Mark Kariya | December 14, 2020
The 2020 FMF AMA National Grand Prix Championship Series drew to a close over the December 12-13 weekend, where round nine took place at the Crazy Horse Campground in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. In the end, Dante Oliveria, Tallon LaFountaine and Brandy Richards capped off the last national off-road race on the 2020 calendar by hoisting the NGPC Series number-one plates in their respective classes at the series finale hosted by the Vikings Motorcycle Club.
For FMF/Maxxis/RPM Racing KTM rider Oliveira, the final round was more a formality as he’d clinched the title two weeks ago at round eight. But he closed the season in style, taking the lead from the start aboard his AEO Powersports/Motion Pro/Klim 450 XC-F and successfully keeping the pack at bay as he sped to his fourth win of the season with a grand total of 209 points.
Slam Life Racing (SLR) Honda’s Cole Martinez bounced back from a first-turn fall that left him dead last. He slashed his way back through the pack to claim second with teammate and two-time series champ Trevor Stewart third.
“I just went out there and did what I do,” Oliveira said. “I love to win so I just got out front and then just rode a consistent race. Once I felt the pressure come on [behind me], I’d turn it up a little bit.
“I’ve been waiting for this [championship]. I’m so excited; I can’t thank the whole KTM team enough and I’m ready to go [again]—I’m just getting started. It’s all I’ve ever dreamed of, winning off-road races.”
After working his way up to second place nearly an hour into the 90-minute $8000 feature race, Monster Energy/Lava Propane/Fly Racing CRF450RX-mounted Martinez found himself unable to get close to the wary Oliveira.
“I started to chase Dante down but he saw me coming,” Martinez said. “I think once he saw me coming, he started sending it a little harder. We stayed the same distance apart for three or four laps. By that time, I think I was pretty gassed from coming from last.” (This was his first podium since round three, and it put him third in final points with 155.)
For Stewart, Havasu marked his final race of the season with the number-one plate adorning his Pro Circuit/Skechers/Fasthouse-backed CRF450RX. Second off the start, he kept Oliveira in sight for the first half hour before yielding to Jet World Husqvarna-mounted Justin Hoeft and then Martinez. About an hour and five minutes in, though, Stewart repassed Hoeft and held third for the rest of the race. He ended up second in final points with 161.
“This year, it just didn’t really pan out for me,” Stewart said. “Honestly, I was just very happy and fortunate to even be able to race this year.”
Hoeft held on to finish fourth followed by 3 Bros./SRT Husqvarna’s Dalton Shirey, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Giacomo Redondi, FMF/Maxxis/RPM Racing KTM’s Mateo Oliveria (the Pro II winner), Four-Stroke Expert winner Chance Hymas, LaFountaine and 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing KTM’s Colton Aeck, third in Pro II.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Thad Duvall stayed in California an extra week and fit in the GP before jetting back home. The Havasu GP winner in his only previous appearance (in 2017) ran fifth in the early laps but DNFed with a mechanical issue about 40 minutes in.
“It was fun!” Duvall said. “People think GNCCs are rough, but this place was by far one of the roughest tracks I’ve ever raced.”
Round-eight winner Zach Bell decided to sit out the finale reportedly due to an infection in the collarbone he’d had surgery on.
SLR Honda’s LaFountaine came into the finale trailing Chaparral Motorsports/Precision Concepts Kawasaki rider JP Alvarez by seven points for the Pro II title, meaning he needed to beat the Team Green-backed rider by several positions if he wanted to steal the class championship. Despite a somewhat lackluster start, he managed to do just that, finishing second in class to Mateo Oliveira, and most important, besting Alvarez by the requisite number of positions, Alvarez taking fourth Pro II for the day.
“That’s all I was focusing on—just winning the race,” LaFountaine said. An issue with the clutch cable on his Pro Circuit/STI Tires/Alpinestars CRF250RX on the first lap made the race that much more difficult, but he figured out how to compensate about halfway through and took back lost ground.
Oliveira’s class victory left him in a tie with LaFountaine for first—both finishing the season with 183 points—so the tiebreaker was greater number of wins. In that department, LaFountaine bested Oliveira, 3-2, giving the Honda pilot his first Pro championship. Alvarez was a close third at 181 points.
Like Dante Oliveira, Brandy Richards had already clinched her class title, so her goal became going undefeated for the season. She accomplished that with room to spare, as the Elite Off-road KTM rider led from start to finish to go 9 and 0 for the season.
The 2021 series kicks off in just five weeks at a new venue in Delano, California.
2020 AMA National Grand Prix Championship
Final Round
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
RESULTS (December 12-13, 2020)
OVERALL PRO/EXPERT
1. |
Dante Oliveira |
(KTM) |
2. |
Cole Martinez |
(Hon) |
3. |
Trevor Stewart |
(Hon) |
4. |
Justin Hoeft |
(Hus) |
5. |
Dalton Shirey |
(Hus) |
6. |
Giacomo Redondi |
(Hus) |
7. |
Mateo Oliveira |
(KTM) |
8. |
Chance Hymas |
(Kaw) |
9. |
Tallon LaFountaine |
(Hon) |
10. |
Colton Aeck |
(KTM) |