WORCS Round 1 Pro-AM

January 23, 2011

Honolulu Hills Raceway

Taft, California

2011 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC World Off Road Championship Series

Story By

Joe Colombero

1/23/11, Taft, California:

Collins Webster took his Can-Am to victory at the WORCS Pro-Am season opener in Taft, California this Sunday. Webster was followed across the line by Honda-mounted Cody Mitchell in second and Garrin Fuller in third.

Thanks to a recent deluge in southern California, the Honolulu Hills Raceway and surrounding rolling hills were covered by beautiful fields of green grass while the track itself was filled with rich, brown, loamy dirt. Dust was at a minimum and traction was like Velcro. Needless to say, everyone was happy to be racing on this course this weekend, especially those youngsters who earned a slot on the second (Pro-Am) gate of the final Pro race on Sunday.

22 riders made their way to the line and watched the Pro class roost off in the distance. Two minutes later their own gate dropped and the Pro-Am’s were riding the same course as the fastest riders on the planet. The holeshot fell to Cody Mitchell who took off and looked unbeatable for most of the next 1 ½ hours. However, Collins Webster refused to allow Mitchell to coast and continued to put in fast laps to close the gap. Webster’s fastest lap was a 12:51, which was 10 seconds faster than Mitchell’s fastest lap of 13:01. Webster closed the gap and made the pass to take the victory by the checkered flag.

“The track was great today,” said Webster. “My Can-Am worked perfectly all day and we came through to get the first win of the season. I’m really pumped about the WORCS Series and looking forward to the next round.”

Needless to say, Mitchell was happy to take second, but had hoped for the win.

“I got the holeshot,” said Mitchell. “I lead most of the race, but I know that Webster was back there coming up. I wanted to hold him off but he got by me and got the win. Still, second is a good start for the season and we’ll be ready to go for it again in Primm.”

Garrin Fuller took the third spot on the podium with a solid ride and a plan for the title.

“My plan is to stay on the boxes every round and go for the Championship,” said Fuller. “WORCS is a long series with a lot of different types of tracks and terrain. If I can be on the podium every round then I’ll have a good shot at the Prom-Am Championship.”

D.J. Noerr took fourth, with Daniel Grodski fifth, Bryce Peart finished sixth, Javier Robles Jr. Seventh, Keith Johnson eighth, Clay Forenpohar ninth, and Chase Thomas tenth.