AMA West Hare Scrambles title fight to the wire in Wilseyville
FMF KTM Factory Racing and Dante Oliveira capture a second-consecutive AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) title following a hard-fought final round at Wilseyville – GNCC rider mob the results with Ricky Russell taking the win.
With the championship on the line, and a whole heap of East Coast/GNCC racers jumping in on the WHS round in North California, plus some rain, it was never going to be a straightforward round seven of the series.
Two riders had the mathematical chance of the overall title: Dante Oliveira and Giacomo Redondi and as is often the case, where each finished relative to each other would make the difference – although for Dante he would also rely on his teammate and brother Mateo for a helping hand.
America’s fastest Italian off-road import, Redondi grabbed another holeshot to led early doors but clipped a tree and relinquished the lead in a tight top five battle.
Leading the charge for the East Coast boys were Gus Riordan and Ricky Russell who hounded champion elect Dante Oliveira until the pair got by and set about taking over the race lead.
It remained tight through the race with the championship protagonists in a real close battle. With Russell out front after the pitstops, and Riordan second, what happened behind would prove crucial for the championship.
The last laps saw Mateo Oliveira pulling a crucial move on Redondi to take away enough points for his brother to claim the overall.
Dante Oliveira had to fight for it, eventually finishing P5 overall and just one second behind Redondi at the flag. The result was enough to take the 2024 AMA WHS championship for the second year in a row, despite missing a round through injury.
“I got a terrible start and was way back – it’s been a while since I’ve been that far back in a race here on the West Coast! The track was high-speed, pretty nasty, and I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me. I charged as hard as I could and it was a tight finish, but we did what we needed to in the final round, and we’re stoked to bring home another WHS championship!”
P2 overall for the season was Giacomo Redondi who finished a little bloodied after that crash but goes home with the 2025 Pro Open class title. (If you’re confused, anyone takes points for the overall which this season meant a different winner, Dante, while Redondi claims the Open class crown).
For his family and team work, Mateo Oliveira finished the season with third on the overall podium and third position in the final WHS standings.
Ava Silvestri was a comfortable winner of the earlier race, the already crowned women’s champion taking the win ahead of Rachel Stout.
Pro Class Results, Rnd 7:
Photo Credit: Mark Kariya
