Round two of the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) Series, presented by FMF, offered more challenging conditions than round one in Delano, California, just two weeks ago.
Story & Photography By Mark Kariya
And Shorty’s Sports Park in Blythe, California, will always be challenging, with its primarily sand base and elevation changes making for a grueling 90 minutes. But in the end, the Prospectors Motorcycle Club’s Gold Rush Grand Prix saw all three round-one Pro-class winners (Dante Oliveira in Pro, Sam Pretscherer in Pro II and Mikayla Nielsen in Pro Women) repeat, each after some serious battles.
Open Pros started on row one and saw Pro Circuit Kawasaki Off-Road Team’s Justin Hoeft grab the holeshot aboard his Hatch Racing/Maxima/Fasthouse-backed KX450SR, with FMF KTM Factory Off-Road Racing Team’s Oliveira just to his outside.
As the race wore on, Hoeft couldn’t shake Oliveira and his Red Bull/Dunlop/Alpinestars 450 XC-F, though he kept the six-time and defending series champ at bay for about an hour. In fact, their pace drew them away from the rest of the pack and even saw Oliveira uncharacteristically fall, giving Hoeft a little more cushion.
“I’ve been working my butt off, and I feel really good on the bike, and it’s been showing,” Hoeft said. “I’m still going for that first win—I really want it!”
Oliveira’s crash only seemed to fuel his fire, and the champ went to work with even more urgency afterward.
“I had to work my butt off for this one,” Oliveira said. “I was better one half of the track, and he was kind of better on the other half, so he would [gain ground on] me. Fun day on the bike!
“Went down once, and I really had to put some work in. I think I was kind of able to reset and ride my own lines. I opened up the track a little better and started getting into a groove.”
The checkered flag showed Oliveira with a 27-second advantage over Hoeft at the finish, with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Mateo Oliveira having his own battles in netting third, a minute and 19 seconds behind Hoeft.
Dunlop/VP Racing Fuels/Fly Racing FX 450-mounted Mateo Oliveira said, “I was riding—not out of control but a little squirrelly in the beginning.”
That included getting dusted out in the Pro section and getting stuck momentarily, dropping him to fourth. He spent the rest of the race playing catch-up to work his way back to the podium.
“The way my bike was running, I was just kind of surviving out there,” he said. “I think Mason [Semmens] was a little sick, so I knew he was going to get tired. I just put my head down and charged.”
Despite possibly being under the weather, FMF/RPM Racing/KTM’s Semmens managed to hold on and claim fourth, his best series finish to date aboard his AEO Powersports/Gainslinger Human Performance/Moose Racing 450 XC-F.
A half-dozen Pro II riders filled the rest of the top 10 overall, led by Slam Life Racing (SLR) Honda’s Pretscherer and his Monster Energy/Lava Propane/Fly Racing-backed CRF250RX.
After a slow start, the Australian quickly worked his way into the class lead after about 20 minutes and built a lead of 32 seconds over Pro II runner-up Cody Simpson by the finish.
Coming a week after a stinging defeat here when he lost the lead due to a small crash, Pretscherer was out to make amends.
“I was just fired up all week! All I could think of was this weekend and what I could do to be better,” Pretscherer said. “I feel like I override in some instances, and it makes it a lot harder on me to put a gap on when I’m burying it in the corners. Today, I just wanted to try and ride the smoothest race and save as much energy as I could.”
Simpson had to work even harder for his Pro II runner-up result and sixth overall aboard his trusty Simi Valley Cycles/Blu Cru/O’Neal Racing YZ250. Buried off the start, he had his ups and downs en route to his second Pro II podium.
FMF/RPM Racing/KTM’s Noah Gordon rounded out the Pro II class podium, despite still being not fully healed from his round-one crash. Hoping to simply get through this one, he surprised himself by leading the first lap and putting in steady laps, holding off all but Pretscherer and Simpson after a tough 90 minutes.
Gordon’s teammate, Cole Zeller, Zip-Ty Racing Husqvarna’s Dustyn Davis and IWC Motorsports KTM-mounted Harlem Nelson rounded out the top 10 overall.
A little farther back, SLR Honda star Mikayla Nielsen’s battle was mostly with the fairly debilitating effects of a bug that’s been going around.
“I ended up getting sick on Sunday, so I didn’t really ride at all this week,” Nielsen said. “I rode yesterday and felt all right, but in the [Saturday] afternoon race, I was like, I need to call it—I don’t feel good.
“But I had faith in my fitness because I have a really good off-the-bike trainer, so I knew to rely on my fitness. The Pro section was a little tough this year so I tried to take my time [there] because that could make or break your race, so I kind of tip-toed around it.”
Despite being more cautious overall, the Progressive/Southern Powersports/Maxima CRF250RX rider led every lap of the Pro Women class and owned a 1:24 gap over Norman Racing Husqvarna’s Ava Silvestri at the finish. Kylie Alvarez earned third on her Roseville Motorsports YZ250F. CN
2026 NGPC Round 2 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Dante Oliveira (KTM) 1:33:57
- Justin Hoeft (Kaw) 1:34:24
- Mateo Oliveira (Hus) 1:35:43
- Mason Semmens (KTM) 1:36:30
- Samuel Pretscherer (Hon) 1:37:00
- Cody Simpson (Yam) 1:37:32
- Noah Gordon (KTM) 1:38:28
- Cole Zeller (KTM) 1:38:49
- Dustyn Davis (Hus) 1:39:02
- Harlem Nelson (KTM) 1:40:56
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