Robby Bell Glen Helen WORCS Race Report

Reigning WORCS Champion Robby Bell survives the heat and finishes second at Glen Helen Raceway.

Reigning WORCS Champion Robby Bell survives the heat and finishes second at Glen Helen Raceway.

Defending WORCS Champion Robby Bell was among the competitors who had to brave the heat at Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California during round nine of the WORCS series.
Defending WORCS Champion Robby Bell was among the competitors who had to brave the heat at Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California during round nine of the WORCS series.

WORCS round 8
September 14, 2014
Glen Helen, CA

After having a tough go of it at Straddeline a month earlier, I was happy the next round of the 2014 World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) was heading to a place that stood in stark contrast to the dense trees and tight single-track of Washington: Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California. Besides being more open and quite a bit faster than the terrain of the Pacific Northwest, holding an event in Southern California in the middle of September meant it was also going to be a little warmer…that is, if you consider 105 degrees to be classified as a “little” warmer.

For me, Glen Helen also represented an opportunity to try and make up a few points on series leader Gary Sutherlin. I had definitely lost some ground at the previous round, but so long as I’m mathematically in with a shot, I’m going to keep pushing him to the final checkered flag.

KTM’s Taylor Robert made another WORCS appearance, along with Honda riders Timmy Weigand, Mark Samuels and Colton Udall, which added a bit more depth to the talented Pro class and also meant a good start would be important with the added speed on the line.

As the gate dropped I got off to a pretty good jump, but Timmy and David Broderick popped off the line just a bit better, and a slight miss-shift meant I had to accept that I was going to be pinched heading into the first turn. I quickly dove to the inside around the Talladega first turn and came out just at the edge of the top five.

Heading up the first hill I got a great drive and motored past Taylor and Gary, moving up to fourth. As we crested the hill, Timmy made a pass attempt on Justin but lost traction on the freshly watered dirt and slid out. I had a clean line around Timmy and his fallen bike to the outside and was able to make a pass on David as well, landing me in second position, just behind Jones.

Halfway through the first lap the course headed to a “pro section”: basically a steep, rutted downhill that split the big GLEN HELEN lettering on the REM hillside. As the course came off the hill, Justin kicked up quite a bit of dust, limiting my vision, and I knew there was a hay bale down at the bottom just off the side of the course. I chopped my speed, being a little cautious not to hit the bale and Taylor, who was right behind me, took the opportunity to accelerate by my right side and into second place.

Bell negotiates the tree section at the back of the Glen Helen facility. Mistakes late in the race cost him precious time.
Bell negotiates the tree section at the back of the Glen Helen facility. Mistakes late in the race cost him precious time.

From there Taylor had a little more pace than me early as he quickly attacked Jones out front, and a lap later he had made the pass into the lead. I knew that if I wanted a shot at battling him for the win I would have to up my speed and get by Justin, but Justin was riding really well, and it took me a few laps to even get right up behind him.

On lap four I had finally closed the gap as the course headed into the longest and fastest straightaway on the circuit. Halfway down the straight there was a slightly blind rise with a few scattered rocks on the backside, and as Justin chopped the throttle just a little, I held it on and accelerated up along his left side. We were side-by-side, wide open and as the course approached a right-handed turn I maybe had a wheel’s worth of an advantage, but to Justin’s credit he committed to out braking me into the corner and held the position. Two corners later I made another attempt, only this time I held the inside of the track and was able to repay the favor, outbraking Justin into the corner and taking over second place.

In the time it had taken me to reach second position, Taylor had amassed a 15-second lead. I did my best to elevate my pace, but Taylor just had a little more than me, as he would pull between 5 and 8 seconds a lap up to our pit stops.

Bell battled with Taylor Robert for the race lead for most of the day but had to settle for second place.
Bell battled with Taylor Robert for the race lead for most of the day but had to settle for second place.

After the pit, Taylor had around 40 seconds of advantage, but I felt as though I was getting a second wind. I pushed myself to go faster, and though I felt up for it physically, there was a disconnect between my mind and body, and I just wasn’t flowing as well as I know I’m capable. I was riding well; I just didn’t have the edge I needed to find the speed that was required. I definitely didn’t give up, but as the race wore on a few mistakes hurt my rhythm. The first was in the form of washed front end that caused me to slide out in a corner. Then, a lap later, I hit a loose rock in the Endurocross section and fell, losing quite a bit of time while remounting. Luckily I had a pretty good lead on third place, so I wasn’t ever in serious danger of losing a position, and at the end of a very hot two-hour pro race, I crossed the line in second place.

I was hoping to pick up where I left off at the Cedar City WORCS race, challenging Taylor for the win, and perhaps on another day I would have, but on this day I just didn’t quite have enough to match his speed. I can’t really complain. Taylor’s a beast on a dirtbike, and I had a great time racing on one of my favorite tracks. I’d like to thank all of my personal sponsors: Precision Concepts, Kawasaki, Alamo Alarm, MSR, Shoei, Sidi, Spy, Focus Apparel, EVS, USWE, Northland Motorsports, Ryan Abbatoye Designs, FMF, BRP, ATP Mechanix, and THR Motorsports.

Bell still has a mathematical shot at defending his WORCS title. He trails series points leader Gary Sutherlin by 16 points with one round remaining. It ain't over yet!
Bell still has a mathematical shot at defending his WORCS title. He trails series points leader Gary Sutherlin by 16 points with one round remaining. It ain’t over yet!

Gary put in a great effort, coming off a broken collarbone and a pretty bad flu to get third place on the weekend, so I didn’t gain too much in the championship. He still has around 16 points on me heading in to the last round. All I can do is try to win it and see where the cards fall at the end of the race. In the meantime, the next event on my calendar is the 24 Hours of Glen Helen, another favorite race of mine (at least until around 3 in the morning), so I’m looking forward to getting out and doing another of my favorite activities, some night riding! I look forward to seeing everyone at GH once more!

Robby Bell
www.robbybellracing.com

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