Precision Concept’s Robby Bell claimed his first win of the season and ended Gary Sutherlin’s win streak at round five of the 2014 Rocky Mountain MC World Off-Road Championship Series presented by Motoworks and Dirt Bike Magazine.  KTM mounted Gary Sutherlin finished in the second spot followed by John Burr Cycle’s Justin Seeds rounding out the pro podium

The fifth round of the WORCS series was held at the Ridgecrest Fairgrounds,and it presented the racers with a great mixture of obstacles from high speed desert sections to technical rock, dirt, and log piles to challenge the racers along with a motocross track.  Also, Mother Nature added to the difficulty with wind gust over 30 mph during the race, which limited visibility at time and showered the racers with sand during the two hour long race.

Kawasaki’s Robby Bell needed a win more than ever, and he quickly charged his way into the lead by the third lap with the fastest lap-time of the day.  Once out front, Bell quickly built a comfortable lead over second place, and for the first time this year, Bell was able secure the win, which he needed for any chance of defending his title.

“I needed the win today, just to keep Gary (Sutherlin) honest, I think that brings it back to within a race as far as the points spread, so all I can do is just to try to keep him honest. it’s just more about winning races and showing that I earned that number one plate last year you know, however the year pans out, I know how it’s been for myself, so I think just to represent myself the way I want to, all my sponsors, all my supporters, my family, my friends, my wife, just from here it’s about racing the way I know I can, pushing my body the way I know I can, and representing everybody behind me well,” said Bell on his win.

NTS’ Gary Sutherlin battled with Bobby Bonds early on in the race as he was trying to shake off some early arm pump, but once he got past Bonds, Sutherlin attempted reel in Bell in the final laps of the race, but it was too little too late for Sutherlin as he went on to finish in the second spot for the first time this year after winning the first four rounds of the season.

“I put on a charge, but it was just too little too late and my hands got tore up a little bit, but it’s all good. The championship is the goal, winning races is great and hopefully we can get back on top of the box at the next round, so we’ll just go back, do our homework, and come out swinging the next round,” said Sutherlin.

John Burr Cycle’s Justin Seeds claimed his second straight podium finish, and it was his first time finishing on the podium outside of Sand Hollow the past two years.  Seeds grabbed the holeshot, but after leading for two laps, he dropped back to fourth when his shoulder started to give him issues, but Seeds received a gift when Bonds early charge came to an end, which allowed Seeds to move up into the third spot in the final laps for a podium finish.

RPM / KTM’s Justin Jones ran in the sixth spot for most of the race, but he capitalized on others having issues in the final laps of the race to claim the a fourth place finish on the lead lap, which keeps him in the top three in the championship race.

Fellow RPM / KTM’s racer, Eric Yorba, was sporting the brand new KLIM gear at Ridgecrest, and he rounded out the top five on the day.

R&D Motorsports’ Bobby Bonds broke his tail bone at the Sand Hollow WORCS race nearly a month ago, but he was still experiencing pain when riding. It obviously became too much for him to handle after over an hour of racing as he slowed his charge in the second spot to pulling out the race with just three laps to go, which had him finishing in the sixth spot on the day.

In the Pro 2 class, Maxxis’ Travis Coy claimed his third straight win to extend his points lead in the class after reeling in Justin Morgan in the final laps of the race to make the pass for the lead, and Brandon Prieto rounded out the Pro 2 podium.

Yamaha mounted Michael Del Fante claimed his second win of the season in the Pro 2 Lites class to extend his points lead to twenty points over Jesse Lundin who finished in the second spot after leading the majority of the race before going down late in the race, which allowed Del Fante to take over the lead.  Local racer, Jordan Gamboa, rounded out the Pro 2 Lites Podium in his season debut.

Round six of the Rocky Mountain MC World Off-Road Championship Series Presented by Motoworks and Dirt Bike is scheduled for Pala Raceway on July 10-13^th, but the track is currently closed, so it is still up in the air if the next round will be held at another track or cancelled, but details on the next round will be released this week.