Oliveira Wraps Up WHS Title
W
ith a 25-point lead go-
ing into the finale, FMF
KTM Factory Off-road Racing
Team's Dante Oliveira basically
needed only to finish the NorCal
Motorcycle Club's 70th Annual
Wilseyville/Bob Noble Memorial
Hare Scrambles.
But coming off his fourth-
straight FMF AMA National
Grand Prix Championship
(NGPC) Series title as well as
winning the FIM World Trophy
at the International Six Days
Enduro (ISDE) the week before in
Argentina, he let that momentum
carry him to his sixth triumph
of the season, easily locking up
his first title in the AMA West
Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional
Championship Series, Presented
by MojoMotoSport.
Other Pro classes saw Tyler
Vore wrap up the Pro 250 title af
-
ter getting second behind Dallas
Chidester (DC) Racing Sherco's
Layton Smail, 3 Bros./Hatch
Racing GasGas rider Ava Silvestri
successfully defended her Pro
Women number-one plate with
second on the day behind new
LiquiMoly Beta signee Britney
Gallegos and James McMurray
taking Pro Vet 35+.
"It was just nice to be back
[racing near home]; Wilseyville's
a fun one in [AMA District 36],"
Oliveira said. "I grew up racing it,
so it's always cool to come back
and do these events.
"I didn't get the best of starts,
but I made some moves real
quick and got into the lead on
the first lap, like halfway through,
so I was stoked with that. I put a
charge down and got a little gap."
But lapped traffic allowed Liqui
-
Moly Beta's Zane Roberts to close
in and even briefly take the lead.
"He kind of caught me unex-
pectedly. He's over there, 'I hate
the woods! I hate the woods!"
Oliveira laughed. "At the other
rounds, he wasn't as aggressive,
and he was charging here, so
that was cool that he was over
there giving me a run for my
WIND
IN THE
P36
Dante Oliveira capped off
a great year by securing
the AMA West Hare
Scrambles Championship.
PHOTOS: MARK KARIYA
