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Washougal WORC's The WORC's series finally left the desert and headed into the trees for the fourth round at the national motocross track in Washougal, Washington. Washougal is one of the best tracks in the country as well as one of the most scenic. With my leg getting better I decided to make the trip up to Washington to help Brian out with the pit support and since this is a race you don't want to miss I had to go. Wattsy left the box van at our house so we took it up for the KTM sponsored event. We drove all day Friday and got to the gate just after it closed at one in the morning. We knew G-Man was camping in a motorhome so Brian walked in from the gate looking for a warm place to sleep while I slept in the van. We had a 200 for Broc Harden to ride so it was an early morning to get everything ready for the Unclassified race. There was a good turnout for the weekend and even in the unclassified race the was about 60 people. Local D-36 rider Brian Spearle was on the gas early and got used to the slick conditions first to take the win. The track really got to tack up for the next couple of races that were novice race and the vet race which was won by Ty Davis. Brian was breaking out the 520 for the four stroke/125 race and had a good battle with Kurt Caselli until Kurt got a flat tire. It was raining during the race but the track was holding up pretty well but was definitely slick. Brian took a few laps to get used to the big bike and had fun taking the win in the race. The first laps of the 250 race were slick and there was a good sized bottleneck the first lap of the race. Once again Spearle was on it and opened up a big lead over the rest of the field to take the win. The forecast for Sunday was for sunny skies so we knew that we lucked out once again and had perfect conditions. The WORC's crew fixed up some of the rutted sections of the course overnight with the little tractor and had a good course. The moto track is as good as it gets and when you leave it you wind through the woods a bit and end up on the grass track. There is a big rolling meadow that is used for parking for the national that has set a big grass track. It had some big loamy berms on it and was super wide and fast. After the grass track there was the pro hill that was a slick rocky section that looked like a trials section. There was a couple of miles of winding woods trails then back to the motocross track. Brian had a good pick on the gate but when they started Russ Pearson rocketed off the gate and had a bike length on the field immediately. G-man wasn't so lucky having to start in the second row. There was a crash in the first turn that he got though but someone came from the outside and cleaned him out. The worst part is someone behind him used him as traction and knocked G-Man down from the count but ended up being sore but alright. Ty Davis got around Russ on the second turn then Russ and Robert Naughton came together on the big uphill and both crashed hard. Brian was just outside the top five but was working hard on moving up. Ty was in the lead with Kiedrowski was right behind him but it looked like Rodney who was in third was going to be going for the win. Kurt Casselli was in fourth with Brian moving up to join the heat. He got around Casselli and then Rodney had a problem with his shock and pulled off. On the second lap Ty looped it out on the slick uphill relinquishing the lead to Kiedrowski. Mike led for a lap but then he got caught up on the same hill the next lap for just long enough for Ty to get back in the lead and moving Brian up to second.. Brian had the hill figured out and was making passes on the hill by getting a run at the hill then using the low end to chug up and not spinning like most of the guys who were worried about not making it. Mike and Brian had a good race for the next couple of laps with Mike slowly pulling away. Ty was also extending his lead out front and took the win by just over a minute. Brian had his first podium finish in the WORC's series and had a good solid ride on the day. Steve Hatch had a bum shoulder from the week before but toughed it out making a pass on Kurt Casselli on the last lap for fourth, with Casselli taking fifth and looking real good for a desert racer riding in the woods for one of his first times. Robert Naughton came back from the first turn crash and was going fast all day to work his was all the way from 60th to 6th. Brian Spearle must have liked the track because he was going fast all weekend and had his first WORC's top ten with a seventh. Dave Nuemeister spent the week after Idaho on the road and is looking for a top ten WORC's number with another top ten finish with eighth. Local riders Ben Hale and Phil Stevens rounded out the top ten. |