FMF/RPM/KTM Racing Maxxis' Dante Oliveira took advantage when a fried clutch caused David Kamo's PCI Race Radios KTM 450 XC-F to stall about a mile from the finish and went on to win Dirt Inc.'s Little Gem Hare Scrambles in Emmett, Idaho, round 4 of the Kenda/SRT AMA West Hare Scrambles Regional Championship Series, presented by Mojo Motorsports. Snow, rain, sun, and hail all in one day made for challenging conditions and a shortening of the original 15-mile course to about nine, though it was worst in the morning race for women and older age-group riders—and a lot worse than the good but chilly conditions for the youth races on Saturday.
Local favorite and part-time racer Kamo used his 450’s power and National Hare & Hound experience to lead the early laps, but getting stuck a few times dropped him back to fourth. That let Oliveira mix it up at the front with SRT Husqvarna teammates Clayton Gerstner and J.T. Baker, the lead exchanged often among the top four until it came down to Kamo and Oliveira in the final 40 minutes.
“I’m so excited! I’ve been wanting to win for a while and finally got an AMA West Hare Scrambles win,” Oliveira exclaimed. “It was an intense race the whole time.”
Kamo settled for second with SRT Husqvarna’s Trystan Hart keeping his point lead by finishing third after a huge get-off early. Beta’s Max Gerston, the reigning series champ, was almost fully recovered from being sick at round 3 the week before and came back for fourth over Gerstner.