Cycle News

Cycle News 2019 Issue 41 October 15

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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OFF-ROAD ROCKY MOUNTAIN AT V-MC WORCS SERIES ROUND 10 / OCTOBER 13, 2019 HONOLULU HILLS RACEWAY / TAFT, CALIFORNIA P56 "I got off to a great start, then out of nowhere, Zach just slammed me super hard," said Robert. "It busted up my elbow, and it broke my knee brace. He hit me pretty hard. It took a while to get going after that. I have a lot more things on the line right now, so I rode smart, got into the groove, and passed my way back up to second." Wisely riding a conservative pace earned Robert the WORCS Cham- pionship, a mark he has been chas- ing for the last three years. Robert was dominating the title runs in 2017 and 2018 before injuries took him out of the hunt. This year, he was determined not to get hurt, and he made it happen. we had. In some spots, it was the muddiest race I've ever been in. In some spots, it was the siltiest race I'd ever been in. It wasn't what we were looking for, but we came out of here healthy, and that's what we were looking for." In Pro 2, Walton won his fourth straight race and unofficially un- seated Austin Serpa at the head of the championship. Walton put in a hard sprint early on his Husqvarna and rode the gap to the finish. Tallon Lafountaine was second, followed by Walton's teammate Noah Kepple. "The track was gnarly out there, and I had some good competition early, but I knew once I got out front, I could take advantage of the dust," said Walton. "The track kind of fell apart, but I tried to play the safe game and get the bike all the way to the end." Lafountaine got a slow start on his Honda, and that kept him in second for the entire race. Lafountaine is using these last two races as preparation for his planned move to the Pro class next season. "I want to get the time and ex- perience in," said Lafountaine. "I struggled at the beginning, and that cost me. I had some good laps in the middle. I'm happy to finish the race and to build that base going into next year." Walton rode a drama-free event to finish third. It marked his second podium of the season and his first since round three. "I'm thrilled to leave here Bell went on to win the Taft race. It was his first WORCS win of the season. "It's been a great year," said Robert. "This is what I've been looking for during the past two years, but due to injuries and bad luck, I wasn't able to make it happen. This year, we did what we had to do to get it done." Oliveira came out of the first turn in third and then moved to second when Robert crashed. He held a comfortable spot in second for most of the race before falling to third when he pitted. It marked Oliveria's sixth podium in what has become a breakout season for the rider out of Hol- lister, California. "Taylor went down, and I held second all the way until the last two laps when Taylor got around me," said Oliveira. "The course was brutal. It was super sketchy. There were a bunch of square edges everywhere. It was just about finding a smooth line." Former WORCS champ Gary Sutherlin ran a decent race on his KTM but just missed the box and finished fourth. Sutherlin described a survival mentality during the event that came at the end of what has been one of his more demanding seasons. "It was all-around not a fun race," Sutherlin said. "I tried to do what I could in the conditions

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