2025 AMA West Hare Scrambles Round 6 Results

Mark Kariya | June 30, 2025

FMF KTM Factory Off-Road Racing Team’s Mateo Oliveira earned his first major championship since graduating to the Open Pro division after being first to the checkered flag at the Great Escape Hare Scramble in Bellingham, Washington, June 29. The sixth and final round of the AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional Championship Series, Presented by FMF, visited the tight woods of Hannegan Speedway for the finale, hosted by the National Hare & Hound Association (NHHA).

Mateo Oliveira at 2025 Great Escape Hare Scramble — **Winning Pro/AA and finishing second overall at the finale was more than enough to give Mateo Oliveira his first major Pro title since graduating to 450s**

Photos by Mark Kariya

However, when adjusted times are factored in, hometown hero Jaden Dahners of the FMF/RPM Racing KTM team was actually 40 seconds quicker than Oliveira overall, not only taking his second consecutive Pro 250 victory but also the overall win for the first time. He completed the race in two hours, 34 minutes and 18 seconds.

Defending Pro 250 champ Layton Smail was a close third overall, another 20 seconds back after leading during the middle stages, while second-year Pro Ryder Thomaselli held off Colton Aeck by one second for fourth overall. Thomaselli managed to clinch the Pro 250 championship by just five points over Aeck, 138-133. In addition, the 395 Motorsports Husqvarna rider took second in overall AA points behind Oliveira, 147-111.

As he’d done multiple times during the season, Oliveira got out front early aboard his Josh Zoppelt-prepared Red Bull/Dunlop/Alpinestars-sponsored 450 XC-F and kept that physical lead all afternoon.

“I really wanted to win the race. I’m a little bummed I didn’t, but I figure I was a little too conservative in the beginning, being too patient and not realizing how good [Smail and Dahners] were riding,” he said. “I put too much pressure on myself before the race because I knew all the things that could happen [to deny him the championship], and I pretty much just had to finish.”

Jaden Dahners at 2025 Great Escape Hare Scramble — **Jaden Dahners became the first two-time Pro 250 winner of the year and the first in recent memory to overall the race.**

After his class triumph and second overall behind Oliveira at round five, Dahners jokingly warned Oliveira that he’d be gunning for him at the finale.

“You’ve got to believe in yourself, but I’m not a very serious guy,” he said. “It was more banter between buddies, then I started thinking about it and thought I could do it here. I had a good ride here in 2022 or ’23 maybe, but I decided this week to lie in bed and rest up and get myself ready for this.”

It paid off for Dahners and his Americool Heating and Air Conditioning/TBT Racing/Moose Elite 250 XC-F, as he got around Smail before the white flag with Oliveira third overall on adjusted time at that point. With Smail having a late crash, he had to settle for third overall on his Let’s Ride/Canyon Excavation/FXR KX250.

For Thomaselli and his 707 Suspension/Motorex/Fly Racing FC 250, nerves weren’t a major factor going into the race. He said, “I was confident in my riding. I was more nervous with stuff happening to the bike, something mechanical, like a freak thing happening. I just tried to play it cool and play it like a normal race and do everything the same that I’ve been doing all year because it’s been working!”

Ryder Thomaselli at 2025 Great Escape Hare Scramble — **Teenager Ryder Thomaselli clinched the Pro 250-class Championship for the second year in a row.**

Behind all those 250s, Liqui Moly Beta’s Zane Roberts used the tight, woodsy finale to get some race miles on his FMF/Bridgestone/Klim 300 RR that’s like the one he’ll be riding at the Six Days in Italy at the end of August. It was quite a switch from the 480 RR, which has been his normal mount for some years now. Roberts clipped a lapper who fell in front of him, cleaning off the entire shift lever on the Beta, leaving it stuck in third gear.

Pro 250 holeshot winner Cole Zeller claimed fifth in class and seventh overall on his Gainslinger Human Performance/Lake Elsinore Casino FC 250, followed by Lane Lorenzo, who wrapped up a perfect season in 250cc A by using a GasGas 125 instead of his usual 707 Suspension/Motorex/Seven EX 250F. Next year, he’ll move into the Pro ranks.

Fellow 250cc A riders JJ Concannon and Ruhne Lee rounded out the top 10 overall.

Pro Vet 35+ saw Washington residents fill the podium, with Eric Forsberg the fastest at 11th overall, followed by John Beal and Danny Brocker.

Rachel Stout at 2025 Great Escape Hare Scramble — **Third place was enough to give Rachel Stout the Pro Women’s crown, adding to her Hare & Hound Championships.**

The morning race found three-time Pro Women champ Ava Silvestri unable to resist racing one more time before summer break. As she’d done at three previous rounds, she and her 395 Motorsports/Dunlop/Troy Lee Designs GasGas EX 250F led from start to finish.

Ashlee Gage, riding for Let’s Ride/Canyon Excavation/FXR, overtook Rachel Stout on the final lap to secure second place in the 90-minute morning race. However, third was more than enough for Stout to lock up the class championship for FMF/RPM Racing KTM.CN