U.S. Montesa Honda-backed Toby Martyn made an impressive statement at the opening rounds of the 2024 AMA/NATC MotoTrials USA National Championship Series, presented by Trial Store USA, returning to the Hualapai Mountain Resort in Kingman, Arizona, April 13-14.
By Steph Vetterly
Beautiful but chilly weather welcomed everyone back to the competition season. Riders were shaking off the first-round jitters after eight months since the last National round, but those were short-lived as the competition started bright and early at 6500 feet. As an attempt to help with potential bottlenecks, the start order was completely reversed, with the Pro class heading out first. It was tight competition, with both Toby and FactoryOne Sherco’s Pat Smage taking a completely clean day and forcing a post-event ride-off.
A fresh section was made in one of the creek sections that had previously been used in the 2017 TrialGP World Round, with both Martyn and Smage taking three attempts. Despite cleaning the section on his final attempt, an unfortunate five-point ride on his second attempt cost Smage the round’s win.
A new day brings a new round, and new sections. Trials Master Todd Roper and his team adjusted several of the sections for round two based on results from the previous day. The focus of the section design was more on the technical aspect of the sport, with a few big hits thrown in for good measure. A handful of single dabs put Smage in second place right out of the gate, and he was unable to recover the points gap, so Martyn finished with only a single point on the day.
GasGas’ Josh Roper rounded out the top three both days. “Saturday was an interesting day,” said Roper. “I woke up in the morning and my stomach was uneasy—it was something I’ve never felt before. I eventually got the groove going, though. The sections are just tricky here; you have to be perfectly online. Otherwise, you’ll make a few points. Toby and Pat were perfect. I had a couple of slack dabs here and there, and I didn’t need all of them. Sunday wasn’t my best day of riding, but it also wasn’t my worst, and I felt really solid the last two laps. Overall, I was really happy with my riding.”
In the Women’s Pro class, GasGas’s Maddie Hoover and Trials Superstore’s Kylee Sweeten were relentless in their riding, with both ladies having close scores each day. Hoover took the win for round one (Saturday), with Sweeten taking the top step for round two (Sunday).
“On Saturday, I was slow off the morning,” said Hoover. “I had a pretty bad first and second lap, just couldn’t find a rhythm or a flow. The sections weren’t quite my style, but we pulled it together for the third lap. Kylee was on fire, so I knew I had to come in with something low. I ended up with a one-point loop, which I’m okay with, but she kept me on my toes all day, which was awesome. And then, on Sunday, my riding went well. The sections were decent, a lot of good stuff, I just couldn’t keep my head on and had a few too many mistakes. Kylee rode phenomenal to win, so congratulations to her.”
The AMA/NATC MotoTrials USA National Championship Series will continue June 22-23 for rounds three and four as the series returns to the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee.
2024 AMA/NATC MotoTrials USA Round 1 Results
Saturday
- Toby Martyn (Mon/Hon)
- Pat Smage (She)
- Josh Roper (GG)
Sunday
- Toby Martyn (Mon/Hon)
- Pat Smage (She)
- Josh Roper (GG)
Click here for all the latest Trials Racing news.
