“Black Rhino Performance Sponsored Athlete Katie Vernola's WORCS Race Report”
El Cajon, CA, January 14, 2016– Round 1 of the WORCS Series took place in Taft, CA on January 9th. Black Rhino Performance sponsored athlete Katie Vernola was there for the racing action in her new #72 Polaris RZR 1000.
On Friday, January 8th, Niko and Shawn from Andersin Designs & Graphics headed with Katie to Taft, Ca. After arriving, camp was set up with a new Action Sports Canopy. The #72 passed through tech and the team took one last look at the RZR before the first race of the year.
Saturday morning before race time, Katie put on her new K1 Race Gear for a photo-shoot with her new canopy, new truck wrap, and new Polaris RZR 1000.
Katie and the #72 started far outside of eight other women and came out of turn one in 5th place. After a few turns and one huge step up, she quickly jumped to second. The power steering continued to go out forcing Katie to shut off the #72 RZR. This caused her to move between 2nd and 4th place multiple times. Ultimately, the #72 was rear-ended and with the exhaust now hanging off the #72 was forced to pull into the pits.
"I’m bummed I didn’t have any luck in the race so I went back to the starting line to race the Pros SxS class next. I barely had time to gas up but I was eager to get back out on the track and give it another try." Katie recalled.
Off the starting line in the pro class Katie came into turn one in 2nd place giving her the lead in her row. Unfortunately, a few short miles later an a-arm broke half way through the first lap in the Pro SXS class. Katie continued, "I tried to make it back to the pits but I was farther than I thought which ended my day. I want to thank Todd from Absolute Motorsports for helping me back to camp! It was my first time driving the new build so I’m happy with the overall outcome of how the RZR handled. This is not the way I wanted to start the season, but I know exactly what I need to do to win round 2."
Katie Vernola and the #72 finished the day with a 9th place finish in Womens SxS and a DNF in the Pro SxS class.