Smage Wins In Ohio
E
leven-time U.S. Trials Cham-
pion Pat Smage swept the
Little Hocking round of the AMA
MotoTrials Championship in Ohio,
June 26-27, winning both days.
The FactoryOne Sherco Team
rider said after the day-one win
ahead of runner-up Alexander My-
ers (FactoryOne Scorpa), "Today
went pretty well but it [the course]
was on the easy side," Smage
said. "When it's on the easy side,
it's almost less… well it's definitely
less enjoyable for me because I
feel so much pressure to clean
everything and it's so easy to ruin
your day with a dumb five or a few
points that you shouldn't take. I felt
this after cleaning the first loop,
it makes me say, well now I have
to clean the whole day. It wasn't
until section 12 on the second loop
where I had to take a point instead
of risking a five. I knew I had a few
points to work with as I watched
Karl [Davis] and Josh [Roper] and
a few other guys in the first loop.
I minimized the risk on loop three
and came away with the win."
Smage took the win on day two
over TRRS rider Josh Roper and
Meyers. "Today went well for me,"
Smage said after Sunday's win. "I
felt like the sections were better
than yesterday. They were all ride-
able all cleanable, but more chal-
lenging. There was more to think
about like line options. I did have a
few poor rides in the first loop and
had a couple of threes that were a
bit frustrating. I was able to clean
them up a little bit for the second
two loops. There's one section I
never quite got clean. It was a bit of
a risk where you could go for the
clean, or risk a five. I went three,
two and one on that so I showed
improvement there. Everyone was
riding really well, and I watched
quite a few [riders] on the first loop
and it feels awesome to start the
season with four wins when these
guys all stepped it up."
CN
Day One:
1. Pat Smage (Shr) 3
2. Karl Davis (Ver) 13
3. Alex Myers (Sco) 16
4. Daniel Blanc-Gonnet (GG) 24
5. Josh Roper (TRS) 26
Day Two:
1. Pat Smage (Shr) 13
2. Josh Roper (TRS) 32
3. Alex Myers (Sco) 48
4. Daniel Blanc-Gonnet (GG) 54
5. Alex Niederer (Bet) 56
IN
THE
WIND
P48
Pat Smage won both
days at the MotoTrials
Championship in Ohio.
PHOTO: STEPH VETTERLY
