ship. The Italian, however,
is back living in California
and is hoping to win back
the WORCS number-one
plate in 2020. Now rid-
ing for Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna (he won the
2018 WORCS title riding
for KTM), Redondi came
into the Primm race not
quite one hundred percent
having suffered a broken
nose earlier in training. It
seemed to take Redondi
a little while to warm up to
the Primm track and fast
speeds. He completed
the first lap in fifth place,
drifted back to seventh
for a while before work-
ing his way up through the
field. Redondi held fourth
place from lap six through
lap 11, then passed Honda
rider Cole Martinez on the final
go-around to join Robert and
Oliveira on the podium.
VOLUME 57 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 28, 2020 P63
"At the beginning, I tried to stay
with the pack but after the first
bit I tried to make my own pace,"
Redondi said. "I was gaining time
and catching up to the guys in front
of me. I started the last lap really
close to third and we finished on
the box.
"It's my dream to come back
and race here so a big thank you
to Husqvarna USA for the oppor-
tunity," Redondi added. "I gritted
my teeth today and did the best
that I could. We're super happy
about the podium."
Former WORCS champ Gary
Sutherlin (Hatch Racing/KTM)
pulled into the finish area less
than 10 seconds behind Redondi
for fourth place. Like Redondi,
Sutherlin got stronger as the race
able to break him and just kind of
kept an aggressive pace all the
way through. It felt pretty good
though. The track was nice and
rough, which I liked."
Oliveira made an opening-race
statement that he has no inten-
tions of rolling over and letting his
veteran teammate ride off with
another championship. He plans
to show good speed and tenacity
all race long.
"I got as many passes as I could
[right off the start] and I got up to
third on the first lap," said Oliveira.
"Then I chased Taylor the rest of
the race. I wish I could have [got-
ten closer and] battled Taylor there,
but it was still a great ride."
Robert and Oliveira were in a
class all their own on this day,
finishing well ahead of the rest
of the field. The next-best rider
was 2018 WORCS Champion
Giacomo Redondi who spent the
2019 season competing in the
FIM Enduro World Champion-
Giacomo Redondi (81) has
returned from the FIM Enduro
World Championships and
hopes to win back the WORCS
title he once owned. He took
third at Primm.
Dante Oliveira (2)
kept Robert honest
the whole way en
route to a second-
place finish.
