and fortunately for me but unfor-
tunately for my teammate Jake
[Alvarez], he had a little bit of a
crash, and that gave me a little
bit of a breather."
Semmens and his Trail Jest-
ers/Dunlop/Moose Racing 250
XC-F ended up with a 26-second
cushion over Motorex/Motion
Pro/Sidi 250 XC-F-mounted
Alvarez. Hatch Racing/Hoosier
Tire/O'Neal KX250 rider Colton
Aeck rounded out the Pro II po
-
dium and was 11th overall.
Though 3Bros./Hatch Racing
GasGas-mounted Ava Silvestri
got a rare holeshot, SLR Honda's
Mikayla Nielsen repeated her
round-one victory with a 20-second
cushion over Silvestri at the finish.
"Taft is always one of my
favorites. I really flow on it—at
least, I think so!" Nielsen said.
"I felt good the whole race, but
my body was hurting from how
gnarly this track was! I rode
smoothly the whole time and
tried to push towards the [Pro II]
boys, just to set a goal to keep
my pace going."
That, of course, gives Nielsen
and her Monster Energy/Skech
-
ers/Lava Propane CRF250RX a
perfect 1-1 in this young season
while Silvestri's record is 2-2.
Let's Ride KTM-mounted desert
racer Ashley Gage earned her
first podium with her third-place
effort.
Mark Kariya
OVERALL
1. Dante Oliveira (KTM)
2. Dare Demartile (Bet)
3. Justin Hoeft (Yam)
4. Austin Walton (Hus)
5. Cole Martinez (Hon)
6. Tyler Lynn (Hon)
7. Trevor Stewart (Yam)
8. Mateo Oliveira (KTM)
9. Mason Semmens (KTM)
10. JP Alvarez (KTM)
WIND
IN THE
P40
Mikayla Nielsen repeated her
Delano triumph over Ava Silvestri
with Ashley Gage third (her first
NGPC podium).
