Racetown 395 WORCS, Victorville, CA 2007
- Updated: February 11, 2007
WORCS Round 2
Racetown 395
Victorville, CA
Feb 11, 2007
photos video and story by Jeff Bertuzzi
Here Mike Cafro of Temecula Motorsports helps Duncan Racing’s Robbie Mitchell adjust the rebound on his rear shock. Consequently, Cafro finished just a few seconds ahead of Mitchell in the main event. Now Mike, for next time, was that two clicks to the right or two to the left?
The second round of the World Off Road Championship Series started off with some rumblings in the skies as well as in the pits. The weather, which was perfect on Saturday, became a bit wet with a down pour two hours before the main event. The rumbling in the pits came from the pro riders who were upset with the decision made from a vote in Phoenix from of all the riders to end the season in Taft, CA, apposed to ending in Pismo beach, which made it possible for the pros who were racing the ITP QuadCross Series and the SCORE Desert series to remain in the Championship point’s chase.
As a result, the promoter, Sean Reddish, had a pro-only riders meeting to discuss this and a few other issues. Sean had the riders elect a mouth piece for the group so he did not have 20 riders coming up to him to discuss the same issue; so with hope of getting a good meal at each meeting the riders elected Mike Cafro to be there representative. Next, the pros overwhelmingly voted to drop one race due to the scheduling conflict. They also decided that the pro pits need to have the rider’s rigs placed according to their 2006 earned number.
WORCS is one of the few race series that a rider can get their quad up to 55 MPH and still be in the pits.
WORCS uses an impressive electronic scoring system. Each rider has a transponder on their quad and they go through this scoring shoot. A back up scoring team also records every rider in case of a transponder failure.
On to Racing
The Pro Production Race on Saturday had Nick Hengtgen out to the early lead, with Doug Eichner in hot pursuit. John Shafe set the fastest lap of the race (7:46) and propelled himself into the lead. Soon after, Levi Marana decide to take his turn at the lead and built a ten second gap before running into a lapper, allowing Eichner to pass both Marana and Shafe. Eichner then built a 20 second lead and to took the win, with Shafe taking second and Marana rounding out the top three.
In the Open Pro ranks, Josh Fredrick checked out. By the end of the second lap he had a half minute lead on second place. His pit crew even pitted him twice, which frustrated Josh. Normally he’s very mild-mannered but this extra pit stop got him a bit feisty as he felt he didn’t need to pit for such a small issue. The battle for second wasn’t as clear cut. Mike Cafro and Robbie Mitchell battled it out for second and third. With Mitchell favoring the motocross track and Cafro being a desert specialist, the race for second was exciting. But in the end the advantage went to Cafro, partially because the off road section was so long and demanding and partially because he was spotted working on Mitchell’s Quad before the race (just messin with Mike here) — Cafro finished a mere two seconds in front of Mitchell.
Promoter Sean Reddish organized a pro riders meeting. Mike Cafro was elected the ATV Pro rider’s representative. Communication and organization solved many complaints and the future of the WORCS looks very good.
This timer is set up right next to the scoring system. If you come through and it says that you still have ten seconds left, then that means you’re doing another lap. This system is especially nice for riders who do not have someone pitting for them.
The Big Show
The stage was set for an exciting main event, but there was still the rumbling in the sky to deal with. Two hours before the main event the rain came down, with the off road section being very sandy it wasn’t that bad, as far as being to wet, it was extremely whooped out and rutted however. The motocross section got a lot worse, with some puddle and freestanding water in many spots.
As the green flag waved it was the #14 of Mike Cafro taking the holeshot and the only clear view of the track. But once the riders hit the off road section it was all Team Epic. Josh Fredrick was first coming through the transponder bottle neck with Schell close behind. By the second lap Levi Marana was able to secure the third place position and hold it for the remainder of the race. The tough track conditions took its toll on a few riders; Doug Eichner was able to climb as high as 4th before his Honda was done for the day. Back out front there was one lead change between Schell and Fredrick, with Schell leading for two laps before Fredrick took back the lead and checked out to over a two minute lead at the end. Schell was still able to keep up his pace and stamina till the end of the race, (who says motocross riders cant run up front at endurance events?). At the end Shell almost blew his runner up spot when he pulled to a stop 10 feet in front of where he stopped to talk to 3rd place Levi Marana after getting the checkered flag. After realizing the race didn’t end at the checkers, Schell quickly got his bike started and rode through the transponder receiver. Marana had to push his quad the remaining ten feet, Cafro and Mitchell rounded out 4th and 5th place respectfully.
Robbie Mitchell lunches his Duncan Racing 450R over the huge step up jump.
