2022 Glen Helen NGPC Results

Mark Kariya | March 8, 2022

A trend seems to be forming in the FMF AMA National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) Series, at least as far as the Pro winners are concerned.

All three of them at round three also won their respective categories at round two: Dante Oliveira in the overall after a race-long duel and last-lap pass over Cole Martinez; Mateo Oliveira besting Jack Simpson for the Pro II triumph with Kai Aiello third; and Brandy Richards once again the dominating force in Pro Women over Ava Silvestri and Tarah Geiger.

Dante Oliveira at 2022 Glen Helen NGPC — **More testing last week worked well for Dante Oliveira who sped to his second win in a row after passing Cole Martinez on the last lap.**

Photos by Mark Kariya

Though rain Friday night made conditions sloppy on Saturday at Glen Helen Raceway, things couldn’t have been much better for Sunday’s $8000, 90-minute feature race. And for the icing on this racing cake, the Prairie Dogs designed a course about 8.5 miles long that featured many new sections that drew almost universal kudos.

As has been common lately, 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing Husqvarna’s Justin Hoeft rocketed away from his inside starting spot to take the early lead over Chaparral Motorsports/Precision Concepts Kawasaki rider Tyler Lynn, Purvines Racing Yamaha ace Trevor Stewart, Cole Martinez on his Slam Life Racing (SLR) Honda, 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing GasGas-mounted Giacomo Redondi, Oliveira and the rest of the field in tow.

After a wakeup call at round one, Hoeft revamped his approach to the series. No one questioned his Supercross-bred speed, but that didn’t carry him through a long off-road race. This time, he led for just over half the race aboard his Blud Lubricants/Mom & Dad/Fast House-backed FC 450 until he tucked the front end, allowing both Martinez and Oliveira to speed past.

Those two seemed to be pacing off Hoeft, biding their time, as Martinez explained: “As we’ve seen the last two [rounds], Justin’s got some speed. I kind of just waited and I saw Justin make some mistakes. We pitted and after that I got him.”

Mateo Oliveira at 2022 Glen Helen NGPC — **Mateo Oliveira now has three in a row in Pro II, while Australian Jack Simpson, once again, was forced to settle for second. Kai Aiello returned to the Pro II podium with his third place.**

But Martinez still had Oliveira glued to the back fender of his Monster Energy/Skechers/Fly Racing CRF450RX.

“I tried to get away, but Dante just stuck right in there,” Martinez lamented. “It came down to the last lap. I [got stuck behind] a lapper going into the second Pro section (an extremely narrow downhill canyon).”

That allowed Oliveira to get even closer, though Oliveira considered himself faster in the technical going there, and when another lapper fell in front of them on the truck track, it forced Martinez to back off while FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team’s Oliveira saw an opening and immediately swept past both.

There wasn’t enough time for Martinez to set up a retaliatory pass and Oliveira raced to the finish first aboard his Red Bull/Motorex/Thor 450 XC-F, beating Martinez by a bike-length.

“These guys were on it—they weren’t making it easy on me!” Oliveira exclaimed. “I’ve got to give it up to the whole Red Bull/FMF KTM team. We did a lot of work last week with our new suspension guy and with Timmy [Weigand], the new [team] manager.

“It’s still early in the year, but I’m feeling good.”

Hoeft hit the finish 41 seconds later, his hands full fending off the hard-charging Stewart and his Berkeley Yamaha/FMF/Fasthouse YZ450FX.

“I showed a lot of strength and a lot of speed this time. I’m not stopping until I get the win,” Hoeft vowed.

Tied in points coming into the race, Oliveira now takes sole command of the points lead over Martinez, 81-76. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Austin Walton finished off the podium in fifth after a pair of runner-up finishes at the first two rounds and lies third in points at 66 with Hoeft fourth at 53 followed by Stewart’s 49.

After running fourth midway through, arm problems forced 3 Bros./Hatch Racing Husqvarna’s Dalton Shirey to back off and settle for sixth (putting him at 49 points as well) ahead of Beta’s Dare Demartile and Lynn.

Brandy Richards at 2022 Glen Helen NGPC — **The second Pro section was very narrow, but that didn’t faze Pro Women winner—for the third-straight round—Brandy Richards who was the only woman to complete six laps.**

FMF/RPM Racing KTM star Mateo Oliveira ran his Pro-II win streak to three in a row in claiming ninth overall on his Dunlop/Motorex/Klim 250 XC-F, 13 seconds ahead of SLR Honda’s Jack Simpson (his third-straight runner-up). 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing Husqvarna rider Kai Aiello was third Pro II and 11th overall.

Elite Off-road KTM pilot Brandy Richards put on another master class in Pro Women aboard her FMF/CST Tires/Fly Racing 350 SX-F. In fact, she was the only woman to complete six laps like the faster men, putting her 37th overall.CN