Martinez Wins In Primm
J
ust when things were getting
predictable, the unpredictable
happened at the Sunland Sham-
rocks Motorcycle Club's Buffalo
Bill's Grand Prix, round six of the
FMF AMA National Grand Prix
Championship (NGPC) Series.
For starters, three-time and
defending series champ Dante
Oliveira failed to earn a spot on
the podium—the first time that's
happened since round seven
last year. And it wasn't like he
was out of contention. As has
been common for the past few
years, he was up there with the
lead pack and finally went to
the front about 40 minutes into
the 90-minute, $8000 feature
race with temperatures hovering
around 100 degrees.
However, the FMF KTM
Factory Off-road Racing Team
overestimated fuel consumption,
and he ran out about a mile or
so before the pit area. (The only
saving grace was that most of
his push back to the pits was on
a slightly downhill paved road.)
Ironically, he was only a few
steps behind Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-
Road Team's Dalton Shirey who
suffered the same fate shortly
after moving into third place
behind Oliveira and Purvines
Racing Yamaha rider Justin
Hoeft. (Adding to their woes,
FMF KTM's Mateo Oliveira and
Rockstar Husky's Austin Walton
reportedly also ran dry in the
same general time frame with
speculation centering around
recently modified mapping.
Somewhat curiously, though, no
one on GasGas 450s reported
running dry.)
That shakeup put Hoeft in
front—not an unusual spot for
him and his Berkeley Yamaha/
FMF/Fasthouse-sponsored
YZ450F, though this time he led
most of the last half of the race.
But just when it appeared he
WIND
IN THE
P42
The new start area saw
Zach Bell (100) grab
the holeshot. He'd lead
the first two laps.
PHOTOS: MARK KARIYA
