Round five of the National Hare & Hound Championship, presented by FMF, took place on Saturday, May 16, at the Little Sahara OHV Area near Jericho, Utah, where FMF/KTM’s Dante Oliveira claimed the overall win by just over a minute ahead of Beta’s Zane Roberts. Oliveira has won all five rounds to date, extending his championship lead to 25 over Roberts.
Story & Photos by Mary Rinell/mjsmotophotos
The race consisted of two 40-mile loops, starting racers in deep sand dunes that quickly gave way to silty trails leading up and down desert sagebrush-covered hills. The single-day event drew an excellent turnout, with nearly 300 racers lining up at the iconic bomb run. Dust was certainly a factor, and racers who finished were covered head to toe by the time they crossed the finish line.
Oliveira finished out his race in just over three hours. Rounding out the Pro podium was Norman Racing Husqvarna rider Daemon Woolslayer.
“I got off the jump great and into the dunes, had a pretty good straight line,” Oliveira said. “I went bar-to-bar with Daemon for the next three or so miles. He passed me, and I got him back pretty quickly, then put my head down and charged forward. I didn’t want to be eating dust, so I pushed to keep my gap.”
Oliveira was unable to attend the after-race celebration. His bike was already loaded so he could drive straight to Glen Helen Raceway for an NGPC the next day.
“I feel good right now heading out to the GP, but we’ll see how I feel in a couple hours,” he said. “Either way, I am ready to go hammer down tomorrow!”
Roberts started the race in fourth but would work his way into second, finishing just one minute and four seconds behind Oliveira.
“I thought I had a good line going into the dunes but ended up bottoming out, which rattled me good, so I was about fourth at the end of the bomb,” Roberts said. “I made a quick pass on third and just tucked in with Dante and Daemon. Daemon was riding good today, and I spent like two hours trying to make a pass. It’s been a bit of a frustrating day, if I’m being honest, but you know, I just kept pushing, and eventually it happened. It was a bit dusty today, but that’s the position I put myself in. I just need to get up front earlier and be a bit faster in the sand to avoid that next time.”
A few minutes ago, Woolslayer came in third. “It was a pretty decent day,” Woolslayer said. “I started off with a good start. Dante and I were going back and forth the first few miles, and he ended up getting me before we got out to the trees and stuff. I feel like I followed him pretty good for the first 15-20 miles or so, and then he just left me and put a real good gap on us. I pushed myself probably too hard those first few miles, and on the second loop I had to just cruise. So I just need to get more ride time, train harder, and try to do better if I’m going to keep up with this guy.”
The Pro 250 class saw 395 Motorsports Husqvarna support rider Ryder Thomaselli back atop the box after some great battles with Norman Racing Husqvarna rider Kayden Lynn. Not far behind the pair was Layton Smail aboard his Team Green Kawasaki.
“I was right behind Kayden through the flags and was just chasing him for a while,” Thomaselli said. “We were getting squirrelly through the dunes. I have never seen my heart rate get so high. I think I hit like 217 today, so I was scared. We were sending some stuff today out there, I was like, ‘Oh my, we are going to die,’ ha! But he got the best of me in the dunes, and I was just huffin’ dust all day. I would close up on him in the trees, but he kept ahead of me. I knew when we got into loop two, and it got real tight and technical, I’d be able to catch up to him and hopefully make a pass, which thankfully I was able to do, and then I was finally clear of dust. But shortly after that, I caught Daemon and just sat in his dust for the rest of the day, and now I have just been coughing for the last hour.”
Lynn ended up fifth overall and second in the Pro 250 class. “I got off to a good start. I was fifth through the banners, which I was pretty stoked on, and I was just flowing through the sand when some guy [Thomaselli] goes rippin’ by me, and I thought, ‘Oh, I got to go!’ So, he and I were just pinned through the sand, and we had some sketchy moments for sure, but I kept it on two and settled into fourth overall, just riding my race till mile like 60 on the second loop. Ryder was ripping through the rocks; he was just the better man out there today. Then we dropped into this tight wash, and I had to make sure I stayed on the insides, and I ended up missing one, and he flew by me, and that was that. I just kind of rode his dust into the finish. I just need to focus on some tight technical practice while we’re on summer break.”
Smail was seventh overall and third in the Pro 250 class. “I had a pretty good start, but I ended up constantly behind someone, just sucking in dust,” Smail said. “It seemed like the minute I passed, I’d catch up to another rider, so I was in the dust for all of loop one. On loop two, I finally got some clear air and then rode that for about the next 40 miles into the finish.”
Ava Silvestri, aboard her Norman Racing Husqvarna, continued her winning streak in the Pro Women’s class. The returning champion is seemingly untouchable, with second place finishing five minutes behind her despite losing her front brake for most of the first loop.
Red Bull Factory Racer Tara Gieger, aboard her JCR Honda CRF250RX, was second, just three seconds ahead of RPM KTM Racing Team’s Rachel Stout.
“I started right in between Dante and Daemon, and I got a much better jump than both of them, but they had the power I don’t have, and they both cut me off,” said Silvestri. “I knew I was the furthest up front for the Women, and I just tried to make a little push to make sure no one caught up to me and to keep a good gap. I pushed a little too hard and ended up crashing, smashing my front brake caliper up to the moon, and I had no front brake and was just absolutely loose out there on the first loop.”
Like Oliveira, Silvestri wasted little time after the race and headed to Glen Helen.CN
2026 National Hare & Hound Round 5 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Dante Oliveira (KTM) 3:02:00
- Zane Roberts (Bet) 3:03:04
- Daemon Woolslayer (Hus) 3:06:38
- Ryder Thomaselli (Hus) 3:06:44
- Kayden Lynn (KTM) 3:06:54
- Dalton Shirey (Kaw) 3:12:21
- Layton Smail (Kaw) 3:13:26
- Taran Taylor (Hus) 3:17:52
- Austyn Monson (Hus) 3:19:54
- Rayce Jenkins (Kaw) 3:21:01
