Mark Kariya | April 17, 2024
Though conditions were wildly different from round one, the result was the same at the Timber Mountain Hare Scramble hosted by the Motorcycle Rider’s Association (MRA), round two of the AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional Championship Series, presented by MojoMotoSport, on April 14.
Photos by Mark Kariya
Dante and Mateo Oliveira of the FMF KTM Factory Racing Off-Road Team went 1-2 with 3Bros./Hatch Racing GasGas ace Giacomo Redondi claiming third.
In Pro 250, FMF RPM Racing KTM’s Jaden Dahners reveled in the muddy conditions over round-one winner Layton Smail, with Ryder Thomaselli third again.
Vet Pro 35+ saw Eric Stevenson pick up the win after early leader Devin Watson discovered he’d misjudged fuel consumption. The five gallons he’d brought were not enough for his Husky TC 125 to go a sixth lap. Thus, he opted to wait before the finish rather than certainly run out while trying to milk another 12-plus miles and settled for second; defending class champ James McMurray was third.
GasGas-supported rider Ava Silvestri got Sunday started by bouncing back from a last-place start to claim her second-straight Pro Women win of the season ahead of newcomer Megan Griffiths, Beta-supported Britney Gallegos snatching third in the final minutes.
Though Mateo Oliveira got the holeshot and led initially on his Red Bull/Motorex/Alpinestars-sponsored 350 XC-F, 2022 series champ Redondi ended up in front of the pack aboard his FMF/Acerbis/Seven EX 450F despite a goggle-fogging issue that resulted in them becoming opaque, so he tossed them. (Grabbing a new set about two hours into what ended up being a nearly three-hour race yielded the same outcome, so he ended up without eye protection for most of the race, and with the mud and spotty rain, he couldn’t respond when the Oliveiras duo passed him, though he remained only a few seconds back.
“I’m happy—the pace was there. We did two hours with the boys up front in the same pace so I’m happy about it,” Redondi said. “It was a good bounce back after the little mess-up on round one—let’s keep going!”
Mateo took over at the front for about an hour, gaining valuable experience leading overall with Dante in tow. But he didn’t stop there. On the final lap, more than two and a half hours in, “We were playing cat-and-mouse a little bit,” Mateo said, “and I made—not a mistake—but [Dante] just railed this outside [line to pass me]. I hung in there, though.
“I think these conditions kind of favored me a little bit because they were technical, and you were on your toes from rut to rut smashing roots. It’s going to take a little bit more time to pass him and drop him.”
Only a second separated them at the finish.
Dante has won two in a row in the series and has won nearly every time he’s lined up for the past couple of months. Even with both Oliveiras running ISDE-spec Dunlops in the mud on their VP Racing Fuels/Motion Pro/Scott 350s, they turned the battle for first into their exclusive realm.
As Dante put it, “It was so much fun today! It was rooty, it was rutty, it was slick in some spots but then would be hero dirt in other spots so all in all, an epic race. I got to battle with Mateo so that was sick. We battle during the week [while practicing], but first time, I think, we’ve battled on the race weekend, so that was pretty cool.”
He added, “I knew I wasn’t doing anything special, but he was riding great the whole time. Here and there, I’d try to get away, but he kept me honest, so I just tried to ride strong. It’s cool to have him battle with me; I’d rather him get me than anybody else, but I’m not letting him get me; I’ll tell you that much!”
Fourth overall physically after starting on the second row and leading Pro 250 wire-to-wire, Americool Heating and Air Conditioning/TBT Racing/Moose Elite 250 XC-F-mounted Dahners said, “I had a little bit more motivation coming back into the woods. I kind of wanted to start the season off on the right note for me. [Round one at] Doyle doesn’t count for me! It’s in the desert. This is my first round!”
Liqui Moly Beta’s Joe Wasson consistently rode to fourth Pro and fifth overall, ahead of Pro 250 riders Smail and Thomaselli.
Next was Hunt and Sons GasGas-mounted Lane Lorenzo, the first 250cc A rider and first A overall followed by Open A winner Cody James on his Beta of Modesto 300 RR. Pro 250 rider Ethan Pacak rounded out the top 10.
In the morning race, Ava Silvestri continued her run of poor starts yet rocketed to the front of the field almost immediately aboard her Blud Lubricants/Racer Decal/Troy Lee Designs EX 250F.
“Honestly, the last few years here at Jacksonville, I’ve never had a good start. I’m pretty positive I’m dead last every single time!” she said. “I kind of made it known to everyone that I was behind them. I wasn’t trying to mess around today; I just wanted to get to the front as fast as possible and it ended up working out.”
Among those she passed was WHS debutante Griffiths and her Maxima/NitroMousse/Klim KTM 250 XC-F, the eventual runner-up coming out on the short end of a run-in with the eventual winner. Gallegos survived a heated last-lap battle to earn third after passing Ashlee Gage whose front-brake lever broke in a spill in the final minutes.
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Dante Oliveira (KTM)
- Mateo Oliveira (KTM)
- Giacomo Redondi (GG)
- Jaden Dahners (KTM)
- Joseph Wasson (Bet)
- Layton Smail (She)
- Ryder Thomaselli (Hus)
- Lane Lorenzo (GG)
- Cody James (Bet)
- Ethan Pacak (Hus)