Red Bull KTM’s Kurt Caselli Finishes 5th at Havasu

March 17, 2008, 9:54am

Lake Havasu, AZ - Red Bull KTM's Kurt Caselli finished 5th at the third round of the WORCS Series in Lake Havasu, AZ.

Kurt Caselli

The sandy whooped out course took its toll on a majority of the riders causing many technical failures when sand got in the motor of the machines. One of the casualties was Red Bull KTM rider Justin Soule. Soule had an awesome start rounding the first turn in second. By the end of the first lap he had dropped to third but was still charging hard. He slowly slipped back the next few laps until a technical problem with his bike caused him to not finish the race. "I'm bummed to not finish the race today, but it’s always a possibility for something to go wrong when racing. I know my team will get the problem fixed and I'll have another chance at running up front at the next round," commented Soule after the race.

Caselli's day went considerably better although it didn't start out as great as he would have hoped. Caselli started inside the top ten but a crash on the second lap put him back in 21st position. Once he remounted he tried to pick off riders but couldn't find his rhythm quick enough. "I wasn't comfortable until after the gas stop. After that halfway mark I finally got in my groove and was able to start moving forward," reported Caselli. His gas stop came approximately one hour into the race, at which point, he was able to pick up the pace and finally break back into the top ten. A few laps later on this quick 6 1/2 minute loop he had moved up to 7th. By the end of the race he passed two more riders to take home 5th for the day; an impressive finish for coming from so far back in the pack.

"I believe Kurt made the best of his bad luck today. He had a lot of work to do in order to salvage points and he was able to break into the top five which keeps him right there in the points chase," stated Red Bull KTM Off-Road Team Manager Antti Kallonen. He continued, "I am happy with his performance."

Overall Results - Havasu, AZ:
1. B. Garrison
2. R. Dietrich
3. D. Huffman
4. B. Bonds
5. K. Caselli - KTM

Overall Series Points:
1. B. Garrison - 74
2. K. Caselli - 71

Next Event: Round 4 April 11-13 - Auburn, WA