VOL. 55 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 5, 2018 P35
as good as him. He was an idol
to me and even when I won my
first title I never really thought I
could reach 10. So now getting it
done is really unbelievable."
GasGas North America team-
mates Daniel Blanc-Gonnet and
Alex Niederer traded second
and third over the weekend.
Blanc-Gonnet was third on Sat-
urday and on Sunday, which was
good enough to give the Oregon
native second overall in the 2018
standings.
"I just needed to finish one of
the two days to wrap up second
in the final standings, but it was
more psychological for me. I
wanted to prove to myself that I
earned that position so I wanted
to get second this weekend,"
said Blanc-Gonnet. "I was riding
really tight on Saturday's first lap
and I made a few mistakes and
that put me behind the eight ball,
so I ended up third. On Sun-
day, I loosened up and rode to
my potential, but I had one big
mistake where I missed my rear
brake and flipped upside down
on a big rock. Other than that, I
had a pretty good day and I was
pleased to get second."
Niederer, who finished sec-
ond on Saturday and third on
Sunday, turned in loop scores of
3-5-2 for the runner-up slot on
Saturday; impressive since he
had been off the bike for nine
weeks due to an injury.
On Sunday, Niederer took a
five in the second section of the
day, which put him in a deep
hole. On the final lap, Niederer
had to make repairs to the bike
on the trail after a crash in a
section and finished the day five
points behind Blanc-Gonnet.
Sherco USA's Sam Fastle
turned in some impressive rides
over the weekend, especially
during Saturday's exhibition, and
finished up with fourth place on
each day. Beta USA's Andreas
Niederer rounded out the top
five on each day.
In the Expert class, Josh Rop-
er wrapped up the Expert class
championship with a nail-biting
victory on Sunday. The 16-year-
old Sherco USA rider beat out
title rival Alex Myer for the title af-
ter winning Sunday's round over
Micah Hertrich. Scorpa USA's
Myer won Saturday's event by
five points over Roper, setting
up a sudden death head-to-head
battle on Sunday, but Roper was
able to seal the title with his vic-
tory over Hertrich on Sunday.
Shan Moore
SATURDAY
1. Pat Smage (Shr) 0
2. Alex Niederer (GG) 10
3. Daniel Blanc-Gonnet (GG) 18
4. Sam Fastle (Shr) 36
5. Andreas Niederer (Bet) 65
SUNDAY
1. Pat Smage (Shr) 1
2. Daniel Blanc-Gonnet (GG) 23
3. Alex Niederer (GG) 28
4. Sam Fastle (Shr) 34
5. Andreas Niederer (Bet) 56
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
SHAN
MOORE
Daniel Blanc-
Gonnet finished
off the weekend
in second place.
