ers failing to complete it on the
second attempt. Section two
offered riders a bit of respite with
a simple rocky hillclimb before
heading into the high-flying ac-
tion of sections three and four.
Easily the crown jewel of the
afternoon, offering the most ac-
tion and drama, was section four,
which included the same splatter
that challenged riders back in
2019. Much in "Smage" fashion,
Pat was able to clean the section
both times, earning a completely
clean ride for the shootout. Oth-
ers found themselves looping
out at the top of the splatter, a
dangerous position to be in as
the only way out is to fall approxi-
mately eight feet.
On his first attempt, Facto-
ryONE Sherco's Will Myers
reached the top of the splatter,
but too much rotation prevented
him from setting the front wheel
down. The result was a spectac-
ular catch of the bike by minder/
father Mark Myers, but a tumble
straight down onto the rocks
below for Will. The on-site para-
medic was called in to assess
injury, and after a few moments
and some questioning to rule
out a possible concussion, the
Sherco rider was up and mov-
ing, and was escorted out of the
section. Riders continued their
attempts, with varying degrees
of success. Impressively, Will
donned his helmet and geared
up for his second attempt. In the
comeback story of the weekend,
not only did Will successfully
splatter the obstacle, he cleaned
the entire section!
Starting bright and early
Sunday morning, Smage needed
only to start the day and earn
series points to secure his title.
Sections were similar to those
of Saturday's, with more empha-
sis on multiple large obstacles
or loose hillclimbs rather than
technical turns. Roper closed
the season out with another
second-place finish, with team-
mate GasGas's Daniel Blanc-
Gonnet improving from fifth place
on Saturday to round out the
Sunday podium.
"It's definitely cool," said
Smage about winning his 13th
title. "I've definitely got to appre-
ciate every [championship] that
I get and have had, especially
with the other riders stepping it
up so much. They're just closing
the gap more and more each
year; as good as they are, for me
to finish ahead of them is pretty
sweet. So, definitely got to enjoy
it and appreciate it. And just to
have the opportunity to keep do-
ing this is pretty special.
"I've got to thank the Factory-
ONE team for giving that oppor-
tunity for me to focus on this. Up
until now, this is all that has really
mattered this year, so it's been a
lot of pressure that I put on my-
self and I'm glad I could manage
to hold it together and pull it off."
Stephanie Vetterly
SATURDAY
1. Pat Smage (She) 3
2. Josh Roper (GG) 26
3. Alexander Niederer (Bet) 37
4. Will Myers (Sco) 45
5. Daniel Blanc-Gonnet (GG) 46
SUNDAY
1. Pat Smage (She) 1
2. Josh Roper (GG) 5
3. Daniel Blanc-Gonnet (GG) 27
4. Alexander Myers (Sco) 36
5. Alexander Niederer (Bet) 40
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 24 JUNE 14, 2022 P33
Next-best on the
day and in the
championship was
Josh Roper who
went 2-2 over the
weekend.
