Friday night, the competition
took a hot and humid start.
Smage seemed to be in his ele-
ment, dropping only six points
throughout the day. Roper took
second with 56 points. Facto-
ryONE Sherco's Will Myers, a
Pennsylvania native and not new
to riding in the slop, rounded
out the podium with 75 points.
Temperatures cooled down a bit
for Sunday, but riders were more
pleased to have lower humidity
to deal with. Once again, Smage
buckled down and "tried to ride
like my old self," coming in with
only 13 points. He admitted to
riding a bit more defensively
due to seeing other Pro riders
taking full five-point scores in
sections. At the end of the day, it
was enough to take the top step.
Roper admitted to not feeling
very good on the bike but was
able to improve his scores each
loop after some extra breaks.
FactoryONE Scorpa's Alex My
-
ers, brother to Will Myers, bested
Roper by a single point to take
second place, his best finish of
the season.
"This was definitely the best
I've felt on the bike this year,"
said Smage of his riding Satur
-
day. "I really put it together right
away with two one-point loops.
VOLUME ISSUE AUGUST , P37
The Sherco crew celebrates
winning the 2023 NATC National
Mototrials Championship in Rhode
Island.
PHOTOS: STEPH VETTERLY
Pat Smage captured his 14th
career NATC Championship after
sweeping the series final.
