On The Pegs October 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 10 | Page 62

On The Pegs
P 62
On The Pegs
ALEX NIEDERER AND PAT
SMAGE LOOK ON AS SAM
FASTLE DROPS INTO THE
FIRST EXHIBITION SECTION
ON SATURDAY
Vol. 3 Issue 10 - October 2018
P 63
“It’s definitely unbelievable thinking about winning
10 titles,” said Smage. “When I first started riding, I
looked up to Geoff Aaron and I just thought there
would be no way I would ever be as good as him. He
was an idol to me and even when I won my first title I
never really thought I could reach 10. So now getting
it done is really unbelievable.”
Smage admitted it’s been an incredible journey get-
ting to 10 titles.
“Ten championships has been on my mind all year,
so there was definitely some emotion coming into
the weekend,” said Smage. “During the competition
I just tried to block that out and concentrate on what
was in front of me.
“I felt really good all day on Saturday and I rode
well; there was one spot where I almost took a dab
but I just held onto the bike and let it do the work
and was able to get out with a clean. On Sunday, after
the title was wrapped up, I just didn’t feel nearly as
good as I did on Saturday and I don’t think my bal-
ance was as good. I was riding kind of shaky and I
rushed the second section on the first lap and I took
a point, but I was able to get it together and clean the
rest of the day.”
Trading second and third place finishes over the
two days were Gas Gas North America teammates
Daniel Blanc-Gonnet and Alex Niederer. Blanc-Gonnet
was third on Saturday and on Sunday, which was
good enough to give the Oregon native second over-
all in the 2018 standings.
“I just needed to finish one of the two days to wrap
up second in the final standings, but it was more
psychological for me. I wanted to prove to myself that
I earned that position so I wanted to get second this
weekend,” said Blanc-Gonnet. “I was riding really tight
on Saturday’s first lap and I made a few mistakes and
that put me behind the eight ball, so I ended up third.
On Sunday, I loosened up and rode to my potential,
but I had one big mistake where I missed my rear