OFF-ROAD
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATV-MC WORCS SERIES, PRESENTED BY POLARIS RZR AND DIRT BIKE
ROUND 1 / JANUARY 26, 2020
BUFFALO BILL'S RESORT & CASINO / PRIMM, NEVADA
P62
was a 9:17.406 that he posted on
the same lap. Up until lap seven,
Oliveira and Robert maintained a
similar pace before Oliveira started
to crack, as his lap times began
to wane ever so slightly, allowing
Robert to get away for good.
But Robert couldn't completely
relax knowing Oliveira was never
all that far behind. Robert eventu-
ally took the checkered flag 43
seconds ahead of his teammate,
Oliveira, after two hours and
seven seconds of racing.
"After I got by Zach [Bell], I kind
of put the charge down," Robert
said. "Dante was riding really well
and I couldn't shake him. I just
kept pushing through the whole
two hours, and I think I was finally
professional, showed a great
attitude, and I have no doubt he'll
bounce back."
Meanwhile, Robert's teammate,
Dante Oliveira eventually settled
into second (after making a few
early passes and moving up an-
other position when Bell pulled in)
and did his best not to let Robert
get too far out front. Oliveira was
riding well and managed to keep
pace with the leader. For the next
six laps, Oliveira maintained an
approximately 10-second gap on
Robert in what would end up be-
ing a 12-lap race. In fact, Oliveira
recorded the quickest lap of the
race on the second go-around
with a blistering 9:13.244. In com-
parison, Robert's best single lap
With Robert close behind, Bell
started having shifting issues with
his bike and started to pull into
the pits on the opening lap. The
bike seemed to sort itself out and
Bell instead went back out and
started chasing Robert until the
transmission finally let go, putting
Bell out of the race.
"The team and I are gutted
for Zach," Race Team Manager
Robby Bell said. "He had the
pace to challenge for the win, so
for his day to end so soon was
extremely disappointing. We'll
diagnose what happened, and
be better for it moving forward,
but it's unfortunate this put Zach
in such a deficit [in the champi-
onship] so early. Zach's a true
Taylor Robert (1)
won the opening
round of the WORCS
Championship but
had to work for it.
