ing him get that, I was so stoked!
I guess I just tried to keep it on
two wheels today and ride my
own laps and put my head down.
I got the holeshot and led every
lap. Dante was breathing down
my neck the whole time!"
Semmens and his Dunlop/Mo
-
torex/Moose Racing-backed 450
XC-F had just
under 12 seconds
on Oliveira at the finish.
Despite breaking his left hand
during the summer break while
being part of a squad perform
-
ing durability testing of the latest
works KTM 450
Rally bikes in
Morocco, Oliveira refused to
offer that as an excuse. The
Red Bull/Acerbis/Alpinestars
450 XC-F rider admitted losing
ground to Semmens in the first
half of the lap on the moto
-
cross track, then reeling him in
throughout
the more off-road
last half.
"I was maybe a little too
patient," Oliveira said. He rode
well. I'm definitely pissed about
this one—there's a fire lit [in me],
that's for sure! We want [another
win] more than ever."
Oliveira still leads in points;
unofficially, he has 205, while
Liqui Moly Beta's Dare DeMar
-
tile—third on the day—sits
second
in points at 151. With his
win, Semmens moves up to third
with 145, unofficially.
DeMartile had tough duty after
a mediocre first lap aboard his
FMF/Bridgestone/Moose Racing
450 RX that wore the blue-and-
yellow number one plate for
WORCS and had to fight through
quite a bit of dust to finally steal
third place from Pro Circuit
Kawasaki Off-road Team's Justin
Hoeft on the final lap.
"I struggled a little bit the first
lap and was pretty far back and
had to put my head down and
pass a lot of guys!" he declared.
"I got around a lot of guys and
finished strong, and that was all
I could do. I'm really upset about
my start and my first couple laps
of the race. I really wanted to be
battling with Mason and Dante;
I think my speed is definitely
there; I just need to start there.
With how tight the [cornfield sec
-
tions are], the start was probably
40
percent of the race."
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 1, 2026 P49
Sam Pretscherer (87) got
a pretty good start but
couldn't find a way around
Idaho's Evan Stice for
nearly half the race. Once
in front, he stayed there
for the 250cc Pro win.
