IN
THE
WIND
P24
Robert Wins Mesquite WORCS
T
aylor Robert kept his streak
alive by winning the Mesquite
round of the Rocky Mountain
ATV-MC WORCS Series. It was
his third time winning this year.
Dante Oilveira was second,
ahead of Cole Martinez, Dalton
Shirey and Zach Bell.
Mateo Oliveira won Pro 2,
Jake Alvarez finished first in Pro
2 Lites, and Brandy Richards
moved her win streak to three in
Pro Women.
Dante Oliveira ripped the hole-
shot but overcooked the second
turn and fell to fourth. That put Rob-
ert into the lead. From there Robert
ran a torrid pace on his KTM to gap
the field by the second lap and he
cruised in for an easy win.
"I knew it was going to be hot
and physically demanding so I
just got out front and tried to push
hard for the first two laps," said
Robert. "The back section was
typical Mesquite. It had really
deep sand and it was rough, just
the way I like it."
Robert was also relieved to
get back to racing after the long
Covid-19-forced stoppage.
"It's been kind of crazy, training
without knowing when the next
race was going to be," said Rob-
ert. "It feels good to be back after
it and to pick up where I left off."
Oliveira picked up the pace on
his KTM from fourth and quickly
began to gain ground. Late in the
race, Bell experienced mechani-
cal issues with his Kawasaki,
allowing Oliveira to snag second,
earning his second runner-up fin-
ish of the season.
"I tried to set a pace and stick
to it," said Oliveira. "I didn't have
any get-offs or crashes, and this
was a good comeback from my
last race."
Martinez is in his rookie
WORCS season riding a Honda,
but it would be hard to know from
the way he's been riding. He
notched his second straight third-
place finish here after also passing
Bell. He said the off-road section
was especially challenging but he
quickly got the hang of it.
"This was probably one of the
toughest races I've ever done," said
Martinez, "with the heat and that
off-road stuff is deep, rough and
hot. I'm just chipping away to try to
get back into this championship."
In Pro 2, Mateo Oliveira (KTM)
scored his first win of the season.
Points leader Mason Ottersberg
was second but was disqualified
for cutting a part of the course.
Taylor Robert made
the win at Mesquite
look even easier
than usual, but he
had help when rival
Zach Bell suffered
a mechanical DNF.
PHOTOS: HARLEN FOLEY
