FactoryONE Sherco’s Pat Smage recorded his 12th AMA MotoTrials Championship when he won both legs of the final rounds (seven and eight) at the Haystack OHV Riding Area in Roswell, New Mexico, October 2-3.
Smage dominated the weekend, dropping just four points on Saturday and only one on Sunday. Smage’s main concern over the weekend was TRS rider Josh Roper, who kept the Sherco pilot honest all-day Sunday, finishing just two points behind Smage for second place.
“This weekend went really well for me,” Smage said. “The sections were mostly pretty easy which makes for a very stressful day knowing any mistake could be impossible to come back from. Saturday was slightly more difficult, and I took a few dabs trying some ‘safe’ lines to avoid risking a five and used the wrong technique on another section that caused another point ending with four.
“I only made one mistake on Sunday with a dab on section seven. I took off a little too easy on a loose hill before an angled ledge and didn’t quite have enough momentum to make it without a dab. My competitors were riding great, and the scores were very close, so the pressure was on all day to stay clean. I am very happy to have minimized my mistakes enough to win both days.”
Roper was second on Saturday, as well, but finished 18 points behind Smage.
It was a close battle for third on Saturday. Alexander Niederer (Scorpa) and Alexander Myers both dropped 29 points, but Niederer claimed the last spot on the podium by having the most cleans on the day.
Karl Davis Jr. (Vertigo), Daniel Blanc-Gonnet (GasGas), Will Myers (Sherco) and Sam Fastle (TRS) rounded out the Pro field.
On Sunday, it was an even closer battle for the last spot on the podium but this time between Blanc-Gonnet and Myers. Both riders finished out the day with 18 points on their scorecards, and they also had the same amount of cleans. A second tiebreaker was needed which went in Blanc-Gonnet’s favor for accumulating the most one’s (single dabs) on the day.
Davis was again fifth, followed by Myers, Niederer and Fastle. CN
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