2023 Cedar City WORCS Round 7 Results

| May 31, 2023

Tyler Lynn and Zach Bell put two Precision Concepts/Chaparral Kawasakis on the 450 Pro podium at the Three Peaks Oasis round of the WORCS Championship in Cedar City, Utah, May 28-29. Lynn took the win and Bell came within a lap of making it a PC Kawasaki 1-2. Instead, Purvines Racing Yamaha rider Justin Hoeft ended up splitting the two green bikes by taking second.

Tyler Lynn at 2023 Cedar City WORCS — **Tyler Lynn topped the Pro 450 class at the Cedar City round of the WORCS Series.**

Story and Photos by Connor Moore

When the green flag waved to start the two-hour Pro race, Lynn pushed ahead of the field and entered the first turn with the lead. He held the pole position through the first few laps, before relinquishing the lead to his teammate, Bell.

Just before the halfway mark, and accompanying pit stops, Lynn retook the lead. Lynn and Bell came into the pits separated by just a few seconds. From there, Lynn found a solid groove and began pulling away. Lynn maintained command of the race to the checkers to earn his second win of the WORCS season.

Through the first corner, Bell slotted into second place. After stalking Lynn for a few laps, Bell made the move into the lead. Bell edged out a slight gap, before a mistake and brief fall allowed Lynn back by. Just after the pit stops, Bell began feeling some pressure from the series points leader, Hoeft. The two fiercely battled back and forth right in front of the pits. Ultimately, Hoeft was able to make the pass, moving Bell to third.

Bell took a couple laps to regroup, keeping Hoeft within 10 seconds, and planned to make a last-lap charge. Unfortunately for Bell, he went slightly wide in a corner on the last lap and his knee slammed into a branch. The resulting “dead leg” slowed Bell’s pace, but he soon pushed through the pain and charged after second place once more. Bell closed up to within touching distance of Hoeft but ran out of time.

Hoeft started the race in fourth and fought his way through the field, officially finishing 21.793 seconds behind Lynn.

Jack Simpson at 2023 Cedar City WORCS — **Jack Simpson pulled away for the Pro 250 win.**

Honda rider Tallon LaFountaine held fourth for most of the race and finished there approximately three minutes behind Bell. Mateo Oliveira was fifth.

Hoeft still leads the championship by 11 points, while just six points separate the next three riders: Lynn, Oliveira and LaFountaine, in that order.

It looked as though SLR Honda’s Kade Tinkler-Walker was going to add another win to his list in the 250 Pro class until a mechanical issue ended his day prematurely. Tinkler-Walker was fourth after lap one but snatched the lead away from Jake Alvarez (RPM KTM) on lap three and started pulling away. It was his to lose as he held a 20-second lead over Yamaha rider Jake Simpson with three laps to go. But that’s when his bike let go and forced him out of the race.

Simpson inherited the lead and went on to take the win by 46 seconds over KTM rider Colton Aeck who Simpson passed a few laps from the end.

Kai Aiello (Husqvarna) was fourth and Thomas Dunn (Yamaha) fifth.

Simpson still has a commanding 30-point lead in the 250 Pro Championship over Tinkler-Walker and Alvarez who are tied in second. Aiello is just two points back in fourth. And Aeck is right there in fifth, just five points behind Aiello.

The ProAm racers put on a good show as Hayden Florez (Yamaha), who was gunning for his third straight win, and Mason Decunzo (KTM) battled it out. Decunzo took the early lead with Florez in close pursuit. The duo stayed close for a while until Decunzo started to steadily inch away. By the end of the 12th and final lap, Decunzo led Florez by well over a minute and took the win, his first of the year. KTM rider Colby Laub took third a few minutes back.

Mason Decunzo at 2023 Cedar City WORCS — **Mason Decunzo was the Pro-Am winner.**

Florez maintains a healthy 20-point lead over Decunzo in the class championship.

KTM rider Brandy Richards has fully recovered from her injuries, and demonstrated as much by winning the Women’s Pro race, leading from start to finish. She also finished third in the 125cc Pro race, where Tristun Alvarez (KTM) edged out Travis Damon (Honda) for the victory.

Damon, however, leads Alvarez by two points in the class championship.