Round four of the 2024 WORCS tour took riders to Lake Havasu , one of the most physically challenging rounds of the year. The course at Crazy Horse Campgrounds attracted over 1300 entries, with spectators lining the beach. Defending champion Justin Hoeft dominated and put his Purvines Racing Yamaha 450 on top with his first win of the season, while Mason Semmens came from the back of the pack to put together another win in 250 Pro. Dustyn Davis was on rails pushing his Gas Gas to victory in Pro-AM.
Mason Semmens
After dealing with cloudy weather and spotty showers earlier in the weekend, the weather on Sunday was all-time with a slight breeze and mid-70s temps. On the water, it was a beautiful day for the best riders in off-road to race. A dead engine start caused a shakeup early on as Tyler Lynn and Mason Semmens started in the back of the pack with a stacked field of competition pulling away. Early in the race, a trio of riders, headlined by Hoeft, switched positions with Dare Demartile and Cole Martinez while pushing their machines to the max. Havasu is one of the shorter courses on the circuit, as the leaders wound up doing just over 20 laps at this location.
Dare DeMartile (200) had clutch trouble this week but finished fifth.
At about the halfway point, Demartile, aboard his Beta Liquimoly Fiji Water 450, was sitting in third as Lynn battled with him and made a pass to put him right behind his teammate Cole Martinez. Clutch issues caused him to fall back after the halfway point as he toned it down to keep his points in good standing, falling back to 5th place, where he finished. Hoeft’s teammate, Jack Simpson, took advantage and put his bike into 4th place. As the dust settled, it was Demartile in the 3rd spot, battling with Martinez for the entirety of the race but could not make a pass stick; this keeps him in the points lead as we head to the halfway point at the next round. Martinez grabbed the second spot again after an excellent ride through the beach. But it was the Hoeft show, as he put on a clinic, pulled away from his competitors, achieved his first win of the season, and put himself down just 7 points from Dare In the championship.
Jake Alvarez got the holeshot in the 250 Prop class.
Every round, the 250 Pro class gets more exciting; anyone in this class has the speed and potential to win a race this year and shake up the points. Jake Alvarez, riding his RPM Racing FMF KTM, grabbed the holeshot and was flying as he was one of the only riders to hit the significant step-down by the lagoon jump. Unfortunately, he had an early end to his day with a mechanical. SLR Honda backed Collier Martinez to race his first WORCS of the season as he showcased his smooth riding style and finished in 5th place. As the season progresses, this will be the group to watch as they battle just seconds apart for the excellent portion of this race, with Colton Aeck, Kai Aiello, and Cole Zeller putting on a show for the fans. Zeller and Semmens started towards the back of the pack, but it didn’t stay that way for long. Semmens shot up the leaderboard, going from last to first in just a few laps, being over 10 seconds behind off the start. Once he had the lead, he kept it that way even after a minor crash left him without a visor for the race’s second half. After the win, he is just one point ahead of Aeck in the championship points. Another fantastic race of close battles continued as Zeller, who had come into this year absolutely on fire, continued that pace, keeping Semmens in his view and getting close after his fall but settled in for second place. Colton Aeck put his Hatch Racing Kawasaki in third for the third time this season as he and Kai Aiello also had quite the battle, with the crowd cheering them on as they would pass by the beach on each lap.
Dustyn Davis was on rails all day in Pro-Am, leading wire to wire on his GasGas machine. After grabbing the holeshot, it was all he needed to separate from the pack of riders, showcase his speed and fly through this rough and treacherous course. A new rider in WORCS Pro-AM this season, Noah Gordon, fought hard with current points leader Jackson Glathar, but at just past the halfway point, Glathar found himself on the ground for just a few seconds, allowing Gordon to pass, and he kept that position for the rest of the race. Glathar extends his points lead this season with consistent podium finishes, making it 3 out of 4. On Saturday, Kaitlyn Jacobs finished first, coming back from a rough concussion, and happy to see her back at 100%.
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