2023 WORCS round 5 — Glen Helen, CA

Sunday’s pro race utilized the MX starting gate as the launch pad for the two-hour event. As the gate dropped, Lynn was toward the front of the pack, jostling with Cole Martinez through the initial turns, before settling in to fifth place. The running order stayed pretty stable until the beginning of the second lap, when the riders would hit the tight canyon for the first time. Upon the exiting the section, Mateo Oliveira jumped from third to first, instantly stretching out nearly twenty seconds over Lynn’s teammate—Zach Bell. Tyler had moved up to fourth and pushed hard at the start of the third lap to overtake Martinez for third. From there, Lynn closed up on his teammate, finding the good line through the pro section, and was able to make the move into second place the following lap. Tyler then had a little tightness creep into his arms just before the halfway point, and Bell was able to get back by, putting Tyler third once more.

After the pit, Lynn’s arms freed up and he began to really put on a charge. Tyler made his way back into second place and set to work putting time into Mateo’s lead, which was just shy of thirty seconds. The two riders dropped their lap times each lap over the second hour of racing—Tyler would chip a few seconds off the lead, then Mateo would answer with a faster pace, to which Lynn would ecplise the following lap. As the white flag came out, Tyler had the lead down to just over ten seconds and was within site of the leader through the high-speed pit row. Unfortunately, as the Kawasaki rider pushed hard into the horseshoe corner halfway through the pits, the berm gave way and he fell to the ground. Lynn quickly picked his bike up, but the momentum he’d built was gone. Tyler crossed the line in second place, earning his second podium finish of the season.

Zach rocketed off the line as the 450 pro riders took off at the start of the race. He was neck-and-neck with Trevor Stewart through the Talladega first turn, slotting into second, just behind the Yamaha rider. Bell tailed Stewart closely over the first lap, making the move by in the pro section. Though he thought it was a move for the lead, Oliveira had a slick line through the section, and had overtaken both riders. So, Zach stout in second place as the riders finished out the second lap. Bell showed great speed, matching the leader’s pace the first hour, and battling back and forth with his teammate.

After the pit stop, Bell was in third behind Oliveira and his teammate, and had pulled out over a minute and a half on the fourth place rider. Zach continued to run a strong pace, though some fatigue started to come into his wrist and he just lost the pace of the two leaders. Still, the Team Green rider stayed strong, continuing to pull away from the rest of the field, and earned his first WORCS podium of the season.