The 2024 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC WORCS Series reached its halfway point as racers headed to Shorty’s Sports MX Park in Blythe, California, April 13-14.
By Connor Moore
One of the fastest tracks on the circuit had the riders pushing themselves to the limit as they flew down the long straights. Endurance was the name of the game, as all three classes had lead changes throughout the race. Justin Hoeft brought home his second-season victory, while Mason Semmens made it three wins in a row in Pro 250, and Jackson Glathar again found the top spot in Am-Pro.
A warm weekend in April brought sunny skies to Shorty’s. Temperatures were in the mid-80s, and a breeze made it the hottest round of the year so far. Dare DeMartile put his Beta USA 450 in the lead after grabbing a holeshot and found himself with clean air early, giving himself a big lead in the race’s first half.
Tyler Lynn had a slight mishap on the start, forcing him to start from dead last with quite the gap, but that didn’t stop him from closing that gap and being in the mix early. He made some moves as he battled against teammate Cole Martinez and Purvines Racing Jack Simpson throughout before solidifying his place in third behind DeMartile and Hoeft. Lynn’s SLR Honda was singing through the long straights and high-speed sections as he finished in third place after closing the gap on the top two later in the race.
In typical Hoeft fashion, he started the race smoothly, allowing DeMartile to gather a significant lead, but then, around the halfway point, he began to put the hammer down. Hoeft had about four seconds on DeMartile in the second half of the race and, with just a few laps left, made a pass stick on DeMartile to grab the lead. They battled hard, but Hoeft stood on top just under 10 seconds ahead of DeMartile. Lynn’s third was another consistent race for him as the points began to heat up going into the halfway point and one more round till the summer break.
Jack Simpson and Tyler Belknap finished in the top five.
In 250 Pro, this class has some of the closest and most entertaining battles to watch every round, as every racer here is matched so evenly. Australian rider Mason Semmens, riding for RPM FMF KTM Racing, grabbed the holeshot. Just before they headed down the canyon, he had a slight tip over, allowing Colton Aeck to make the pass and grab the lead, Semmens dropped just one position. Aeck held off Semmens’ charges on his Hatch Racing Kawasaki for a while, but Semmens found a way around him after a few heated laps of racing.
Having a breakout year on his Husqvarna, Cole Zeller had an unfortunate start, but that didn’t stop him from getting faster each lap and picking his way through the class one by one. The weekend battle seems to be between Zeller and Kai Aiello, almost every round by now, and this one was no different. Battling for third place, Zeller found a way around him, but they stayed just seconds apart for most of the second half. Unfortunately for Aeck, he had to call it a day due to a mechanical. Semmens finished just a minute ahead of Zeller to grab his third win in as many rounds. His teammate Jake Alvarez and another Aussie, Sam Pretscherer, finished in the top five.
Noah Gordon came out of the gates and flew into the Pro-Am class after taking the holeshot and putting a good distance between him and the rest of the field. Behind him, the battles were growing as the top six battled each other as the race continued.
Jackson Glathar had a rough dead-engine start, giving him quite the uphill battle to make his way to the front and slowly pick off riders till he was in second behind Gordon, who had a pretty sizeable lead for most of the race.
With two laps remaining, Gordon blew a shock, making him check up on his lead, and Glathar took advantage of that as he finished just ahead of him, less than a second in front of Gordon after the brutal two-hour race.
Racer Fry and Kayden Lynn had a similar battle coming down to the checkered flag, with Fry winning by just over a second against Lynn.
On Saturday, the 125 Pro class lined up with Ryan Surratt, who was looking to continue his hot streak as of late. Surratt was able to let his 125cc sing in the desert, leading his way after an early pass on Tristun Alvarez. Unfortunately, Surratt has planned surgery on his ailing shoulder later this week and will miss at least one round.
Travis Damon finished in third.
The Women’s Pro class lined up on Saturday afternoon with Mikayla Nielsen pushing her SLR Honda to its limit. She ran off with the win, with Kaitlyn Jacobs taking second place.
2024 WORCS Round 5 Results
- Justin Hoeft (Yam)
- Dare DeMartile (Bet)
- Tyler Lynn (Hon)
- Jack Simpson (Yam)
- Tyler Belknap (Yam)
- Cole Martinez (Hon)
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