Cycle News Staff | April 29, 2024
After watching his daughter race her electric mini for the second time this season, it was hard to tell if Cole Martinez was more excited about that or about getting his first win of the season at the Shamrocks Motorcycle Club’s inaugural Fox Raceway Grand Prix, round five of the Parts Unlimited AMA National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) Series, presented by FMF.
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In doing so, he also stopped the win streak that four-time series champ and current points leader Dante Oliveira had amassed: seven in a row if you go back to round seven in May 2023. But with the FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team star finishing second after chasing Martinez in a barn-burner of a final few laps, he still maintains a healthy points lead over the Slam Life Racing (SLR) Honda rider, 145-110. Liqui-Moly Beta’s Dare DeMartile rounded out the podium and holds third in points at 102.
Though challenged by points leader Dante Oliveira in a nail-biting final lap, Cole Martinez prevailed for his first NGPC win of the season. Photos: Mark Kariya
After yielding two rounds to Hatch Racing Kawasaki’s Colton Aeck, FMF RPM Racing KTM rider Mason Semmens returned to the top of the box in Pro II. Aeck held on for the runner-up spot and trails the Aussie in class points, 140-122. SLR Honda’s Collier Martinez—Cole’s brother—rounded out the podium for his first time in Pro II.
Pro II winner Mason Semmens fended off a hard charge from Colton Aeck.
And in Pro Women, Mikayla Nielsen claimed her fourth win of the season, giving SLR Honda three Pro podiums for the weekend. GasGas-mounted Ava Silvestri—the round-three winner—finished second for the fourth time this season, with FMF RPM Racing KTM’s Kaitlyn Jacobs third.
Mikayla Nielsen’s pre-race training in rocky trails worked out perfectly, as she took her fourth win of the season.
The $8000, 90-minute feature race kicked off with Martinez swooping into the first corner and catching Oliveira off guard. From there, he quickly established a lead over the field on his Honda CRF450RX and appeared to be headed for an uncontested win.
Martinez ended Oliveira’s win streak.
“I knew [the final result would depend] a lot on the start being that the [off-road section] was pretty enduro-ish, Six-Days-ish,” Martinez explained. “I just made sure I nailed the start, got out front and just try to hit my lines…Honestly, this was probably the gnarliest GP track I’ve ever done, being like a full enduro [off-road section]! Thank God I’ve got Six-Days experience or I’d be a fish out of water over there now.”
Dante Oliveira took second and still holds the points lead.
Having been beaten to the first corner by Martinez, Oliveira and his KTM 450 XC-F had a lot of catching up to do, but he steadily worked his way up. By the white flag, he was on the Honda’s rear fender and all eyes were on the battle. “I knew he was coming,” Martinez admitted.
Dare Demartile finished on the box in third.
Oliveira said, “I put myself in a bad position off the start. I actually got a great jump, but clipped Cole and everybody ended up going on the inside of us because I came in a little too hot…I put a nice charge in the whole race but especially those last three aps but just fell a little short and tipped over on the last lap. Maybe could’ve had something for him, but that’s all we got, is a maybe.”
Giacomo Redondi opted not to pit but finished just off the box in fourth.
After running a strong second for most of the first hour, DeMartile and his Fiji Water/Pirelli/FXR-backed Beta 480 RR found himself unable to hold off Oliveira and slipped to third.
“At about the hour mark, we went into the pit. Dante was about three or four bike lengths behind me and he ended up pitting faster than us and he ended up beating me to the exit of the pits,” DeMartile explained. “I tucked in behind him and tried to run, but he was going really good and I really wanted to keep it on two wheels and not hit the ground. The dust was crazy today [in the off-road part]—the whole track was really brutal—but I’m just happy to put the Beta on the box and not hit the ground.”
Pro Podium.
A season-best fourth overall, 3Bros./Hatch Racing GasGas rider Giacomo Redondi made a last-minute decision to run an even larger tank than usual, as it would allow him to do the entire 90 minutes without stopping for fuel. “Yes, was a last-minute decision because of the dust and it paid off!” he exclaimed. After finishing 14 seconds behind DeMartile, he declared, “[I’m] hungry for that top three!”
Pro II Podium.
FMF KTM’s Mateo Oliveira is confident he could’ve done better than his fifth overall, a few mistakes hampering his effort. He was followed by Purvines Racing Yamaha rider Justin Hoeft, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Austin Walton and Pro II winner Semmens.
Women’s Podium.
Semmens said, “It was technical, it was rocky, it was dusty—we’ve had it all this year! Being not the best of starts, I had to work my way through and got the lead first lap. Had a drop, a little fall, picked myself up then leaving the pits I had another little drop so I’ve got to clean up my first half the race to make it easy on myself.”
Aaron LaFluer led early in the combined Intermediate/Novice race, though his tactic of dusting the others only worked for a couple laps, and he ended up fourth overall and fourth in Open Intermediate.
Hoeft’s teammate Jack Simpson and Martinez’s teammate Tyler Lynn rounded out the top 10 overall, with Pro II podium finishers Aeck and Collier Martinez next in the order.
Springing into the lead going into the first turn, Nielsen was never challenged as she stretched her lead to 46 seconds on the penultimate lap aboard her SLR Honda CRF250RX. Easing off somewhat over the final lap, she said, “I knew it was going to be really rocky, so I’ve been training with Robby Bell lately, and we would go through some of the rock sections like a little bit [along with a bunch of Pro II guys]. We went and rode Glen Helen, like, the Boy Scout Trail and the trails next to it…I’m not the best technical rider—I would say I am a technical rider but not the best—so it was a little bit of a challenge for me, this round—physically and mentally—because I knew she had the better technical skills because of the hare scrambles [championships]. I just knew I had to get a good start in the beginning, and be first into the dust [in the off-road section] and control that race from there.”
Fifth overall in the combined Super Mini/85cc/Girls Senior race was enough for Ryder DeMichele to extend his win streak in NGPC 85cc Senior (12-15) to a perfect five.
Her plan worked well, even with a little tipover, and she ended up with a 16-second lead over Silvestri. NGPC’s next stop is in Marysville, California, May 24-26 for the MMX Grand Prix.
Mark Kariya
OVERALL RESULTS
- Cole Martinez (Hon)
- Dante Oliveira (KTM)
- Dare DeMartile (Bet)
- Giacomo Redondi (GG)
- Mateo Oliveira (KTM)
- Justin Hoeft (Yam)
- Austin Walton (Hus)
- Mason Semmens (KTM)
- Jack Simpson (Yam)
- Tyler Lynn (Hon)
