Oliveira Tops AMA West Hare
Scrambles Opener
A
fter a couple laps to check
out lines and confirm the
pace of defending champion and
early leader Giacomo Redondi
of the 3 Bros./Hatch Racing
GasGas team, FMF KTM Factory
Racing Off-Road Racing Team's
Dante Oliveira made his move
for the lead and went on to win
the Lassen Motorcycle Club's
Diamondback Hare Scramble,
round one of the AMA West
Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional
Championship Series, presented
by Mojo MotoSport, March 12.
LiquiMoly Beta rider Zane Rob
-
erts, the local favorite and winner
of the inaugural running of this
race two years ago, rebounded
from a first-turn incident and
marched quickly from last to
ultimately finish third.
Oliveira snagged the hole-
shot at the dead-engine start
aboard his Red Bull/Motorex/
Thor-backed 450 XC-F ahead of
Redondi, LiquiMoly Beta's Joe
Wasson and the rest of the Open
Pro line. But before completing
that first tour of the nine-mile
loop at the Ft. Sage Off-Highway
Vehicle (OHV) Area, Redondi and
his FMF/ Acerbis/ Seven-backed
MC 450F slipped past.
Oliveira didn't panic, knowing
that the race would be at least
two and a half hours long, with
rain, mud and snow increasing
the chances of time-consuming
mistakes. It was a different strat
-
egy than the previous weekend's
90-minute FMF AMA National
Grand Prix Championship
(NGPC) Series where, he said,
"Grand Prix are full send, start to
the end; you don't lift, so that's a
little different."
He continued, "I have speed on
my side so I know at any point I
can send it [in hare scrambles]
and really put on a charge so I
WIND
IN THE
P60
Dante Oliveira (356) spent most of
the race up front, including when it
counted. Defending champ Giacomo
Redondi (1) led early and finished
second, while Zane Roberts (851) took
third and Joe Wasson (45) fourth.
