Proud sponsors of the Purvines DA8 Racing Team, here we share their winning results from the WORCS weekend racing at Lake Havasu, AZ.
World Off-Road Championship Series
Lake Havasu, Arizona
GARY SUTHERLIN
2nd Place
Coming off a WORCS win at the last round, Sutherlin was ready for battle in Havasu. “When we started the race it was near 90 degrees, I knew it was going to be brutal.” Sutherlin had a 5th place start slowly working his way up to the front. “I rode my own race and spent time finding good line choices.” With a few laps to go Sutherlin moved his way up to 2nd place pulling in the leader. “I put my charge on a little too late and they also put the white flag out 1 lap early which was really frustrating.” With Sutherlin’s 2nd place finish he extended his overall points lead by 19. “I was happy with the way I rode but bummed I didn’t charge a lap or two earlier. It was a brutal day, I don’t really think anyone was ready for the heat since the previous rounds we’re all under 50 degrees, it really just took a toll on everyone.”
COOPER ABBOTT
3rd Place
Cooper Abbott was prepared for this hot weekend of racing. Saturday he raced 250A to qualify him into Pro 2 Lites on Sunday. “I pumped up really quick and just tried to get some good laps in on Saturday.” Abbott was hoping for a better performance come Sunday. With a dead engine start Abbott got his bike started 4th kick putting him 2nd to last off the gate. “I made some quick passes and then made a mistake on the second lap and went down.” After Abbott’s mistake he quickly caught up to 5th place but another mishap caused him to go down again. “I finally got into the flow of things and slowly started to catch the leaders.” Abbott moved into 3rd place with 4 laps to go. “I caught 2nd and 1st and we we’re all really close but with 2 laps to go I just started to feel really dizzy and light headed.” Abbott’s intentions the rest of the race was to just finish, rounding out the podium where he now sits 3rd in points.
DAMON BUSH
7th Place
Damon Bush has been chasing that podium spot in the stacked Pro2 lights class this season. He started off the weekend with 450A on Saturday finishing 7th, qualifying him into Sunday’s Pro2. “Havasu was going to be a test for me, I had a gnarly get off last weekend at the Big 6 and I just wanted to be as healthy as possible for this weekend.” When Sunday came around Bush was feeling the aftermath of Saturday’s race. “I was hurting getting out of bed but I knew I had a job to take care of and was going to do my best.” With a dead engine start, Bush got a good jump putting him in a comfortable position. “I got a good rhythm going and maintained that pace pretty much the whole day.” With that pace, Bush would finish 7th place. “I stayed up the entire day and I felt like it was a good finish under my circumstances.” Bush is now sitting 5th in points in Pro2.
Zip Ty Racing’s own, Ty Davis, raced aboard a PURVINES DA8 Yamaha, taking the overall in 40+ Expert.
AMA Distrct 37 – Dual European Scrambles
NICK BURSON
2nd Place
Nick headed out to the European Scrambles this weekend. It was set to be a 2 day race on 2 different courses. “We’d have one race each day, it was another change to get some practice in for the upcoming National races.” With bad starts both days, Burson charged back finishing 2nd on both days. “It was a good weekend and I’m read for the Gorman Hare Scrambles.”
Destry Abbott (Operation Director)
“I was happy with this weekend here in Lake Havasu. Both Gary and Cooper were right there for the wins and both lost be less than 15-seconds. Gary is looking good for the big picture and that’s holding the #1 plate at the end of the year. Damon did great too and he’s still recovering from his crash last weekend at Glen Helen. We’re moving forward as a team and excited for the rest of the season.”
