| June 14, 2021
2021 Cache Valley, Idaho, Round 5 WORCS Results. Dante Oliveira made a late-race pass on teammate Taylor Robert and held on for the win at round five of the Rocky Mountain ATV-MC WORCS Series round at Cache Valley MX in Preston, Idaho, June 12-13. The victory put Oliveira back on top of the championship leaderboard, but not by much.
Dante Oliveira out-dueled his FMF KTM teammate Taylor Robert to win the Cache Valley WORCS race in Idaho. Photos: Harlen Foley
Chance Hymas won the Pro 250 race, and Evan Stice finished first in Pro-Am, while Brandy Richards kept her winning streak alive in Women Pro.
In the Pro 450 race, Oliveira took the lead early but lost it to Robert late in the race. The factory KTM teammates duked it out and Oliveira made a hard move stick and took the lead for good with two laps left in the two-hour event.
Robert was second, ahead of the Husqvarna of Austin Walton.
Cole Martinez was fourth on his Honda, followed by the Giacomo Redondi (GasGas).
“He [Robert] got around me on the right-hander, and I bounced over his rear wheel, took the lead and I put my head down for the last two laps,” Oliveira explained of battling his teammate for the overall lead. “It was brutal and this track was gnarly.”
Robert ran fourth early in the event, but quickly got going and made his way through the field. After the halfway point he was challenging Oliveira for the lead and finally made the pass.
Oliveira then made his move when Robert slid out in the field. Oliveira’s third win of the season handed him the points lead.
Robert recovered to nab the second spot at the finish. “I passed Dante and he wasn’t going to just let me have it,” said Robert. “He kept pressuring me and I tucked the front. So, he got by me and that was pretty much it. I rode great after the halfway point and thought I had it, but I had too many mistakes.”
Walton got a decent start and stayed in third for most of the race. He had the speed to run up front but said he had issues with visibility in the dust.
“I think I had the speed over Dante, but I couldn’t make a pass stick,” said Walton. “I’ll take this race to learn, so I won’t have that problem the next time. I felt good out there and rode well.”
Martinez battled Robert early in the race and ended up following the veteran racer to the front pack, but in the end, Martinez fell short of where he wanted to finish, as he was looking for the win.
“I made a push on Taylor and then he picked it up,” said Martinez. “We battled our way all the way to the front. It was a good fight on a tough track.”
Chance Hymas won the Pro 2 class.
In Pro 250, Hymas took the lead in the second corner on the first lap and wasn’t headed from there en route to winning his second race of the season on his Kawasaki.
“I got myself a pretty good gap, I won by a whole bunch, and it felt good,” said Hymas. “I live about an hour from here so this is like my home track. I loved the course setup. It had a little bit of everything.”
Angus Riordan (KTM) was second ahead of Colton Aeck (KTM).
Points leader Mateo Oliveira reportedly started feeling ill on lap eight; he would soldier on to finish 15th.
Riordan was gaining ground on Hymas throughout the race and nearly caught him when he experienced a mechanical. Having to stop for fuel, he recovered to finish second, marking his best finish of the season.
“I made it up into third on the second lap,” said Riordan. “I was chasing down Chance and I was slowly bringing it in, but I lost my fuel breather and fuel was spilling all over me.”
Veteran racer Aeck said he was astounded by the speed of Hymas and Riordan. He took third on the second lap and stayed there for the remainder of the race. Though he didn’t win the race, Aeck knows that consistency is king in racing, so he’s just fine with his third podium of the season.
“These kids are super talented,” said Aeck. “They pretty much put on a clinic for me today. I just stayed consistent, put in some good laps, and tried to minimize my mistakes. Podiums win championships.”
Evan Stice held on for the Pro-Am victory.
In Pro-Am, Evan Stice (Honda) took the lead early in the race. A charging Brandy Richards (KTM) was quickly at his rear tire, and he held her off throughout to score his second victory of the season.
Richards was second, ahead of Dallas Sherpa (GasGas).
Points leader Alex Morgan (Husqvarna) was fourth.
“We had a DNF at Taft, so this really helps out my points situation,” said Stice. “Brandy was ripping and really kept me honest. I got off to a pretty good start and just kept ripping.”
Richards qualified for the event by winning the Women Pro race, she scored her second consecutive Pro-Am podium. After starting up front she followed Stice throughout the race.
“I felt phenomenal in the Women’s race, and today I started up front and stayed there,” said Richards. “I was pushing all race, but Stice wouldn’t let me get quite close enough. It was a good race.”
Sherpa (GasGas) returned to WORCS competition here after missing the last round. He ended up on the podium for the first podium this season.
Richards started first and dominated yet another Women Pro race, Kaitlyn Jacobs (KTM) taking second.
Mika Diaz finished third in her return to WORCS competition after a five-year hiatus.
WORCS now heads into its annual summer break. The series is scheduled to return to action September 10-12 in Wickenburg, Arizona.
Rocky Mountain ATV-MC WORCS Series
Cache Valley MX
Preston, Idaho
RESULTS (June 12-13, 2021)
450 PRO
| 1. |
Dante Oliveira |
(KTM) |
| 2. |
Taylor Robert |
(KTM) |
| 3. |
Austin Walton |
(Hus) |
250 PRO
| 1. |
Chance Hymas |
(Kaw) |
| 2. |
Angus Riordan |
(KTM) |
| 3. |
Colton Aeck |
(KTM) |
Pro-Am
| 1. |
Evan Stice |
(Hon) |
| 2. |
Brandy Richards |
(KTM) |
| 3. |
Dallas Sherpa |
(GG) |
