Smage Wins In Portugal
Nineteen year old Patrick Smage – Sherco is certainly putting the USA back on the World Trial map and flying the ‘Stars and Stripes’ high on the European scene. While Smage is no stranger to the SPEA FIM Trial World Championship, having previously contested the SPEA FIM Youth Trial Cup back in 2007 and 2008, up until now he has not quite lived up to the expectations that surrounded him. Coming from a nation where motocross is King of all off road sports, Smage has had to carry the full weight of responsibility on his young shoulders for a country that has not enjoyed a FIM Trial World Champion since 1979.
Looking to follow in the tire marks of the great Bernie Schreiber who pioneered a new style for the sport with his pivot turns and bunny hops, Smage finally looks ready to accept the challenge. A sixth place at the opening GP in Spain was not ideal, but Patrick Smage bounced back brilliantly to take second place on the first day in Portugal before securing his first ever victory at this level on the Sunday. Smage now heads the SPEA FIM Junior Trial World Cup standings and looks a real contender for this year’s title.
Story courtesy of fim-live.com. Used with permission.
ShanBlog #3, Stardate April 21, 2010
My schedule has me in Tennessee this week. I covered the national enduro in West Point, TN, this past weekend and this coming weekend there’s a GNCC at Loretta Lynn’s. Yep, I plan on saying hi to the Queen of Country Music. Anyway, today I’m camped in the David Crockett National Forest to save a little money. Just me and my tent and a few DVDs. If you saw the movie 2012 and you remember the Woody Harrelson character then you know how I look right about now. I plan on just sitting in a lawn chair and letting the hair grow between my toes for the next two days. Anyway, back to the national enduro. Charlie Mullins is really haulin’ the mail right now and it has all the other guys wondering what they need to do to pick up the pace. Russell Bobbitt and Michael Lafferty both told me that they plan on spending time on a motocross track before the Missouri round to work on their speed.
In Tennessee, Mullins was wearing gear that was not predominately blue. Like Chad Reed, the Yamaha rider is contractually obligated to wear predominately blue riding gear, however, his contract also states that when he finishes on the podium he has the option to wear any color of his choosing at the next race. And since he won the national enduro in Texas last month, Mullins showed up in Tennessee in black and white (with blue trim). It was a nice look for him.
At that same enduro this past weekend, Glenn Kearney went down hard in one of the tests, and it looked like he might have injured his shoulder or neck. However, a call to the Husqvarna rider on Tuesday revealed that Glenn had visited his doctor and all was fine. “I’m sore and stiff, but I’m okay, so I’m just going to stay off the bike the rest of the week and hopefully I will be ready for the GNCC on Sunday,” Kearney told me. According to Kearney, his doctor told him that he had just pulled some ligaments in his shoulder and he should be fine with a little rest.
Just two weeks until the national trials opener in Oklahoma and defending series champ Patrick Smage is in Europe right now contesting the world rounds. At the opener in Spain, Patrick finished sixth in the Youth division, which is for riders over the age of 18, who are not riding the “World” division. Patrick spent Monday and Tuesday riding with Sherco factory rider Albert Cabestany and today (Wednesday) they are heading to Portugal for the round this weekend. Look for Pat to be on his game in Oklahoma, however, don’t overlook Gas Gas riders Cody Webb and Keith Wineland, who locked horns at this year’s El Trial de Espana. Wineland ended up winning that one in a ride-off (look for a full report in the May issue of T&E News).
That’s all for now from the Davey Crockett National Forest… See ya in Oklahoma.
Mullins Gets Third Win at Tennessee Enduro
Charlie Mullins worked his way back into title contention with a solid win at round five of the Rekluse/AMA National Enduro Series near West Point, Tennessee, topping defending series champ Russell Bobbitt by nearly two minutes at the end of 68 miles of racing. Mullins kicked off the season with a win at the opening round in South Carolina, but a DNF at the Alligator Enduro in Florida left the Obermeyer/Am Pro/FMF Yamaha rider’s championship hopes in doubt. However, after two-straight wins Mullins now sits third in the standings, just four points behind series leader Russell Bobbitt.
Mullins started off the Tennessee event by winning the first 6.5-mile section by 30 seconds over defending series champ Russell Bobbitt, and from that point on Mullins was never headed. Of the six tests, Mullins won the first four and then cruised to a 1 minute, 51 second margin of victory, despite losing his rear brake during the final test.
“It feels good to get two in a row and eat away at that points gap,” said Mullins. “I liked this course, it was rocky and tight and you couldn’t take too many chances, and it ended up being a good day for me.”
Bobbitt ended up winning the final section and took over the points lead with his runner-up finish, however, he was not pleased at finishing behind Mullins.
“I didn’t start off the way I wanted to, I washed out in a turn and broke my front rotor,” said the FMF/KTM rider. “I just didn’t ride as well as I needed to and I need to find a little more speed to try to stop Charlie.”
Factory Husaberg rider Michael Lafferty rounded out the podium, finishing the event 1 minute, 20 seconds behind Bobbitt.
“I struggled early on – I just didn’t feel up to par right out of the gate,” said Lafferty. “Getting on the podium is good, but I’m definitely not happy with my results. It’s a long season, however, and Charlie’s definitely stepped it up right now, but we just need to find some more speed and make a race out of this. It’s only April and a lot of things can happen and we just gotta keep going.”
FMF/KTM’s Cory Buttrick finished fourth on the day, while Husaberg rider Nick Fahringer finished fifth after winning the fifth test. Virginia KTM rider Brad Bakken finished sixth, ahead of Husqvarna’s Glenn Kearney, who salvaged seventh after injuring his shoulder in the second test.
With five rounds down and five to go, Bobbitt holds a slim, one-point lead in the series standings over Lafferty with Mullins sitting third another three points back.
O/A: 1. Charlie Mullins (Yam); 2. Russell Bobbitt (KTM); 3. Michael Lafferty (Hsb); 4. Cory Buttrick (KTM); 5. Nick Fahringer (Hsb); 6. Brad Bakken (KTM); 7. Glenn Kearney (Hus); 8. Cole Kirkpatrick (KTM); 9. Andrew DeLong (KTM); 10. Wally Palmer (Hus).
Standings after 5 rounds: 1. Russell Bobbitt 112; 2.Michael Lafferty (111/1 win); 3. Charlie Mullins (108/3 wins); 4. Cory Buttrick (98/1 win) 5. Nick Fahringer (86).
ShanBlog #2, Stardate April 7, 2010
Just saw the latest cover of Cycle News and it was one of my shots of Charlie Mullins from the Texas round... you Cycle News guys - you knuckleheads. I love ya'
-Shan Moore
ShanBlog #1 Stardate April 6, 2010
Welcome to the first entry of my T&E News news blog... I want to start off by apologizing for taking so long to get it going. First of all I need to tell you a bit about myself. My wife, Cheryl, and I publish Trials & Enduro News from our home in Oklahoma, and we do it for fun - sort of a part-time job. To keep the wheels turning, I have worked full-time for Cycle News for the past five or six years, and this year I went to work for Racer Productions doing PR and mag stories for GNCC, so you are likely to see my name in a lot of places. Doesn't mean I'm good at what I do, just persistent. Because of my background with CN, I have always been reluctant to do a blog because that kind of writing was what I would call off the cuff... something that I'm not good at. I was worried I was too "up-tight" to do a blog, and too worried about making mistakes or saying the wrong thing. Well, I've been reading a lot of blogs lately, and I've decided no one else worries about those things so why should I. Also, I have been so tied up with all the events I've been covering lately (I'm on the road every weekend covering something... as a freelancer, if you're not on the road covering something, then your not making money) that I have been hard pressed to find the time. However, I am starting to get a handle on the workload, in addition to getting the hang of putting together 40-something pages of T&E News, so I plan of giving you "off the cuff" updates from all the events I go from here on out.
Last weekend I was in Kalgary, Texas for the fourth round of the Rekluse/AMA National Enduro Series, and I must say it was a pretty cool event. The wind on Saturday gusted to 50 mph, which was kind of scary at times, but things settled down on Sunday and the variety of terrain (desert, sand washes, deep berms, mud, ravines, rocks, some kind of skinny tree-thingys) made for a great change of pace from the usual eastern enduro. I asked a few of the pros what they thought about going out west for a few rounds and they all gave positive response... but you will have to read the next issue to learn who said what! Anyway, Charlie Mullins is really on the gas right now, which is kind of cool because he is pretty much riding for a paycheck right now. With the economy like it is, Hotrod is not getting a salary this year and he is living off of contingency money and purse money right now. So I think he is pretty hungry. But that's not taking away from all the other guys out there who are also getting less than what they were getting last year. There are a lot of super-talented riders on the National Enduro circuit and they are all just as professional as any of the guys I regularly see when I cover the Supercross series.
I am excited that the AMA National Trials series is getting ready to kick off on May 1-2 in my home state of Oklahoma. Any of you enduro guys who have never seen a national trials event should try to get out to see one, especially a national. It's amazing what these guys can do on two wheels, and our european counterparts like Taddy Blazusiak and David Knight already know the value of cross-training on trials bikes. Okay, that's enough blather for now. Hope I didn't make too many mistakes or say too many dumb things (hope my kids aren't reading this). I will always try to find one single shot that I feel sums up an event and post it with my blogs (of course, I will also be posting more news, as well). And the one I have above of Glenn Kearney surveying a section of the Texas enduro loop as the sun rises on the west Texas landscape kind of did it for me this time.
I'll post again soon,
Shan Moore
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