A Hat Trick for Oliveira
G
o fast—carefully.
That seemed to be the key
to doing well at Outlaw Racing's
Desperado Hare Scrambles with
its rocky, dusty conditions—quite
unlike last year—making it even
trickier to stay upright.
After nearly three hours, FMF
KTM Factory Racing Off-road
Team's Dante Oliveira dem
-
onstrated the best ability to
combine speed and relative
caution to make it three in a row
at round three of the AMA West
Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional
Championship Series, presented
by MojoMotoSport. But a mere
six seconds behind the defend
-
ing series champ was 2022 title
winner Giacomo Redondi—de-
spite riding much of the last half
of the race stuck in third gear
after hitting a lapper's downed
bike—while Liqui Moly Beta's
Zane Roberts rounded out the
podium.
The Pro 250 contest saw Sher
-
co-supported Layton Smail revel
in the conditions to retake the
class points lead over runner-
up Jaden Dahners, with Ryder
Thomaselli third once again.
Eric Stevenson made it two in
a row in Pro Vet 35+ over Chase
Rosenquist, with defending
class champ James McMurray's
third keeping him atop the class
points.
And in Pro Women, GasGas
support rider Ava Silvestri kept
her win streak intact like Oliveira,
even after a nasty tumble forced
her to take a few moments to
gather herself, with early leader
Rachel Stout second and Tarah
Gieger coming out of retirement
(and, temporarily, due to mom
duties) for third.
"It's a demanding track with
how rocky it is and choppy it
is. You can't really relax ever,"
Oliveira explained. The Red Bull/
Motorex/Alpinestars-sponsored
350 XC-F rider continued, "I got
the holeshot and I thought with
the dust it was really going to
hold [Redondi] back a little bit
WIND
IN THE
P44
Dante Oliveira won for the
third consecutive time
in the AMA West Hare
Scrambles Championship.
PHOTOS: MARK KARIYA