Mark Kariya | November 21, 2023
With a 25-point lead going into the finale, FMF KTM Factory Off-Road Racing Team’s Dante Oliveira basically needed only to finish the NorCal Motorcycle Club’s 70th annual Wilseyville/Bob Noble Memorial Hare Scrambles.
Photos by Mark Kariya
But coming off his fourth-straight FMF AMA National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) Series title as well as winning the FIM World Trophy at the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) the week before in Argentina, he let that momentum carry him to his sixth triumph of the season, easily locking up his first title in the AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional Championship Series, Presented by MojoMotoSport.
Other Pro classes saw Tyler Vore wrap up the Pro 250 title after getting second behind Dallas Chidester (DC) Racing Sherco’s Layton Smail, 3 Bros./Hatch Racing GasGas rider Ava Silvestri successfully defended her Pro Women number-one plate with second on the day behind new LiquiMoly Beta signee Britney Gallegos and James McMurray taking Pro Vet 35+.
“It was just nice to be back [racing near home]; Wilseyville’s a fun one in [AMA District 36],” Oliveira said. “I grew up racing it, so it’s always cool to come back and do these events.
“I didn’t get the best of starts, but I made some moves real quick and got into the lead on the first lap, like halfway through, so I was stoked with that. I put a charge down and got a little gap.”
But lapped traffic allowed LiquiMoly Beta’s Zane Roberts to close in and even briefly take the lead.
“He kind of caught me unexpectedly. He’s over there, ‘I hate the woods! I hate the woods!” Oliveira laughed. “At the other rounds, he wasn’t as aggressive, and he was charging here, so that was cool that he was over there giving me a run for my money. It was fun to battle with him.”
Roberts explained that some suspension clicker changes, as well as slightly lower gearing on his FMF/Pirelli/Klim 480 RR, made a big difference in comfort, which translated into his newfound woods pace.
“At [the previous round], I realized I have enough speed,” Roberts said. “I just needed to relax while I was up there, so I was just trying to sit on Dante and relax, got into the lead after the pit, led for a lap, tucked the front on some icy stuff, kind of got close back onto his wheel then just lost her there on the last lap and had a crash, but overall, a good race.”
After Roberts went down, Oliveira pulled away to win in two hours, 41 minutes and 36 seconds, 1:10 quicker than Roberts.
Smail didn’t get the best of starts and found himself with quite a bit of ground to make up on Vore, but he and his Precision Concepts/Kenda/FXR Sherco 250 SEF charged to erase the gap and take not only the Pro 250 victory but claim third overall on time with his 2:46:49. It was his second win of the season, his first being the opener.
Defending WHS champ Giacomo Redondi faced long odds with keeping his number-one plate; the task made doubly difficult for the 3 Bros./Hatch Racing GasGas rider knowing that his friend Kade Tinkler-Walker was in the hospital following a bad crash in the Baja 1000 a few days before. Distracted and distraught, he ended the day third Pro/AA and fourth overall aboard his FMF/Acerbis/Seven-backed EX 450F. That sewed up second in points behind Oliveira, 201-169.
Vore and his JMC Motorsports/Enduro Engineering/Fasthouse GasGas EC 250 slipped back from his good start to third in class at one point: “Layton was in first, and Jaden [Dahners] was between us, which would’ve given Layton the championship. So, I said, ‘I’ve got to do something here!’ I got a second wind the last two laps and made the pass I needed.”
Second Pro 250 and fifth overall put Vore at 170 final points, a scant three more than Smail. Dahners slid in for third in class and sixth overall for third in points at 151 on his AmeriCool/TBT Racing/Arai YZ250FX.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Austin Walton, Fasthouse GasGas-mounted J.T. Baker, Carson City Motorsports Husqvarna’s Ryder Thomaselli (making his Pro 250 debut) and DC Racing Sherco rider Mason Ottersberg (on a 450 SEF in Pro/AA) rounded out the top 10.
Eric Thompson took his KTM to the Pro Vet 35+ win over Red Bull’s Daron Rahlves, with Devin Watson credited with third on his M9 Husqvarna. KTM-mounted James McMurray had an off day at sixth, but that was enough to clinch the class championship by two points over Watson, 143-141.
In Pro Women, Britney Gallegos made her season debut and—in perhaps a preview of next year—led Ava Silvestri to the checkered flag by just three seconds. However, that was sufficient for FMF/Dunlop/Troy Lee Designs EX 250F-mounted Silvestri to make it two straight WHS championships, her nearest competition being 3 Bros./Alpinestars KTM’s Mikayla Nielsen, who was just over three minutes behind in third. The final points saw Silvestri over Nielsen, 191-172.
“Especially after coming home from ISDE [earlier in the week], I feel like I had to climb some mountains to get here, so I’m stoked about [the championship]. It feels pretty good to go two in a row, back-to-back,” Silvestri said.
OVERALL
- Dante Oliveira (KTM)
- Zane Roberts (Bet)
- Layton Smail (She)
- Giacomo Redondi (GG)
- Tyler Vore (GG)
- Jaden Dahners (Yam)
- Austin Walton (Hus)
- JT Baker (GG)
- Ryder Thomaselli (Hus)
- Mason Ottersberg (She)