Mateo Oliveira Clinches West Hare
Scrambles Title
L
ynwood Motoplex Kawasaki's
Ricky Russell recovered from a
big crash to pass Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna's Mateo Oliveira late in
the race to win the National Hare
& Hound Association's (NHHA)
Great Escape Hare Scramble
in Bellingham, Washington. But
Oliveira's runner-up finish was all
he needed to successfully defend
his number one plate in the AMA
West Hare Scrambles (WHS)
Regional Championship Series,
presented by FMF, at round six of
the seven-round series.
Giant-killer Layton Smail ran
his Pro 250-win streak to six out
of six this season and claimed
third overall on adjusted time,
coming from the second row
once again aboard his Canyon
Excavation/Let's Ride Kawasaki
KX250. Unofficially, he locks up
the class championship as well.
Having never won at
Hannegan Speedway's extremely
tight woods, Oliveira had extra in
-
centive to take the lead from the
start of the two-and-a-half-hour
race, held in ideal conditions
after Friday's rain.
"I had to beat Layton and Zane
[Roberts to wrap it up] regard
-
less, so it didn't really change [my
usual plan to go out and win]," he
said. "I wanted to show I can race
in the woods; I can hang. I hung
those first four laps, so that was
cool, but back-to-back champion
is cool, so I'm stoked!"
But being a local with plenty
of experience at Hannegan was
the edge that Russell counted on
despite a big crash in the woods
on his Americool/TBT Racing/
FXR-sponsored KX450.
"I think it was the third lap [of
the approximately eight-mile
course], I was right behind Mateo,
and there was a section where we
double-doubled these pretty big
WIND
IN THE
P48
Ricky Russell
made it two in a
row with his Great
Escape Hare
Scramble win
in Washington.
PHOTOS:
MARK KARIYA
