get around Oliveira less than an
hour in, and he sprinted to put
his Fiji Waters/FMF/FXR 480
RR nine seconds ahead of the
champ—the biggest gap of the
race between them.
"I got off to an okay start and
put my head down and started
making some moves," DeMar
-
tile said. "I didn't know where
Dante was until he ended up
getting around me. When he got
around me, we got around Justin
quickly, and then it was just the
me-and-Dante show. Basically,
we were running as hard as we
could and really pushing the limit
the last two laps. Unfortunately,
on the second-to-last lap, I made
a little mistake, and he got a little
gap on me, and in the final lap,
the lappers didn't really go my
way."
DeMartile thus ended up five
seconds behind at the check
-
ered flag.
"I had a little arm pump in
the beginning laps, and it was
hard," Enzo Racing/FMF/Fast
-
house YZ450FX-mounted Hoeft
said after finishing 21 seconds
behind DeMartile. "This was one
of the gnarlier tracks I've done
in off-road, and being so rutty—I
was fighting bike setup—I had
too soft of a setting, but it was
good overall. I'm super-happy to
be on the podium [again]. Dare
and Dante were on the gas!"
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna
Factory Off-Road Racing Team's
Austin Walton was just three
seconds off the podium (and
had the welts to prove it!), while
SLR Honda teammates Martinez
and Tyler Lynn took fifth and
sixth.
Purvines Racing/Simi Val
-
ley Cycles Yamaha rider Trevor
Stewart overcame a "near-death"
moment to claim seventh, fol
-
lowed by Mateo Oliveira and
Pro II winner Mason Semmens.
Proving his 12th overall finish
at round one in Delano was no
fluke, the Australian native and
new FMF/KTM RPM Racing
Team recruit, Semmens, said,
"I pumped up a little bit in the
first laps and was just trying to
read the track and made a few
mistakes. Once we got to the
gas stop, I put my head down,
VOLUME ISSUE FEBRUARY , P39
In Pro II, Mason Semmens (118) proved
his win at round one was no fluke, while
teammate J.P. Alvarez (192) parlayed
this great start to a second-place finish.
Colton Aeck claimed third.
