Desperado Hare Scramble, round three of the AMA West Hare Scrambles series race report and results – Dante Oliveira fights off Giacomo Redondi for the victory ahead of Zane Roberts.

The rural Oregon town of Prineville hosted round three of the 2024 AMA West Hare Scrambles presented by Mojo Motosport season. The dry rocky terrain promising dust rising through the pines on race day which featured a 15-mile lap taking the fastest pro racers just over 34-minutes to complete, with final race times running just shy of the three-hour mark.

With the first two rounds of this season showcasing both FMF Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team’s Oliveira brothers (Dante and Mateo), the question on everyone’s mind was: is this the new normal? However, 3Bros Hatch GASGAS Factory supported racer Giacomo Redondi had different plans.

Both Dante and Giacomo got a good jump off the start, resulting in tight one-two positions the first two laps. Running ahead of his KTM competitor on lap three, Redondi made the decision to pit for gas. Oliveira decided he’d had enough of eating Redondi’s dust, and made the quick decision to hold off on pitting until lap four.

Putting the hammer down, Oliveira pushed hard through lappers to create a gap while Giacomo lost his shifter lever after the pitstop, giving Oliveira an advantage. Fortunately, for Giacomo, he was in third gear, and although not ideal, he kept the momentum going to maintain a second place finish behind Dante.

Not far behind the duo were Dante’s teammate Mateo and Factory Beta Racing Team’s Zane Roberts. An unexpected knee injury in round two meant Zane was riding smart for a fifth place round two finish. After a four week break between rounds, Roberts was feeling around 90% going into Prineville but had a plan: maintain a realistic pace and minimise mistakes for a clean finish.

Zane lead Mateo off the start for the first two laps before swapping positions on lap three due to pitting first, only for roles to reverse on lap four and the Factory Beta racer went on to claim third place overall. 

Ava Silvestri shows who’s boss in Pro Women

The Pro Women’s class had a surprise entry this round, with Oregon local Red Bull JCR Honda Factory Racing’s Tarah Geiger joining the women’s line up. The three lap morning race was nothing short of exciting, with many of the competitors swapping positions at least once.  Innteck-supported KTM racer Rachel Stout found herself leading the charge for lap one, having gotten the jump on her competition off the start line. But by the end of loop two, points leader and defending champion, GASGAS Factory-supported racer Ava Silvestri had found an  opportunity to make the pass on Stout. The two raced all three laps within mere seconds of  each other, with JCR Honda’s Geiger a comfortable three minutes or so behind the pair in third.  The trio would hold these positions through the checkers, increasing Ava‘s points lead, and moving Rachel up in points to second going into the final round of the season before summer break. 

Layton Smail nails Pro 250 win

The 2024 WHS season might be one of the most competitive yet in the Pro 250 class. The top two racers have swapped 1-2 podiums both rounds, allowing for tied points going into round three. With two more rounds to go before summer break, everyone is wondering where the points will fall, in this competitive class.

Knowing starting position would play an important role in the weekend’s race (mostly due to dusty conditions), FMF RPM KTM Factory racer Jaden Dahners got the jump he wanted when the green flag dropped, charging ahead to lead the pack.

Factory Sherco Racing Team’s Layton Smail was not going to let him off easy, sticking closely on his rear tire, patiently waiting for his chance to make a pass. By lap two the Sherco rider had seized the opportunity to push ahead, and maintained a slightly faster race pace all four additional laps securing his top step on the podium.

Dahners kept Smail humble all race, but unable to take the lead again he settled for a second place finish. Not far behind the two, Husqvarna Motorcycles Factory-supported racer Ryder Thomaselli cruised into third, a little more than 3 1/2 minutes behind the pair. Ryder has been consistent all season, rounding out the podium all three rounds.

Pro class results:

Full Results: https://www.moto-tally.com/whs/Results.aspx

As the weekend’s race fell on Mothers Day; from all of the staff here at the NHHA, we’d like to send a very Happy Mother’s Day to all the moto moms out there busy raising champions! 

Round four of the WHS is June 8th-9th in Bellingham, WA.

More information: www.westharescrambles.com   

Thank you to our sponsors FMF, Beta, KTM, Husqvarna Motorcycles, GASGAS, Cricket Speaker, Zingg, PCI Radios, Sign Art, IWC Tire Pros, STACYC, Mojo Motosports, Klim, Unsworth Racing, Racer Decal, RAD Custom Graphics.

Words Credit: Mary Rinell

Photo Credit: Mark Kariya