TM Racing Has Solid Results At WORCS Bike Week
ByAugust 12, 2010:
The first and second weekend of August was quite an action packed racing extravaganza. WORCS week was held up in Olympia, WA for round 7-8 of the 2010 WORCS series and TM racer Wiley Watson shined under the gloomy weather on his TM 144. The event was a back to back weekend format and an opportunity to boost rankings in the series point standings if taken advantage of. Both courses over the weekends were laid out in the tight and twisty trees of the Washington forest, providing a very slim amount of traction and plenty of drama.
The First weekend of racing was a hare-scrambles format, with a longer 15-minute loop and a dead engine start. On the Saturday 250f A race, Wiley got off to a good start and put the TM 144 up front on the first lap and never looked back, securing a 30 second victory margin at the end of the event. The Sunday morning Open Sport A race was a bit tougher on the TM rider. After struggling to make moves on the riders in front of him, he made a couple mistakes and had to charge back through the pack, but ultimately the 144 knifed its way through the field and managed another season best 2nd in the class.
The second weekend of racing was quite eventful. After moving to 3rd in the 250F A points and riding a wave of serious momentum, an unexpected vine (literally vine!) wrapped around the 144’s radiator and ripped the whole top piece off, sending an explosion of boiling fluid out onto Wiley! This was a major bummer as he was running second and was looking to take the lead and move up even further in the point standings.
Watson Performance did some serious and devoted race prep to get the bike ready for the afternoon 125 A race, which turned out to be a “mud fest.” Rain had started to downpour and the already slippery course turned into an ice ring. The crew got the bike to the line and Wiley got off to a great jump and made the pass for the lead just exiting the moto track. He an the 144 checked out and put in a mistake free and awesome race to ride to victory, which was a margin of 4 minutes over his closest competitors!!
The back to back weekends went well for Watson Performance and the Barker Bro’s mounted TM machine, as they look to gain confidence and head into the fall season here of racing!
