Oliveiras Top Havasu NGPC
C
halk up another one for
Dante Oliveira—and for Ma-
teo Oliveira, as well.
After taking somewhat of a
battering at round four, both
bounced back to win their re-
spective classes (with Dante tak-
ing the overall and Mateo the Pro
II contest) at the Vikings Motor-
cycle Club's Jim Geddes Memo-
rial Grand Prix, round five of the
FMF AMA National Grand Prix
Championship (NGPC) Series.
(Coincidentally, the Oliveiras got
the same results at the NGPC
finale here last year.)
Round-four winner Cole
Martinez hounded the eventual
victor, but the Slam Life Racing
(SLR) Honda racer had to settle
for second with Rockstar En-
ergy Husqvarna Factory Racing
Off-Road Team's Austin Walton
taking third.
"I was definitely looking for
revenge," reigning series champ
Dante (FMF KTM Factory Off-
road Racing Team) said. "I
wanted to win at [the previous
round at] 29 Palms, but I had a
big get-off.
"But I came out with the hole-
shot today, put my head down
and just rode smooth—outside
to inside. The track was rough,
it was hot, but my [Red Bull/
Motorex/Thor-backed 450 XC-F]
worked awesome. You can't go
too hard out here because the
heat is so gnarly and the wind's
drying you out [the whole time]."
The Vikings changed things up
a bit and modified the "normal"
course, with the start a longer
shot into a downhill left, plus
running the lagoon jump section
backwards with a shorter leap
used only for the Pro and AA
races. Purvines Racing Yamaha's
Justin Seeds actually helped
with both the layout and actual
IN
THE
WIND
P48
Dante Oliveira (1) got the
holeshot and went on to claim
his third triumph of the season.
Here, he's pursued by Giacomo
Redondi (81), third-place
finisher Austin Walton (50),
Trevor Stewart (75) and runner-
up Cole Martinez (34).
PHOTO: MARK KARIYA
