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Hot
Seat Powersports.com's Justin
Waters placed just shy of top
10 in round 2 of WORCS ATV Series
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Boise, ID (3/4/2011) -
Four and a half miles of narrow, winding
course marked in the Nevada desert just
10 miles south of Las Vegas, the second
round of the 2011 WORCS ATV Nationals threw
every challenge it could at the Pro riders
last weekend. Within just a lap or two during
Saturday's practice and qualifying, and
certainly in the intense final on Sunday
afternoon, the sandy track became a battleground
of rough, deep whoops and high-crested bermed
corners. Yamaha YFZ450R rider # 7 Justin
Waters was there to take it on.
“We knew it would get rough –
it's all sand, it had to whoop-out eventually.
But it broke down really quickly. Probably
the best thing I had going for me this
weekend was my Precision Shock and Vibe
Handlebar clamps; and definitely my Fox
Racing Shox.”
Waters logged a solid qualifying effort,
posting the 10th fastest time on Saturday.
His gate pick earned him a fairly middle-of-the-line
placement, where he could hopefully avoid
getting shoved too wide at the first turn
or being pinched off on the inside and
caught in a pile-up. With a dead-engine
start though, it was likely to spread
out the riders immediately – and
it did.
As the flag dropped on Sunday, the entire
pack was off without incident. First time
through the pits Justin was running well,
just behind the leaders and ahead of the
mid-pack group he regularly battles with.
Coming out of the high-speed pits on the
asphalt though, he apparently had a small
rock or something in his brake caliper,
because his brakes locked up at the last
split second he needed to make a 90-degree
corner. Luckily he only got hung up in
the hay bales and didn't end up head-on
with the lead motorcycles racing on their
parallel track – but while he tried
to get his quad pulled out and his kill-switch
shoved back in, two other riders got around
him. It took him less than a lap to get
back around one of them, but the three
continued to run very close throughout
the entire 90-minute race. At the 60-minute
mark he pitted and had a slight fumble
refueling, costing him precious seconds
and allowing Mike Cafro to get in front
of him and widen the gap. He ran strong
with no mechanical problems or riding
errors, and earned an 11th place finish
– just out of the money.
Waters is understandably philosophical
about his mid-pack finish:
“This season is going to be tough.
There are several strong multi-rider teams
now, and those guys have a huge advantage.
Beside the obvious sponsorship bucks,
they have mechanics and pit support; they
are able to focus full-time on training.
There are only a couple of us this year
running in the top that are privateers.
I'm juggling work, school, training as
much as I can – and prepping my
quads myself. Considering the level of
competition in the series this year, I'm
pretty happy with an 11th place finish
right now. I just need to keep working
hard, and be in the right position when
an opportunity opens up.”
| 2011
WORCS ATV Series - Round 2 - Buffalo
Bills - Primm, NV |
| Place |
Name |
Hometown |
| 1 |
Josh Creamer |
North Stonington, CT |
| 2 |
Jeremie Warnia |
Lake Elsinore, CA |
| 3 |
Josh Frederick |
Moapa, NV |
| 4 |
Beau Baron |
Atascadero, CA |
| 5 |
Josh Row |
El Cajon, CA |
| 6 |
Dustin Nelson |
El Cajon, CA |
| 7 |
David Haagsma |
Bakersfield, CA |
| 8 |
Jarrod McClure |
Kaska ,PA |
| 9 |
Michael Cafro |
Bonsal, CA |
| 10 |
Robbie Mitchell |
Price, UT |
| 11 |
Justin Waters |
Las Vegas, NV |
Justin Waters
- racing to the podium with:
HotSeat Powersports, Yamaha, Teixeira
Tech, Fox Shox, Maxxis, Blingstar, Devil
Exhaust America, Precision Racing Products,
Moose Racing, Motion Pro, Easton Handlebars,
Scott USA, K&N Filters, Rekluse, DP
Brakes, Powermadd, G4 Graphics, Quadtech,
Spider Grips, DWT, Rockwell Watches, HEP,
Novik Gloves, Prone To Rage Clothing
