2025 AMA West Hare Scrambles Round 5 Results

Mark Kariya | June 9, 2025

Chalk up another one for FMF KTM Factory Off-Road Racing Team’s Mateo Oliveira as the AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional Championship Series, Presented by FMF, headed north into the trees for the inaugural Mt. Shasta Ski Park Hare Scrambles, June 8. Hosted by Whiskey Throttle Racing, the new race featured some 9.5 miles of the most technical—and dusty—trails seen so far this season, with Pro 250 rider Jaden Dahners and reigning Pro 250 champ Layton Smail (aboard his 250 but entered at the last minute in the Open Pro class) second and third overall.

Mateo Oliveira and Layton Smail at 2025 Mt. Shasta Ski Park WHS — **Mateo Oliveira leads Layton Smail into the first turn en route to his third WHS victory of the season.**

Photos by Mark Kariya

For Oliveira and his Red Bull/Dunlop/Alpinestars 450 XC-F, it was a completely different sort of race compared to his victory at the previous round at Glen Helen two weeks ago, though his approach was the same.

“It was completely opposite than Glen Helen but always the same game plan: Try to get out front, and depending on how I’m feeling, either manage or hammer down,” he said.

After getting the holeshot, Oliveira controlled the race from the front until the finish two hours, 21 minutes and eight seconds later. (The race was shortened from its usual two-and-a-half-hour minimum due to the threat of lightning.) “I’m not going to lie—it was pretty technical and gnarly!”

He took his second win in a row and third for the season to pad his Pro/AA points lead over Liqui Moly Beta’s Zane Roberts, 136-112. Concurrently, he also stretched his lead in Overall AA points over 395 Motorsports Husqvarna rider and Pro 250 contender Ryder Thomaselli, 122-93.

It wasn’t Roberts’ day to pull back points, as his FMF/Bridgestone/Klim-backed 480 RR suffered a technical issue early, requiring an unscheduled and prolonged pit stop.

Jaden Dahners at 2025 Mt. Shasta Ski Park WHS — **Jaden Dahners won the Pro 250 class for the first time since round two last year and claimed second overall.**

Smail was only too ready to assume second place on his Team Green/Canyon Excavation/FXR KX450.

“I knew I was pretty far out of the points [in Pro 250], so I said, ‘Ah, you know what—I’m just going to ride Open and see how that goes’. It was going good. I was only 20 seconds behind Mateo the first lap, then I got a stick stuck between my forks and my wheel, so I had to get off and [lost] about 30 seconds.”

The abundance of silt clogged his air filter so quickly that he was unable to climb one hill the next lap, but he eventually fought his way back to third overall and second Open Pro, seven seconds behind Dahners.

For FMF RPM Racing KTM’s Dahners, Mt. Shasta was a time for redemption after a disappointing season to date.

“I definitely feel more confident here,” he said. “It’s a lot like the mountains by my house. It’s a little more technical, so I don’t feel as much like a fish out of water here.”

He proved that by chasing down early Pro 250 leader Ryder Thomaselli, the 395 Motorsports/MX Trophies/Fly Racing Husqvarna pilot who’d led early and hovered around the top two or three overall spots. But he was unable to hold off Dahners and his Americool Heating and Air Conditioning/TBT Racing/Moose Elite 250 XC-F, who replaced him at the head of the class and second overall before the white flag despite some minor tip-overs.

Thomaselli held on for second Pro 250 and fourth overall, followed by 250cc A winner Lane Lorenzo. That extended Lorenzo’s win streak to five out of five, with the GasGas-supported Motorex/707 Suspension/Seven rider unofficially wrapping up the class championship early.

Colton Aeck holeshot the Pro 250s aboard his Hatch Racing/McCarthy Electric/O’Neal Racing KX250 but lost it when he hit a rock at speed going up the first hill. That sent him into Gainslinger Human Performance Husqvarna’s Cole Zeller, both of them crashing and restarting in the back.

Aeck clambered back to sixth overall and third Pro 250 ahead of Zeller, Roberts (who finished third Open Pro), 250cc A runner-up Lowe Lord on his Senge Graphics KTM and Guts Racing KTM-mounted Nic Pacak, the third 250cc A.

Ava Silvestri at 2025 Mt. Shasta Ski Park WHS — **Ava Silvestri bested runner-up Rachel Stout by about two and a half minutes to win the Pro Women’s class.**

Ava Silvestri made her final series appearance of the year an impressive one with her third triumph in Pro Women aboard her 395 Motorsports/Dunlop/Troy Lee Designs GasGas EX 250F.

Leading from the start, her winning margin over class points leader Rachel Stout didn’t come close to the nine-plus minutes she enjoyed at Glen Helen’s round four, but her effort was still satisfactory and good practice before she jumps back into the GNCCs in two weeks.

FMF RPM Racing KTM rider Stout was much closer to Silvestri at the finish compared to Glen Helen, with 2:25 separating them. More importantly, though, she maintains a firm grip on the class points lead over Ty Woolslayer, who was third on the day, 131-113.