| October 18, 2022
The Oliveira brothers, Dante and Mateo, won their respective 450cc and 250cc Pro classes at the Mesquite, Nevada, round of the Rocky Mountain ATV-MC WORCS Championship, October 15-16. And with those wins came championships, with Dante clinching the 450cc title and Mateo the 250cc title. They also did it a round early so they can both enjoy a stress-free race at the series finale in a few weeks in Primm, Nevada.
Story by Connor Moore | Photos by Harlen Foley
Motocrosser Chance Hymas got the Pro 450 race started with the holeshot, but Justin Hoeft had the lead after the first lap with Oliveira right behind him.
Oliveira soon had control of the race, while Austin Walton (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) forged to the front, as well.
Walton gave Oliveira a race for the win. The Husqvarna rider closed right up on Oliveira’s KTM and kept it there the whole way. The two were never separated by more than about 10 seconds. On the last lap, however, Walton made the first mistake and dropped his bike. He recovered quickly but it was enough to let Oliveira get away and take the win by just 19 seconds.
“I got off to a mediocre start and I was running about third on the first lap, and then the leader tucked the front end, so I snuck into second,” Oliveira said of his race. “I kind of pulled a sly one right up into the road section on lap three, getting into the lead, and it was me and Austin kind of freight-training the rest of the race, just going at it. I’d get a little distance on him in the sand, and he’d catch me once we’d get to the moto track.
“All-in-all, it was a good day for me,” Walton said. “I got off to a pretty decent start and charged really hard to get behind Dante. We charged the whole race, and I was kind of just yo-yoing right behind him. He’d get me in the back, and I’d kind of catch him up in the front. I was feeling good and felt like I fell into a comfortable groove. I sort of pushed a little bit harder and made a couple mistakes in the back section. It’s one of those tracks where you can make some major mistakes and make yourself really tired to get to the end. We had a little mistake and ended up taking a little digger, but that’s just racing.”
Beta’s Dare Demartile took control of third place by lap four and he held the spot for the remainder of the race, finishing approximately three minutes behind the two riders ahead of him.
Tyler Lynn (Kawasaki) and Tallon LaFountaine (Honda) rounded out the top five.
Hoeft ended up seventh and Hymas dropped out at the halfway point.
It was much the same for little brother Mateo. In the 250cc Pro race, Mateo Oliveira took the lead on lap three and steadily pulled away from Honda rider Jack Simpson for the win. Oliveira took the checkers approximately 30 seconds ahead of Simpson. And Kai Aiello (Husqvarna), who started nearly dead last, worked his way up to third, with Colton Aeck (KTM) taking fourth and Noah Viney (Honda) fifth.
“Awesome day and awesome year in WORCS,” Oliveira said. “Today, it was hot, rough and sandy, but I was able to get a mediocre start and then move into the lead fairly quick. Then, I just kind of paced with the second-place rider, Jack, for the whole race. He was riding good. I’m stoked. It was a good year, and I finally got the championship.”
KTM had a good weekend with Jace Allred leading all laps en route to winning the ProAm race just ahead of Women’s Pro winner, KTM Brandy Richards, who has yet to finish no less than first all year.
Yamaha-mounted Jason Fichera was third overall in ProAm in his first try.
450 PRO
- Dante Oliveira (KTM)
- Austin Walton (Hus)
- Dare Demartile (Bet)
- Tyler Lynn (Kaw)
- Tallon LaFountaine (Hon)
250 PRO
- Mateo Oliveira (KTM)
- Jack Simpson (Hon)
- Kai Aiello (Hus)
- Colton Aeck (KTM)
- Noah Viney (Hon)