AIRES AMA NATC MOTOTRIALS US NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
OFF ROAD
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY
SHAN MOORE
A
s expected, Pat Smage
wrapped up his seventh
National Trials title at the
Aires AMA NATC MotoTrials US
National Championship Series
finale in Tennessee, but it was
Cody Webb, in his first MotoTri-
als appearance of the year, who
played the spoiler by taking the
win on both days of the two-day
event, preventing Smage from
going undefeated for the season.
Due to a contractual commit-
ment to the AMA EnduroCross
Series, Webb was unable to
compete in any of the first six
rounds of the MotoTrials Series,
which were all won by Smage.
Despite his lack of time on a tri-
als bike, however, Webb showed
that he hasn't lost his trials skills
and took a pair of relatively easy
wins at the wet and muddy final
two rounds of the series.
For sure, Webb's wins were
a big surprise but one weekend
does not take away from the sev-
en titles and countless wins that
Smage has accrued in the last
decade.
A heavy rain moved into the
area midway into Saturday's com-
petition, making the steep and
rocky hills used for the sections
extremely challenging. Smage
readily admits that he's not very
comfortable on hillclimbs. He's
not too thrilled about slippery
conditions, either, which made
for a double whammy against the
Sherco USA-backed rider, and at
the end of the day it showed in
his results.
Webb, on the other hand,
came into the event with very little
pressure on him. The Beta USA
rider had very little time on a trials
bike, since he's been spending
most of his time concentrating on
the EnduroCross Championship.
And all the hard work and focus
he's been putting into Enduro-
Cross has so far paid off, as he
is leading the EnduroCross point
standings after three rounds.
However, it was anyone's guess
as to how he would perform
when it came down to "go time"
in a national trials.
The Trials Training Center - the
venue for the Tennessee round -
is littered with small to mid-sized
moss-covered rocks that make
up the majority of the sections,
along with steep dirt climbs.
ROUNDS 7 & 8/ JUNE 28-29, 2014
TRIALS TRAINING CENTER/SEQUATCHIE, TENNESSEE
P100
SMAGE
CLINCHES,
WEBB
SURPRISES
PAT SMAGE SEALED
THE DEAL ON HIS
SEVENTH NATIONAL
TRIALS TITLE
