On The Pegs June 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 6 | Page 59

On The Pegs
Vol. 3 Issue 3 - June 2018
P 59
Sherco USA’s Sam Fastle sat in fourth after
the first lap with 51 points, despite suffering
a nasty crash in the first section of the day.
Meanwhile, Scorpa USA’s Quinn Wentzel and
Beta USA’s Andreas Niederer rounded out the
top six with 54 and 56 points, respectively.
Smage’s relatively mistake-free ride ended on
the second lap where he suffered a pair of five-
point rides.
“I just felt a little off on the second lap and
I ended up taking a five at the exit of section
four,” said Smage. The Wisconsin rider took
another five in section eight, perhaps the most
difficult of the trial, and added a safety dab in
section nine for a total of 11.
Unlike Smage, the rest of the Pro class bet-
tered their scores on the second lap, with
Alex Neiderer shaving eight points off his first
lap for a total on 17 marks for lap two. Blanc-
Gonnet dropped 13 points off his first lap for a
second-lap score of 22. Fastle followed with 38
points, while Andreas Niederer (51) and Wenzel
(53) jockeyed for fifth and sixth.
Smage sealed the win with an impressive
one-point third lap. The Sherco rider only
needed a safety dab in section nine to com-
plete the lap to claim his third win of the sea-
son.
“I was kind of frustrated with the two fives on
the second lap and so I did a reset and went
out with a little more focus on that last lap,”
said Smage.
Continuing to better his loop scores, Blanc-
Gonnet turned in a 21-point score card on
his final lap – seven points better than Alex
Niederer’s 28-point lap, however it was not
enough to edge Niederer for the runner-up
slot. Alex Niederer’s grand total of 70 points
put the Florida rider into second for the day,
with Blanc-Gonnet settling for third at 78
points.
Fastle finished fourth for the day with a total