VOLUME 57 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 25, 2020 P45
just a bit faster than Martinez.
After taking second, he didn't
look back.
"I knew I had my work cut out
for me if I wanted to catch him,
so I just hammered down and I
caught him a little bit at a time,"
said Walton. "He gave me another
run at the end, but I was happy to
finish second. Everyone is fast in
this class and there is no cruising
if you want to do well."
Martinez hung in behind the
leaders on his SLR Racing Hon-
da, keeping them in sight early
but serious arm pump with four
laps left put him third at the finish
earning him his first WORCS po-
dium. 2020 marks his first sea-
son in WORCS competition and
represented the motocross and
supercross rider's first season in
off-road racing in a decade.
"Honestly, I was just trying to
keep Dante and Taylor within 30
seconds, because I've been able
to charge at the end of races,"
said Martinez. "Then I saw Dante
have a big get-off and I almost
crashed in the same place the
lap before. I just tried to run a
smooth solid race."
Bell, on the Chaparral Mo-
torsports/Precision Concepts
Kawasaki, who was expected to
give Robert a race for the win,
had a tough day, which started
with a crash early on.
"My race started off decent;
fourth place off the start," said
Bell. "But it wasn't a great gate
pick, I wanted to be a little closer
to the inside. From there, I was
behind Taylor for third, and I
just went into a water truck rut.
It stuck my front tire, and I went
down pretty good. That ended
up trashing the front wheel, and
it took a while for the bike to
start. So, it was a rough start to
the race. Then, I had to make a
pit[stop] to change out the front
wheel. I played catchup from
there and worked my tail off that
race. I really wanted it today. It's
tough to have these races, but
looking back at it, I did everything
I could do. [The effort] shows
that I've been working hard and
really want to win. But it is what it
is today."
In Pro 2, Tallon Lafountaine
scored his first victory of the
season in a class that is likely to
be one of the most competitive
this season. Riding a Honda,
Lafountaine beat out Mason
Ottersberg (Yamaha) and Mateo
Oliveira (KTM). Lafountaine fol-
lowed Mateo Oliveira for the first
half of the race before taking the
lead. Patience turned into his ally
during the tough race.
"I just followed Mateo and
learned the track for the first hour
and was patient to get the whole
two hours in," said Lafountaine. "I
didn't finish a few races last year,
so this is a step in the right direc-
tion. The roost hurt really badly
so early on, I couldn't stay that
close to him. I gave him a little
room and waited until I caught
him in the right spot."
With Oliveira running out of
energy, Ottersberg passed him
and then set sail for Lafountaine.
Unfortunately for him, he ran
out of laps and didn't have quite
enough to snag the top spot, set-
tling for second at the finish.
"I was so close to catching
Tallon; I just didn't have enough
time," said Ottersberg. "I had a
terrible start, and I had to play
catch up throughout the race.
Tayor Robert ran off with the win.
