It was the first weekend of the new year, and we are back racing; it’s the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC WORCS Series at Honolulu Hills. Cold temperatures and a bit of rain allowed the track to keep in moisture with much less dust than the racers are used to at this location. The dust being kept down allowed for some of the best racing we have seen for quite some time. Travis Damon takes home his first win in the Pro ATV Class, Justin Semas wins Pro-Am, and Torey Matajcich starts her title defense in Women’s Pro with a first. 

A complete line of the fastest women on four wheels fought on Saturday, with seven ladies starting the race. Matajcich started the race battling with rookie rider Julyssa Pesqueira as she was just under ten seconds behind our reigning champion. She started strong but finished 5th place after the dust settled. Matajcich put down the fastest lap, being the only woman to enter the 10-minute time range with a fast lap of 10:48.437. Layne made a pass during the second lap to get into second place, where she held Donna Espensen off as they battled hard, with Fryar finishing only ten seconds ahead of Espensen. Another rookie, Bailey Baron, the daughter of champion Beau Baron, finished just off the podium less than a minute off Espensen. 

What a fantastic race to watch in the Pro Class as the top 3 riders from 2023 showcased just how close they are as competitors as the green flag dropped. Travis Damon came out in front as he led the trio into the desert on the first lap. For the entirety of the 90-minute race, it was an all-out war, as not one of the three fell more than 15 seconds behind. As the halfway point neared, all three riders took different pit strategies as it was the only time it caused them to separate from the battle with each other. On the 6th lap, Beau Baron was putting down the race’s quickest lap with a time of 9:25.306, bringing him within just a few seconds behind Braxton Grosse in second place. Across multiple sections of the race course, you could see all three of them side by side battling, with each rider getting a taste of the lead during the pit times occurring on different laps. As the white flag came out, it was neck and neck with the three putting them down almost identical lap times within a half second of each other. The gap between first and third after 90+ minutes was less than three seconds, with Damon holding off both of his competitors, bringing his Yamaha to the top of the podium. Auston Baxter and rookie Cole Fryar were able to finish in the top 5 at round one, with the battles hopefully continuing in. 

In Pro-Am, we had a lot of fresh faces as a few riders stepped up into the pro ranks for this year of racing. Johnny Shafe led the race for the majority, holding off an impressive ride from Justin Semas as he slowly picked away at the lead. Endurance played a massive part in the race as Semas ran a consistent pace in the low 10-minute range and, with just two laps left, got around Shafe for the lead, where he finished for his first win of the season.  Eduardo Rojas, who was starting to showcase his speed at the end of last year, continued that streak, finishing in third place, putting him in an excellent spot for the year early. Two rookie Pro-AM riders finished in the top 5, with Daven Desilva and Landen Johnson finishing 4th and 5th, respectively.

We want to thank the racers, volunteers, and staff who put together a fantastic event every single time, and we can’t wait to see you after the short break at Glen Helen on January 26th-28th.