20th Joss Morros
This was kind of a weird weekend! Usually I share the Kawasaki semi with my two teammates Ricky Dietrich and Nathan Woods, but unfortunately they're both currently injured. However, they both showed up this weekend to support the team.
David Pingree showed up to test one of my KX450 race bikes. I'm looking forward to seeing how the article turns out and he had an impressive ride with a 16th overall finish. He also parked out of the semi, so I wasn't the lone soldier this weekend.
I moved up to 4th in points and I'm sitting one point out of 3rd. Ryno is leading the series with Kurt in second. We still have a long ways to go and I know if I stay consistent anything can happen.
GPR put up an extra $5,000 for the top GPR rider in the pro race. I was really hoping to win this, but Kurt rode to well and took the money home. Randy at GPR is always helping us out and if you ever want to get a stabilizer I would definitely buy one of theirs.
This is one of the toughest WORCS races of the year. The course is always really rough and the record heat this year made it even harder. Out of all the WORCS events, this race most resembles an outdoor national with all the spectators and different racers that show up. I'm sure spring break is a definite plus for this race!
I wanted to thank the WORCS crew for all their hard work. They always put on top-notch events and if you've never had the opportunity to race one, I would highly recommend it!! They also added an even bigger pro purse then usual ($13,000), for us this weekend, and that's always a plus.
I was fortunate enough this weekend to have Goat Brecker, Richard Brecker, and Stephen Gall show up to help me prepare for this race. Stephen is one of the most knowledgeable trainers I've ever worked with and his background in racing makes him indispensable when it comes to being a top racer. Goat and Stephen went out of their way to help me prepare for the race and I know that I wouldn't have done as well without their support! Thanks guys!! If you ever want to get the most out of yourself and take your racing to the next level, I would check into hiring Stephen. It will be the best investment you've ever made!
I'd also like to thank the Kawasaki staff and my mechanic, Johnny, for all their hard work! Johnny built me a great bike and it ran perfect the whole race. The Kawasaki guys were awesome and they made sure I had all the support I needed for this event. Thanks!
Since my last race (2 weeks ago), where I knocked myself silly, I've actually been taking it pretty easy. I've only ridden a couple of days, so I'm actually pretty happy with the way I rode and my overall results. I'm really looking forward to my next race, which is a H&H this weekend in Ocotillo, California.
I've attached some photos from www.fastphotolab.com. Thanks Mike and Amber for the pictures!