Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1500749
and everything was more on point and felt good. I had a feel- ing I needed to clean it to have a chance at winning, which put some pressure on. I was also rid- ing nearly last, which isn't normal for me. I was feeling the pres- sure at the end and was happy to be able to withstand that. I had no room for error, so I'm happy I was able to keep it together." Returning Sunday for round six, the promoters re-used some of Saturday's sections, chang - ing the gates to increase the difficulty. Once again, the top podium position came down to the wire, with Roper and Smage tied on 21 points. Roper had 30 cleans to Smage's 27, giving the GasGas rider the overall win, while FactoryONE Sherco's Will Myers rounded out the top three with 45 points. "Today was pretty good," said Roper. "It was a nerve-wracking day, but thankfully I was able to keep the nerves somewhat under control. Today was a lot harder than yesterday, so that was nice. We had some tricky stuff. I think both Pat and I had a weird num - ber of mistakes, but then we also had some really good rides. In the end, we both tied with 21 points. I had 30 cleans and he had 27, so I ended up winning today. It was awesome and a great feeling. I think mathematically we're still in it for the championship; I need to do a little bit of math. "It was a great day, sections were good, and I'm really happy to end this break with a win. Then we go on to Rhode Island. I couldn't have done this without my minder, Nigel Parker. It's un - believable the amount of effort he puts in. Huge thank you to him and everybody on the whole GasGas team as well. It's been a whole team role to get here, so we'll keep pushing." Despite getting off to slow starts on both days, five-time and defending champion in the Wom - en's Pro class, Madeleine Hoover (GasGas) came on strong in the final laps to secure a double vic- tory over the weekend. "My riding went pretty well on Saturday," Hoover said. "On the first loop, I went out strong, sec- ond lap I kind of started to fall apart, but managed to rally for the third lap and get some zeros where I'd had some points be - fore. Sunday went well. It started off a bit rough this morning with a big five, but I was able to pull it back together and come up with two better laps after that." Kylee Sweeten (Sherco) was second in the Women's class both days. The championship title will be decided in Rhode Island on July 29 and 30 with the final rounds of the 2023 series. Stephanie Vetterly Saturday 1. Pat Smage (Sherco) 1pt 2. Josh Roper (GG) 1 3. Alex Myers (She) 13 4. Will Myers (She) 17 5. Daniel Blanc-Gonnet (GG) 18 Sunday 1. Josh Roper (GG) 21 pts 2. Pat Smage (She) 21 3. Will Myers (She) 45 4. Alex Myers (She) 46 5. Alex Niederer (Bet) 54 WIND IN THE P52 Smage edged out Roper on the tiebreaker for the Saturday win.