26.09.2021
DEVORE, Calif. – FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Dante Oliveira emerged victorious from a chaotic double-header weekend in the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS), collecting a pair of 1-2 finishes to overtake the highly-contested championship points lead from teammate Taylor Robert, who finished 2-4 at Rounds 7 and 8 of the 10-round series.
With two back-to-back days of racing, the iconic course at Glen Helen Raceway was ran in opposite directions on Saturday and Sunday, with the addition of an ultra-technical “pro only” rock section that proved to be the biggest challenge of the entire weekend. Coming in, Robert held a two-point lead over Oliveira in the championship standings and the teammates basically picked up where they left off with a 1-2 start in Saturday’s race. Swapping the lead between their KTM 450 XC-F machines all race long, both riders encountered their own struggles through the technical rock section but it was Oliveira who ultimately prevailed in the final moments, besting Robert by almost 10 seconds at the seventh round.
On Sunday, it was once again the FMF KTM duo out front early on with Robert leading the charge this time and Oliveira close in tow. Now running in reverse, the “pro only section” became an even bigger challenge for many riders but the championship front-runners were each able to find their groove as they gapped the rest of the field by more than 20 seconds early in the race. However, on lap three their momentum came to a halt when they were directed to bypass the section, and eventually a red flag came out to indicate a race restart, along with the removal of the “pro only” section.
With one-hour left to race upon the restart, it was pretty much a sprint to the finish line and both riders found themselves mid-pack off the start. Oliveira worked his way up to second about halfway through the race and despite a crash that cost him some time against the leader, the young rider was able to maintain his position to secure a significant second-place finish at Round 8. With two rounds remaining in the series, Oliveira now holds a five-point lead in the championship standings as he continues to vie for his first premier-class title.
Oliveira: “All-in-all it was a good weekend at Glen Helen. On Saturday, Taylor and I had a fun battle going all day and I was pumped to come away with the win. Sunday was pretty chaotic but I was able to keep it on two wheels except for one crash and sprint my way to the finish in second. Looking forward to taking this championship battle down to the wire!”
For Robert, the restart didn’t pan out quite as well. After getting off to a mid-pack start and settling into fourth early on, the defending champion struggled to gain forward momentum. He picked up the pace with faster lap times in the second half of racing but he just wasn’t able to catch the leaders, finishing off the podium for the first time all season in fourth.
Robert: “Not the best of weekends for me. I had a pretty good race going yesterday, Dante and I went back and forth about five times and it pretty much came down to the rock section and he was able to get around the lappers the cleanest. I also broke my shifter off with 2-3 laps to go, so it wasn’t an ideal race for me but still was able to salvage some good points. Today, was absolute chaos. Dante and I were able to pick our way through the pro section pretty good and I pulled a little bit of time on him in there but they had us bypass it on the third lap because there were still guys stuck and then they re-started it. I got a bad start and just didn’t have what it took, I guess. I’m pretty frustrated with myself for not having what it took today but also frustrated with the whole thing. Dante’s got a little points cushion on me now and I’ve got to work my butt off to try and win the last two rounds.”
Round 9: Mesquite, Nevada – October 22-24, 2021
Pro 450 (MC) Results – Round 7
1. Dante Oliveira, KTM, 1:27:10.198
2. Taylor Robert, KTM, +9.759
3. Giacomo Redondi, GAS, +3:15.287
Pro 450 (MC) Results – Round 8
1. Cole Martinez, HON, 1:02:44.904
2. Dante Oliveira, KTM, +6.841
3.Trevor Stewart, HON, +41.896
4. Taylor Robert, KTM, +2.270
Pro 450 (MC) Standings – After Round 8 of 10
1. Dante Oliveira, 186 points
2. Taylor Robert, 181
3. Cole Martinez, 147