VOLUME 57 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 19, 2020 P71
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY HARLEN FOLEY
I
t came down to a two-rider shootout
between the youngster Dante Oliveira
and veteran champion Taylor Robert at
the opening round of the Rocky Mountain
ATV-MC WORCS Sprint Enduro Cham-
pionship at Honolulu Hills Raceway. And
it was a surprise finish with Oliveira out
dueling the multi-time off-road champion,
Robert, when the smoke had cleared.
The race also served as the first of
three rounds of the 2020 AMA ISDE
Qualifier Series in the Western Region.
Twelve tests in all—six enduro tests and
six moto tests—were on the day's agenda,
and it ended up being a back-and-forth
slugfest tween Oliveira and Robert. It
soon became apparent that Robert had
the upper hand in the Enduro tests and
Oliveira in the Moto tests.
In the Enduro tests, Robert topped
Oliveira in five of the six tests, where the
FMF KTM Team rider would pull 16 sec-
onds on the RPM KTM Team rider.
But it was in the Moto tests that
Oliveira shined, and he kept pace with
the defending WORCS Sprint Champion.
Oliveira had the fastest speed in all six
moto tests, though Robert wasn't far off
the pace, finishing no worse than three
seconds behind Oliveira in five of the six
tests. Unfortunately for Robert, it was
that one test, the third Moto test, that
would be his undoing. He gave up a full
10 seconds on Oliveira, which ultimately
DANTE OLIVEIRA OUT-DUELS TAYLOR ROBERT IN
WORCS SPRINT ENDURO SHOOTOUT
OLIVEIRA
DRAWS FIRST
