Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1330864
IN THE WIND P34 Double Dose of Oliveira Hits Mesquite NGPC Opener T he Oliveira brothers could be their own powerhouse team based on the opening round of the FMF AMA National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) Series with Dante beginning the defense of his Pro-class title with a win and Mateo topping Pro II where he was class runner-up last year. Originally scheduled for a new venue in Delano, California, con- cerns about hospital capacity in that area dictated postponing the race just one week before and it appeared as though everyone would have to wait until next month for the season to start. Upon learning that, however, Grassroots Promotions offered its Mesquite MX Park (technically in Little Field, Arizona) and the NGPC team readily accepted. For those who couldn't or didn't want to make the drive, the race would pay only NGPC points and not count for AMA District 37 Big 6 GP points. Having been promoted to the FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team in the off-season, Dante Oliveira faced a stacked field once again but made things easier on himself by nailing the holeshot over 2017 series champ Zach Bell and they quickly estab- lished a small gap on the pack. "I was able to get a few sec- onds break and kind of just relax and just rode my own race, found my lines, stayed smooth and just kept my head up and kept trying to pick away laps," the Motorex/ Dunlop/Thor 450 XC-F rider said. For Chaparral Motorsports/ Precision Concepts Kawasaki's Bell, however, the first few laps were the only bright spot of his day. Still recovering from shoulder surgery in the brief off-season, he fell about 20 minutes into the 90-minute, $8000 feature race. While he managed to get back to fourth in short order aboard his Maxima/Pro Circuit/Moose Racing-backed KX450, he later collided with a lapped rider, forc- ing him to settle for fifth. Slam Life Racing (SLR) Hon- da's Cole Martinez picked up where he left off last year, getting a good start aboard his new Monster Energy/Lava Propane/ Fly Racing CRF450RX and ending up second, 41 seconds behind Oliveira. "I caught [up to] Dante a little bit at the end there, [but] the track just got so gnarly that I was like, 'You know, second's as good as a first at the first round,' and I kind of just settled in," Mar- tinez said. After dabbling in the series a few times over the past couple years, Justin Hoeft notched his first podium finish with a strong third overall aboard his Jet World Powersports/JGL/Fasthouse Husqvarna FC 450. The Pro II contest saw one of the largest fields in recent Now a member of the FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team, Dante Oliveira began his NGPC title defense with a solid triumph at Mesquite's uber- rough course.