Oliveira Wins Wild West Grand Prix
E
very year, the small desert
town of Twentynine Palms,
California, sees an influx of rac-
ing enthusiasts fill the air with
a thunderous roar from the 29
Palms Motorsports Complex,
just a few miles outside of the
city. Hosted by the Hilltoppers
MC for the 49th time, the April
1-2 Wild West Grand Prix made
up round five of the AMA Na-
tional Grand Prix Championship,
presented by FMF.
In years past, three-time and
defending champion Dante
Oliveira has had a tough time
claiming the top spot at what is
known as arguably the fastest
grand prix out West. However, a
clutch start and an impressive
first lap saw Oliveira walk away
with the round five win, though
not without its challenges.
As the clock struck 12:45pm,
the Open Pro line roared to life
with Chaparral Motorsports/
Precision Concepts Kawasaki's
Zach Bell firing first with Oliveira
and the rest of the Pro class in a
mad dash behind. It didn't take
long for FMF KTM Factory Rac
-
ing's Dante Oliveira to take his
shot, passing Bell just a few min-
utes into the 90+ minute race.
With Oliveira up front, chaos
ensued behind as the contend-
ers scrapped for position on the
high-speed course littered with
dust, rocks and endless chop.
Unique for this race, the
Hilltoppers implemented a "Pro
section" that featured Dakar/
Baja like course markings, with
the only stipulations being you
must hit all five checkpoints—
all ground in between was fair
game for the racers to have their
frenzy. As the race evolved, this
played a huge part in the running
order and saw significant time
gains and losses throughout the
entire duration.
"Just past the hour mark is
when I caught on to the faster
WIND
IN THE
P44
Holeshot artist Zach Bell led
the 450's into turn one.
PHOTOS: TREVOR HUNTER
