Quickest off the start, the de-
fending champ set the pace but
couldn't shake Liqui Moly Beta's
Roberts, a multi-time winner
here, including last year. In fact,
at one point during the early
laps, Roberts got a wheel ahead
of Oliveira.
"Laps two and three, we were
going at it," Roberts said. "He was
all over me! He actually made the
pass but then got kind of squir
-
relly, and we came together, and
he went down. From there, I just
logged some solid laps. I got a
good gap at one point. Then the
last two miles of the last lap, he
came out of nowhere and put on
a good charge."
Indeed, he did, and after nearly
three hours of hard racing, Rob
-
erts was officially one second
behind Oliveira at the finish!
"Pretty much once or twice a
lap, I'd get to him in less-dusty
spots and try to get around him,
but I'd come in and get dusted
out, so that was kind of yo-yoing
it, but I was trying to get around
him as soon as possible," the
Bridgestone/ Acerbis/ Moose
Racing 480 RR rider said.
After their clash, which Rob
-
erts acknowledged as no one's
fault and just a racing incident,
Roberts took another minor spill
that took longer to get his flow
back and afforded Oliveira a
substantial lead.
"It took me until the last lap to
really full-send it again," Roberts
said. "I got close and gave it
everything I could."
Though officially one second
apart at the scoring-chute tran
-
sponder, Roberts was almost
rubbing Oliveira's rear tire. Both
were the only ones to complete
ROUND 3 / MARCH 14-15, 2026
FORT SAGE OHVA / DOYLE, CALIFORNIA
OFF-ROAD I AMA WEST HARE SCRAMBLES CHAMPIONSHIP
P48
Despite a bad jump off
the line, Layton Smail
threaded his way through
the Pro 250 pack and
extended his season win
streak to three.
