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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1539926
Roberts Keeps Title Hope Alive L iqui Moly Beta's Zane Roberts kept his title hope alive by holding off points leader Dante Oliveira to win the Desert Racer Classic hosted by the National Hare & Hound Association (NHHA) with assistance from the Lost Coyotes Motorcycle Club. It marked round eight of nine in the AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series, presented by FMF, and came a week after round seven. Pro Vet 35+ winner David Kamo claimed third overall. Down 14 points going into the weekend, defending series champ Roberts knew winning the final two rounds was impera - tive if he wanted to hang onto that number-one plate, and it went according to plan. "It definitely was [a do-or-die situation today]," he said. "I try not to get too emotionally in- vested in it; it's just racing at the end of the day." A great start aboard his Bridgestone/FMF/Klim 480 RR saw him lead from the bomb with FMF KTM Factory Off-Road Racing Team's Oliveira tucked behind him on his Red Bull/Dun- lop/Alpinestars 450 XC-F. That set the tone for the day, with Roberts successfully repelling numerous attacks over the two loops of 38 and 28 miles. "I had a pretty good holeshot there," Roberts said. "It seems like all the races you don't holeshot are the dustiest things ever, and the ones you holeshot aren't that dusty. It wasn't hor- ribly dusty [today] so Dante was able to keep it close through that whole first loop!" "Overall, it was a pretty good track to battle and have a good race [with others]," Oliveira said. "We were five to 10 seconds apart the whole race, so that shows you could go battle it." And that battle got heated on the more technical second loop, with Oliveira finally getting around Roberts, who'd missed a WIND IN THE P32 Defending series champ Zane Roberts got the holeshot and rebuffed several attacks from current series points leader Dante Oliveira, who had to settle for second place at the Desert Racer Classic. PHOTOS: MARK KARIYA