A sixth overall victory of the year saw Dante Oliveira clinch the 2023 AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Championship in convincing fashion at Wilseyville, California’s, final round on Sunday, the FMF KTM Factory Racing rider continuing his winning form that has ultimately been the story of his season.
Oliveira had already successfully defended his AMA National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) crown and formed part of Team USA’s commanding World Trophy victory at this month’s FIM International Six Days Enduro (ISDE), where he also stood on the individual podium in third overall.
On return to U.S. competition and back on-track in a bid to claim the WHS title onboard his KTM 450 XC-F, Oliveira recovered from a tough start in challenging conditions to hit the lead midway through the opening lap. A race-long battle eventuated with Zane Roberts, only for Oliveira to take control on the sixth and final lap and take the checkered flag in P1.
It was a fitting way for the 23-year-old Californian to take home the WHS Pro Class Championship, returning back to his roots and winning all but Round 4 of the series to build a dominant 37-point advantage by season’s end.
Oliveira said, “It was a good way to end the year back with D36! A terrible start made for a fun race …. I passed for the lead halfway through Lap 1 and was having a good battle with Zane [Roberts] along the way. I also wanted to give a shoutout to the team for giving me a great platform to win races and championships this season; it’s been a great year with the FMF KTM Factory Racing Team together.”
Pro Results: Round 8
- Dante Oliveira, KTM
- Zane Roberts, Beta
- Giacomo Redondi, GASGAS
Pro Championship Standings
- Dante Oliveira, 201 points
- Giacomo Redondi, 164
- Zane Roberts, 137
