and a first lap that left him playing
catch up and ultimately hurt his
chances at really contending for
the win.
Despite a hard-fought effort,
SLR Honda's Cole Martinez
couldn't quite match his round-
four winning speed, settling for
fourth and giving up the champi-
onship lead to Oliveira by a mere
five points. Although he lost the
war, Martinez is thinking of the
big picture and looking at this
year's championship, as well as
the sport of off-road as a whole.
"The pace today was crazy,"
Martinez said. "Walton was rip-
ping today; he had a great ride
and that's good to see for him
and for the sport as a whole.
I hate to lose to Dante, but it's
great knowing there's multiple
riders and manufacturers repre-
sented on the podium at every
race and looking at the big
picture, we're still right there in
points for the championship at
the halfway point of the series."
The Pro2 field hasn't seen
much variance on the podium
this season, and that held true
here in Primm. For the fifth time
this season, FMF/RPM KTM's
Mateo Oliveira topped the results
sheet, though he didn't make it
easy on himself. Halfway through
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 17 APRIL 26, 2022 P49
The younger Oliveira
brother, Mateo, put on
another clinic in the Pro2
class, overcoming a first-
lap crash to handily take
the win and continue his
undefeated streak.
After a podium dry
spell, Austin Walton
worked his way
through the dust to
finish second overall
just behind Oliviera.
