Welcome to The Weekly Dirt, the place to go each Wednesday to catch up on the latest happenings in the realm of off-road motorcycling. This week’s Dirt is coming from the national trials in Pennsylvania.
Patrick Smage took a double win in Pennsylvania. Photo by Shan Moore
Team Sherco rider Patrick Smage took a giant step towards securing a fourth national trials championship by claiming a double win at rounds three and four of the 2011 AMA/NATC MotoTrials Series in Valley View, Pennsylvania. Off and on rain over the weekend made for slippery conditions, but the Wisconsin native turned in a spectacular ride in the tough conditions to edge defending series champ Cody Webb by two points on Saturday and 10 points on Sunday.
Cody Webb finished a close second each day. Photo by Shan Moore
Cody Webb came into the Pennsylvania rounds having taken a win at the opening round of the series in Texas last month and the factory Beta rider was looking to capitalize on his momentum. However, a handful of costly mistakes kept the California rider from getting the job done. Webb now has to get a win streak going at the final three rounds in Tennessee to have a chance at keeping his title.
The new Ossa trialer is a work of art. Photo by Shan Moore
The new Ossa TR280i made its US debut at the event, and it drew quite a crowd. For the non-trials folks, the bike is a fuel injection two-stroke, with a rearward facing cylinder, a filter and intake system that is situated in front of the cylinder and an exhaust that exits the rear of the cylinder. The fuel tank is actually the front down member of the frame and according to the factory, with a full tank the weight is distributed 50/50 between the front and rear of the machine. Pretty neat!
