The 2024 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC WORCS Series made its annual stop at Shorty’s MX park in Blythe, California this weekend. This is a unique course consisting of deep sand and fast straights. Endurance is the name of the game, and all three pro classes had lead changes throughout the race. Justin Hoeft brought home his second season 450 Pro victory as Mason Semmens made it his 3rd in a row in 250 Pro.
Dare Demartile led the 450 Pro class deep into the race. Photo by Connor Moore.
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 and found himself with clean air early. Tyler Lynn had a slight mishap on the start, forcing him to start in dead last, but that didn’t stop him from closing the gap and getting into the mix early. He made some moves as he battled against teammate Cole Martinez and Purvines Racing’s Jack Simpson before solidifying his place in 3rd behind Demartile and Hoeft. He finished there after closing the gap on the top two late 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. With just a few laps left, Hoeft made a pass stick on Demartile to grab the lead. They battled hard, but Hoeft stood on top just under ten seconds ahead of Demartile. Lynn finished the race in 3rd with Jack Simpson and Tyler Belknap finished in the top 5.
The 250 Pro class has some of the closest and most entertaining battles to watch every weekend, as every racer here is matched so evenly. Australian rider Mason Semmens, riding for RPM FMF KTM Racing, grabbed the holeshot in front of the stacked class. Just before they headed down the canyon, he had a slight tipover, allowing Colton Aeck to make the pass and grab the lead from him, but he was on the bike quickly and only lost one position. Aeck held off Semmens’s charge 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 class 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, Colton Aeck had to call it a day after a mechanical ended his battle for first early. Semmens finished just a minute ahead of Zeller to grab his third win in as many rounds at WORCS. His teammate Jake Alvarez and another Aussie, Sam Pretscherer, finished in the top 5.
Noah Gordon came flying out of the gate in the Pro-Am class and put a good distance between himself and the rest of the field. Behind him, the battles were raging as the race continued. Jackson Glathar had a rough dead engine start, giving him an uphill battle to make his way to the front. He slowly picked off riders until he was in second behind Gordon, who had a 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 2-hour race. Racer Fry and Kayden Lynn had a similar battle coming down to the checkered flag, with Fry winning 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 that baby sing in the desert, leading the way after an early Moto pass on Tristun Alvarez. Unfortunately, Surratt will go in for surgery on his shoulder later this week. Travis Damon finished in 3rd. Women’s Pro lined up on Saturday afternoon with Mikayla Nielsen pushing her SLR Honda to its limit as she won with Kaitlyn Jacobs finishing in second place.
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