WORCS WEEK 2010
Story & Photos by Bryan Grey

SENDING A MESSAGE, that’s what FMF/KTM’s Kurt Caselli intended to do as he waited for the gate to drop on the WORCS Round 8 Sunday Main. Winning the round 7 Hare Scramble race that kicked off WORCS Week gave him a 1 point lead coming into this race one week later.

Caselli’s closest competitor had a different message to send. Being originally from the northwest Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ricky Dietrich was determined to remind everyone that out all of the races on the WORCS schedule this was his home track. In front of family and friends it was his race to win and winning would put him back in the points lead.

Let’s not forget 2009 WORCS Champ FMF/KTM’s Mike Brown. Brownie came out on top in last years WORCS Week and was on pace to repeat again this year. A 3rd place in the Hare Scramble and a 2nd in the MX put him in a good position to do so going into the Friday night WORCS X event.

Brown’s closest rival all season has been Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Justin Soule. Soule came into this weekend sitting a solid 4th in the points. With a strong 4th place finish in the Hare Scramble, Soule was looking to move into 3rd in the points by race end.

Focusing on Sunday’s main, Caselli and Dietrich sat in the stands to watch Brown, Soule and several other pros and amateurs take on the WORCS X course Friday night. Tractor tires, ecology blocks, logs, concrete culverts and 2×8 wooden planks were carefully assembled to challenge the riders in WORCS’s most technical event of the season. With a gate start followed by a short run to the first corner, riders jumped, balanced, and carried their bikes over the obstacles battling each other and their own abilities to complete each lap. Much like a SX race there was two qualifier heats, an LCQ and a Main. At the end of it all it was Brown and Soule, 1 and 2. This put Brown in the lead for the WORCS Week win.

To add to the fun of the week the weather took a down turn as the clouds and cold rolled in Friday night followed by off and on rain on Saturday. No matter though, WORCS racers are used to adverse conditions. This added to the suspense for Sundays Main though. Caselli is from SoCal, the land of deserts and heat, will the mud and rain slow his pace? Not so much. As a matter of fact you’d this he was a native Washingtonian as he seemed to excel in the rain and mud. Brown took the holeshot, but Caselli got around early and never looked back. By race end he had almost three and a half minutes on Dietrich who held on to 2nd for the entire two hours. Brown and Soule battled it out for 3rd. Having stalled on lap one Brown made up a huge deficit nearly catching back up to Soule. When the checkers came out Soule finished over a minute ahead of Brown, but only 16 seconds behind his teammate Dietrich. Going into Round 9 Caselli retains the points lead by a mere 4 points over Dietrich, and Brown holds onto 3rd by 5 points over Soule.

With his 4th on Sunday, the WORCS Week Pro Champion for the second year is FMF/KTM’s Mike Brown. Brown says “I was here all week, I might as well ride, but now I need a break” With a full week of racing and riding behind them everyone deserves a break, see you at Glen Helen in September!

Bryan Grey