2017 WORCS #3 | Taft

Riverside, CA (February 22, 2017) –

With heavy rains on Thursday and Friday, it looked like the third round of the WORCS series was going to be a muddy affair, but the WORCS crew did a great job dealing with the elements and made a very race-able course for the two-hour pro race. The two Rocky Mountain ATV/MC, Precision Concepts Race Team riders couldn’t have gotten off to more disparate starts as Justin Seeds got up into second place, while Robby Bell was stuck on the start line kicking his bike, getting off to a dead last start. Seeds made the move into the lead early and held the first position into the second lap. After battling a bit of arm pump, Justin would find himself in race-long battles with Gary Sutherlin, Travis Damon and Michael Del Fante, with the top five positions changing seemingly every lap. Justin was able to put on a charge later in the race and move into second place, finishing just over ten seconds behind the leader, and matching his career-best finish in the WORCS series.

After his bike finally fired up on the starting line, Robby got to work moving through the pack, working up into sixth position within the first few laps. A few mid-race mistakes, including one fall, slowed Bell’s forward progress, but a late charge, which had Robby turn the two fastest laps of the race, saw him move from fifth to third on the final lap, finishing just two seconds behind his teammate.

Photos courtesy of Harlen Foley

“That was a bit of a frustrating day,” said Bell post-race. “Obviously the start was less than ideal, but I made progress up through the pack pretty quickly and got into sixth place. From there, I felt like I was riding well, but I just wasn’t putting much of a dent into the gap on the guys ahead of me. Finally it felt like the skies parted and the light shined down on those last two laps. I could see all the way up to the leader and I thought to myself, ‘I’m getting a podium, or I’m going to crash trying’ and I really pushed myself at the end. Overall, to get a third is a positive result, especially to feel that good late in the race and make two last-lap passes, but it’s been a while since I’ve found the top step of the podium and I need to get back up there. Still, we’re making a lot of progress with the bike, and my body and conditioning feel fantastic, so now I just need that start.”

After the race, Seeds was overjoyed to earn his best finish of the season so far: “It felt amazing. I was stoked with my performance and I think everything is starting to click. My start was good, I popped a little bit of a wheelie, but charged into the first turn when everyone else braked and came out second. I challenged Gary for the lead, but he was just able to hold me off, and then he made a little mistake and I was able to get by him. It was good to hold the lead for like a lap and a half, but then I tightened up a little bit and started to drop a little, but I was able to stay close to the front guys and once I started feeling better, I started moving back up and next thing I know I’m in second and then the checkered flag’s out! I do wish I could have ran closer to the lead on that last lap and maybe take a chance to win it, but I’ll definitely take a second, for sure. All in all I’m really excited and ready to take this confidence into the next race and see what we can do!”

Results

Justin Seeds – 2nd place
Robby Bell – 3rd place

GoPro Footage