WORCS ATV Series
Round #2 - Mesquite MX
February 22-24, 2008 |
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WORCS
Racing Series ATV / UTV Race Report
::Continued::
Sunday morning the rain began to fall, but stopped
before the racers were to line up for the main event.
As the Pro class charged into the first corner,
there was a lot of bumping and grinding going on.
Josh Frederick and Doug Eichner connected but managed
to avoid any carnage, however, Brandon Smith was
not so lucky. “I got caught in the bottleneck
and I don’t know if I got bumped from behind
or if I went up on someone’s tire, but the
bike flipped,” Smith recalled. Despite a dented
helmet and broken Leatt Brace, Smith was not injured.
Unfortunately, Smith’s crash resulted in some
issues with his ATV that caused him to have to pull
into the pits on several occasions which landed
him in 13th place.
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| Yamaha's
Dustin Nelson grabbed the Holeshot, but
Beau Baron just a quickly took over the
lead while Josh Frederick & Doug Eichner
bounced off of each other heading into the
2nd turn with Kawasaki's Robbie Mitchell
taking over the third spot
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Frederick also encountered some issues in his
first lap forcing an unscheduled pit stop, which
put him into last place. Josh’s determination
to win led him on an incredible charge to the
front that had spectators and racers alike cheering
him on as he charged his way through the pack
for the win. “Josh’s comeback was
nothing short of amazing,” said Can-Am/Motoworks
team manager Johnny Leech.
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| Yamaha's
Dustin Nelson came on strong early in the
race leading the first 6 laps before the
brutal sand whoops began to pound the energy
out of Nelson |
Motoworks
Can-Am's Josh Frederick was on the gas as
he closed a nearly 2 minute gap on Nelson
to claim the lead by the 7th lap and went
on to win the race |
“I was dead last when I came out of the
pits on the first lap. The track was pretty rough,
but my bike was set up really well and I was able
to make up a lot of time,” Josh said. While
Josh was battling his way back up, Yamaha’s
Dustin Nelson was leading, followed by Temecula
Motorsports’ Levi Marana in second and Doug
Eichner nipping at his heels in third. About ¾
through the race, Frederick had managed to work
his way up, passing Eichner and Marana. Once Frederick
reached Nelson, he went for the pass immediately
and never looked back.
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| Temecula's
Levi Marana wasn't phased by the brutal
track as his desert racing experience helped
him secure the final podium spot |
Holz
Racing's Mike Machado appears to be back
at 100% as he finished an impressive 5th
place after starting back in 9th place |
Frederick ended up finishing with over a minute
to spare on Nelson. Levi Marana stood on the podium
for the first time this season in third, while
Eichner, who was suffering from a cold throughout
the weekend, began to feel the fatigue set in
from the 5 miles of brutal sand whoops that had
developed and was unable to catch Marana and held
onto his 4th place position.
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| Kawasaki
/ DATS Racing's Robbie Mitchell appears
to be getting his KFX 450R dialed in as
he finished in 6th place and had the Podium
within reach for several laps |
Kawasaki's
Brandon Brown made the switch the KFX 450R
for Round 2, but without any real seat time
before the race, Brown finished outside
the top 10 |
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