Smage Smokes Minnesota MotoTrials
H
aving completed a clean
sweep of the opening two
rounds of the AMA/NATC U.S.
National MotoTrials Series just
one week before in Nebraska,
Pat Smage (FactoryONE/Sherco)
continued his perfect run with
another double win at rounds
three and four of series in Gilbert,
Minnesota, June 1-2.
Smage was solid in Nebraska,
but in Minnesota he was spec-
tacular, dropping just two points
for the entire two days of competi-
tion, including eight clean rides
in the very difficult "shootout"
session on Saturday afternoon
and a clean day on Sunday. The
shootout sections were ridden
only by the Pro riders and were
set up to take a lot of points. It
was a surprise to everyone, in-
cluding Smage, when he cleaned
the whole session.
Smage is making a habit of
cleaning events, as he cleaned
the second day in Nebraska.
"This was less stressful than
last weekend for me," said
Smage. "I think it was just a
mental thing that I didn't want to
do that again because it wasn't as
enjoyable as it could have been.
So, it really didn't catch up with
me until pretty much until after
section 10, the third loop. I had
thoughts of cleaning the day after
the first loop, but I was at least
putting it out of my mind enough
to not over-stress on it and just
kind of rode it section by section."
Behind Smage, the rest of the
top five looked like a discom-
bobulated and inconsistent mess.
Perhaps the most consistent of
the bunch was FactoryONE/
Scorpa's Karl Davis Jr., who was
second on Saturday and third on
Sunday.
Davis made some brilliant rides
but suffered mental mistakes on
the opening lap each day.
"As always, my first lap was
not good," said Davis. "I've got
IN
THE
WIND
P42
Pat Smage dopped just
two points all weekend
at the AMA/NATC U.S.
National MotoTrials Series.
