Mark Kariya | April 8, 2024
FMF KTM Factory Off-Road Racing Team’s Dante Oliveira won his fourth-consecutive race at round four of the Parts Unlimited AMA National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) Series, presented by FMF, but both Slam Life Racing (SLR) Honda’s Cole Martinez (the eventual runner-up) and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-Road Team workhorse Austin Walton made him work for it.
Dante Oliveira clinched his fourth consecutive win of the 2024 season.
Photos by Mark Kariya
In the Pro 2 class, Hatch Racing Kawasaki rider Colton Aeck made it back-to-back victories at the 50th annual Wild West Grand Prix, hosted by the Hilltoppers Motorcycle Club. Again he had company throughout the 90-minute feature race with FMF RPM Racing KTM-mounted Mason Semmens just a few seconds back at any time before settling for the runner-up spot and 10th overall behind Aeck. Semmens remains the class points leader, though Aeck obviously cut into that and narrowed the gap to just three. Kai Aiello recovered from a poor start to claim 11th overall and third Pro 2 aboard his 3Bros./Hatch Racing Husqvarna.
Colton Aeck and Mason Semmens battled it out for the 250 Pro win.
In Pro Women, SLR Honda’s Mikayla Nielsen rebounded from her loss in round three to claim top honors for the third time this season over GasGas-supported Ava Silvestri and FMF RPM Racing KTM’s Kaitlyn Jacobs.
Having won the GNCC the previous weekend for the first time, Oliveira had momentum on his side, and it carried over in the first dry race of the season as he fired off the dead-engine start and into the first turn out front aboard his KTM 450 XC-F.
“It’s cool to be able to travel around and race in different terrain, challenge myself, succeed in them, and learn,” he said.
Oliveira’s victory comes just one week after winning a GNCC for the first time.
Even with his experience and past success at the Twentynine Palms Motorsport Complex—the fastest course by far in the series—Oliveira said, “It is wild every time you show up here, just having to send it. It’s a different beast, for sure, but I’ve kind of learned this track and know it pretty well, but I don’t think there’s any getting comfortable out here. We’re ripping the edge the whole time just as fast as these bikes can go. It’s a chopped-up, nasty track, so it’s hard to prepare for this one.”
With Walton and Martinez lurking just a few seconds back the whole way, Oliveira had no chance to relax. “I didn’t want to go any faster, but I had no choice to. Walton and Cole were both charging—I saw them inching in on me big time just after the pit stop and maybe a couple of laps before the pit. To be able to pull back out a little cushion, it feels nice.”
Pro podium – Oliveira, Martinez, and Walton.
Physically, Walton held second all afternoon aboard his Husqvarna FX 450 after racing to second at the frigid 93-mile AMA Hare & Hound National in Utah the day before. That effort didn’t appear to have fazed him as he put in a strong ride, saying, “It was very, very physical, but I knew that I was capable of what I needed to do and we obviously showed it today.
“I was very happy to just make it as far as I did and not actually fully cramp to the point where it was bad-bad. I’m very, very happy with how I performed yesterday and today. It was awesome to be able to push that kind of a pace, especially after what I did yesterday.”
Pro 2 podium – Aeck, Semmens, Aiello.
Unfortunately for Walton, he strayed outside the course boundary in the dust at the end of the Pro section early on and received a two-minute penalty. Instead of being four seconds behind Oliveira, that officially shuffled him back to third.
The beneficiary of this was Martinez, the SLR Honda CRF450RX rider physically just 13 seconds behind Walton before the penalty. Third at round three, Martinez said, “I think the pace this year for the whole class is, honestly, the highest it’s been since I’ve been involved in it. It was a freight train. I thought we had a good chance at making a run at it about four or five laps to go and made a big push, got close.”
Mikayla Nielsen dominated the Pro Women class.
However, he wasn’t able to thread his way through lappers as well as Oliveira and Walton but was satisfied at the finish. “I’m happy with how I rode these last few rounds,” he said. “And I’m happy with where the bike’s headed. The team’s put in a lot of great work. We’ve got the bike in a great spot and I’m happy with it.”
Purvines Racing/Simi Valley Cycles Yamaha rider Justin Hoeft put in a consistent, solid ride for fourth overall followed by Liqui Moly Beta’s Dare DeMartile, Hoeft’s teammate Jack Simpson, Dante Oliveira’s brother Mateo and 3Bros./Hatch Racing GasGas rider Giacomo Redondi (who scored his fourth-straight triumph in 30+ Open AA the day before, that’s 13 in a row if you count his undefeated 2023 run).
Dante Oliveira has a perfect 120 points after four rounds, with DeMartile second at 81, Martinez third at 80, Walton fourth at 74 and Hoeft fifth at 72.
Women’s Pro podium – Nielsen, Silvestri, Jacobs.
Aeck was the first of a half-dozen Pro II riders to make it two in a row for the current runner-up in class points. “I’ve been working hard, and I’m really happy with the bike,” Aeck said. “Bob [Bell] from Precision Concepts has been putting in so many hours for me, so we’ve got a really good setting on the bike, and I generally like tracks that are faster anyway—I think it’s one of my strengths. This race has never really been one that I’ve been great at, but I think it takes a couple of times coming here to really learn it. Once you get the feel of it, I think you get better and better, and it all finally clicked. It helps to get a good start! I got a good start and got out of the dust right away. That was huge, too.”
For Semmens in his first go at Twentynine Palms then, it was a laudable performance as he kept Aeck in sight the entire time. He was able to close in some sections but lost ground in others and he ended up 10 seconds back at the finish with Aiello 1:16 further back.
In Pro Women, Nielsen and her SLR Honda CRF250RX got out front early to make amends for what she considered a disappointing runner-up at round three. Nielsen now has 10 points over Silvestri, 115-105.
“Glen Helen was a bit of a disappointment, given that it’s my favorite track, so I wanted to come here and put down some solid laps. I felt really good on Saturday, so I knew today was going to be good for me,” she said. “I didn’t want to prove a point but definitely show that Glen Helen was just a fluke. I’m super proud of how the bike feels and how the team handles testing. I’m excited for these next couple of rounds.”
Live Stream
OVERALL PRO RESULTS (Top 10)
- Dante Oliveira (KTM)
- Cole Martinez (Hon)
- Austin Walton (Hus)
- Justin Hoeft (Yam)
- Dare DeMartile (Bet)
- Jack Simpson (Yam)
- Mateo Oliveira (KTM)
- Giacomo Redondi (GG)
- Colton Aeck (Kaw)
- Mason Semmens (KTM)
