FINAL ROUNDS/AUGUST 24-25, 2013
SPIRIT MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT/DULUTH, MINNESOTA
TRIALS
P84
AIRES MOTOTRIALS NATIONAL TRIALS SERIES
BY SHAN MOORE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL MARKHAM AND
RON RIVENBURGH
P
at Smage put the final touches on a dominating season
with an impressive victory at
the final round of the 2013 AIReS
MotoTrials National Trials Series
held at Spirit Mountain Ski Resort
in Duluth, Minnesota.
Only Cody Webb kept Smage
from claiming a perfect season
this year, as the factory Beta rider upset Smage at round nine on
Saturday, taking a six-point victory over the Sherco USA rider.
However, Smage still ended the
year with nine wins and a second-place finish to easily claim
his sixth National title, finishing
the year with 270 championship
points, compared to 213 points
for the runner-up.
"It feels great to end the year
with a solid ride and a win," Smage
said after Sunday's event. "This
year has been a good one for me
and the team, and I can't thank
Ryan Young and Brad Baumert at
RYP enough for all the support."
Like the previous two rounds in
New Mexico, the National Trials
contingent found themselves at
another ski resort for the final two
rounds in Minnesota. Ski resorts
are often looking for ways to generate revenue during the skiing
off-season, and MotoTrials (and
other forms of motorcycle racing)
offer a perfect way to do just that.
Pat Smage wraps up
sixth AMA National
Trials Championship
bleheader after missing the first
eight rounds due to a broken foot
he suffered preparing for the first
EnduroCross round of the year.
Coming into Minnesota, Webb
had only been back on a bike for
about two weeks, but that time
included a stellar win at the Tennessee Knockout the week before, an extreme off-road race
Saturday
Webb was making his 2013 Moto- held in trials-like terrain, held at
Trials debut at the Minnesota dou- the Trials Training Center.
SMAG
Smage, on the other hand,
came into the event with his sixth
title all but wrapped up and with
very little pressure on him, other
than to beat Webb. However, the
Wisconsinite admitted to being a
little shaky when starting section
one on Saturday. Besides a tricky
section nine, the rest of the sections were relatively easy compared to what the competitors
had faced at every other round
