IN
THE
WIND
P36
SUTHERLIN TOPS TAFT WORCS
G
ary Sutherlin won his first
race of the season during
the Pro Motorcycle portion of
the Rocky Mountain ATV-MC
WORCS Series, presented by
Maxxis and Dirt Wheels, at Ho-
nolulu Hills Raceway in Taft, Cal-
ifornia, February 18-19. Sutherlin
inherited the lead in the final
laps when Blayne Thompson,
who had led the entire race to
that point, retired from the event
with a broken wheel. Precision
Concept's Justin Seeds (Preci-
sion Concepts) finished second,
ahead of his teammate Robby
Bell, who charged from last to
get the final spot on the podium.
Michael Del Fante and Travis
Damon rounded out the top five.
Despite a major rainstorm Fri-
day, the racing went on without
any major problems, though the
track was anything but dry. "The
mud really brought everyone to-
gether," said WORCS President
Sean Reddish. "We saw some
of the best racing this weekend.
To have six pros duking it out to
the finish after two hours was
phenomenal. They say mud is
the great equalizer, but it didn't
just make the slow guy fast, it
made everyone fast. It was an
awesome weekend."
Obviously absent from the
Taft race was FMF KTM's Taylor
Robert, winner of the previous
two WORCS rounds. Robert's
was badly injured two weeks
ago at the King of the Motos
event and will now miss much of
the series.
"We're going to miss him for six
or seven months, but he'll come
back strong," said Reddish.
Thompson got out front early
in the two-hour race, and had
built up a comfortable lead over
Sutherlin before his rear wheel
came apart late in the race. It
was his second DNF in as many
races. Sutherlin inherited the
lead and went on to win on the
Purvines DA8 Racing Yamaha.
"The track got better as the
day went on and Blayne was
riding great," said Sutherlin. "I
was just trying to pace off of him
and race until the end. Unfortu-
nately, he had problems, but my
hat is off to him and to everyone
else on the podium. I was just
trying to stay smooth. This is not
one of my favorite places, so I
just tried to pick good lines and
watch as the track developed. I
just tried to run consistent laps
and not make any big mistakes."
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
HARLEN
FOLEY
Gary Sutherlin earned
his first win of the 2017
WORCS Series.
