VOL. 53 ISSUE 21 JUNE 1, 2016 P37
dangerous," said Freixa. "It was
disappointing but I am looking
forward to tomorrow."
Andrew Putt (Team RYP/
Zip Express/Dunlop/Maxima/
Sherco) was another rider on his
game, his 4/2/0 loop scores
leaving him with the final step of
the podium, while Karl Davis Jr.
(Team RYP/Zip Express/Dun-
lop/Maxima/Scorpa) had one
of his best rides to date with an
18-point day and fourth overall.
Logan Bolopue (Team RYP/
Zip Express/Dunlop/Maxima/
Sherco) rounded out the top five
with one point more than Davis.
Saturday's disappointment
was just enough incentive for
Freixa to come out with guns
blazing on Sunday. The for-
mer number three in the world
dropped just one point on each
of his first two laps, both coming
on the difficult seventh section,
before turning in a clean lap on
his final go-around.
Smage, on the other hand,
struggled in section seven,
dropping a total of seven points
there, and leaving Freixa all
alone in first.
"Section seven was good for
me," said Freixa. "It was the right
difficulty and I was able to gain
some ground on Smage there. It
was possible to clean it but you
could also take a five there, so it
was challenging."
Freixa's win left him in a two-
way tie with Smage in the series
points standings.
"It is a good battle so far with
Smage, and I am looking for-
ward to the next round in Or-
egon," said Freixa.
Smage grabbed the runner-
up slot with his seven-point day.
"We did have one tough section
that I wasn't quite able to figure
out, and I ended up taking all of
my points there, so the entire
day came down to that section,"
Smage said. "It dried out during
the day and I just kind of spun
and didn't get the drive to make
it to the top. But I'm pleased with
how I've ridden in the series so
far. To be honest, I really didn't
expect to be able to take a win
from Freixa and so far I have
two."
Putt was third again on Sun-
day, and once again the Sherco
rider was brilliant on his final lap.
In section seven, Putt took a five
on the first lap, but came back
with a two and a clean on the
final two laps. A three-point ride
in section 11 of the first lap left
Putt with a total of 10 points.
Karl Davis Jr. was solid again,
but just can't seem to crack the
top three just yet. A 30-point day
put the Scorpa rider in fourth,
just one point ahead of fellow
Floridian Alex Niederer (Gas Gas
USA).
Shan Moore
Saturday
1. Pat Smage (Shr) 0
2. Marc Freixa (Mon) 5
3. Andrew Putt (Shr) 6
4. Karl Davis Jr. (Sco) 18
5. Logan Bolopue (Shr) 19
Sunday
1. Marc Freixa (Mon) 2
2. Pat Smage (Shr) 7
3. Andrew Putt (Shr) 10
4. Karl Davis Jr. (Sco) 30
5. Alex Neiderer (GG) 31
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
SHAN
MOORE
Marc Freixa came back and
took the win on day two.
