Beta's Dare DeMartile and the
others in tow.
Hoeft demonstrated his Super-
cross-honed speed by stay-
ing out front for about an hour
aboard his 3 Bros./FMF/Fast
House-backed FC 450, though
former SX teammate Martinez
lurked just a few seconds behind
for the first half hour.
Unfortunately for Hoeft,
he surrendered ground after
the hour mark and eventually
claimed fourth.
"I'm not scared right now!"
Oliveira declared. "I'm feeling
good on the bike, we're charging
hard and definitely this last week,
two weeks, I felt like I'm back.
"I was pretty disappointed
there for a while, so to get this
win makes the weeks a lot better.
The vibes are way different."
He continued, "I had to pick
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 15, 2022 P45
smart lines; it was dusty in certain spots and then
it was good conditions [in other spots]—those
spots were pretty spread out—so we were able to
charge up to each other after we got through the
dust. It was a lot of yo-yoing at first and I felt like I
had the speed down because they would gap me
in the dust and when we got into good dirt I would
reel them both back in so I felt pretty confident out
there and just had to wait for the right time."
Less than 45 minutes in, Oliveira and his Red
Bull/Motorex/Thor 450 XC-F had moved into third
behind Hoeft and Walton. About 20 minutes after
that, in one lap Oliveira took over and held it to the
finish, beating Walton to the checkered flag by five
(Right) Brandy
Richards put
on another
overwhelming
performance
to take the Pro
Women division
over Ava Silvestri
and Lauren
Woods. (Below)
Mateo Oliveira
again set the pace
in Pro II, notching
his second-
straight win over
Jack Simpson
with Justin Seeds
taking third in
his first visit to
the podium since
moving to the
class.
