Red Bull X Fighters Madrid 2010

07/29/2010

It’s July and it was the time when Spain hosted the best freestyle motocross riders from the whole world. The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid was chocking full and every Spaniard was cheering for their national freestyle hero Dany Torres.

I was really looking forward for this event. Red Bull X Fighters are amazing in Madrid. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to Spain, but a friend of mine did, so I can’t wait to read her review. I was watching the whole event on TV. For my huge surprise Mike Mason made it to the X-Fighters. I haven’t known Nate Adams will skip this event and Mason will replace him. I couldn’t wait seeing his tricks. Unluckily, he wasn’t as good as I thought he would. But the huge temper in the bull arena could easily affect his focus. The winner from Moscow – Levi Sherwood ended in the Round 1 too. I really felt sorry for him, but on the other hand Robbie Maddison pulled out a new trick! I think it was the “Volt” and it was amazing. Mat Rebeaud looked better on bike this time too after that bad injury he had. So the final was Mat Rebeaud vs. Robbie Maddison.

Honestly, Mat’s chances weren’t high against Maddo’s trick. Robbie Maddison did the best again and finally he reached the top “podium stand”.

All in all it was a great event. Huge congratulations to the winner and Adam Jones, who celebrated his 26th birthday on last Friday! For more videos and photos from this event don’t forget to check out the www.fmxworld.com

The pope is used to a certain measure of protection. His security detail is hard core. He frequently drives around encased in bulletproof glass. After all, ours is a dangerous world.

Plaques honoring historic visits from popes of yore, however, usually can get by without any unusual fortification.

Usually.

This week, the bronze likeness of Pope John Paul II at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum commemorating his 1987 visit wears a skirt of steel trench plate, concrete and padding as final preparations are made to transform the Coliseum into an X Games centerpiece. In fact, the village of luminaries comprising the Memorial Court of Honor along the stadium's iconic peristyle columns is seeing a change in the surroundings. Everything, it seems, is wrapped in steel. Where once His Holiness and friends looked east toward the Jack and Jill statues and west to the long expanse of green grass and cardinal USC end zones, now all they see is dirt.

Tons of it. And berms, ramps and whoops.

The engines have returned.

The Coliseum traces to the beginning of supercross as a sporting discipline. In 1972, the inaugural Super Bowl of Motocross (nobody had changed the name yet) was held there, and was successful enough to warrant repeat engagements in '73 and '74 and serve as a springboard for a championship series. It remained a mainstay on the (now) supercross circuit until the early '90s, hosting fewer events after but still some of the sport's biggest (including a victory for eight-time X Games medalist Brian Deegan in an AMA event in '97 made controversial when he ghost-rode his bike -- meaning he wasn't on it -- over the finish line).

Supercross disappeared from the Coliseum after '98. Then, when the X Games came to L.A. in 2003, Deegan and a 19-year-old Travis Pastrana engaged in one of the event's more memorable freestyle moto competitions, as they traded off-axis 360s and Pastrana took gold.

At X Games 16, the Coliseum is shaking off the motorsports rust in a big way. Moto X Freestyle and Moto X Super X (formerly Moto X Racing and the X Games' version of supercross, staged in men's, women's and adaptive categories) move up the 110 from the Home Depot Center in Carson, joined by Rally Car Racing and the debut of Rally Car SuperRally.

"There's a lot of history there," says Deegan, who has competed in just about every discipline available on a dirt bike, from racing to freestyle to Step Up, and was part of the action in 2003 when X Games last graced L.A.'s venerable stadium. "I'm excited to be back."

So are course builders and designers, reviving the feature making races at the Coliseum so special: the peristyles (hence the protection for the pope's plaque and his bronzed brethren). As has been tradition, racers -- whether handling two wheels or four -- will shoot up and down 120 feet from the stadium floor and through the peristyles. The starting gate for the Moto X Super X race is dead center in front of them, plunging riders immediately down the dirt into the bowl. That's a first.

The peristyles will play a huge role in the reconfigured rally events as well, particularly the new SuperRally race, featuring four cars on the track at once. Drivers will have two lanes they can choose from in and out of the peristyles, but math isn't exactly on their side. The peristyles are only 13 feet wide. Cars are what, 6 feet? Give or take? Did I mention there would be four of them?

"There's going to be carnage," says veteran rally driver Tanner Foust, pleased to hear the pope, Billy Graham and Cardinal James Francis McIntyre are among the religious figures honored around the columns. "I'll take all the blessings I can get."

Deegan, himself a rally driver these days, was stoked to see the peristyles incorporated into the course.

"It's cool that they're using them for the rally car," he said. "It'll make for good pictures and good TV."

And it makes for incredibly long hours for the people making it all happen. The X Games crew gained access to the stadium around midnight July 20. Working around the clock, about 24 hours later the field was covered in protective plastic and a "pad" of dirt about a foot deep. It's a well-organized circus. You've got your dirt movers, your dirt builders, a scaffold vendor, folks laying cable and placing protective barriers, cranes rolling in and -- oh, by the way -- the Big Air ramp being installed at the opposite end of the venue. All in time for practices to start Monday and Tuesday.

What seems like a large swath of space to work with is in the final result a use of square footage economical enough to bring a New York apartment dweller to tears. Fans entering the Coliseum on Thursday will see the track for Moto X Super X competition (built to be both exciting and rideable by three classes of riders, no easy task), featuring a tunnel under the Mega Ramp. Tucked in with it is a juiced-up freestyle course from designer Dane Herron featuring five ramps offering a wider variety of lines for riders than in years past, plus a huge wall feature (set against the back of the Big Air ramp), a smaller wall and a rainbow rail, all intended to bring a larger dose of creativity to this year's event.

When the two-wheel crew is done, they'll tear down all but Big Air and by Saturday will have rebuilt everything for rally. They get their own tunnel under the Mega Ramp, twice as wide.

The goal is to stage an event pushing the boundaries of the sports involved while at once getting back to their roots in Los Angeles. It doesn't seem so long ago since supercross left the Coliseum, but only one athlete in this year's X Games -- adaptive rider Chris Ridgeway -- has ever raced there. Freestyle at X Games went to Home Depot Center for most of a decade.

Now it's all back, bringing rally along.

Think they can make a fan of the pope?

Supercross News

Feld Motor Sports announced today that the Utah Sports Commission will be continuing their sponsorship with Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship, for the third consecutive year.

Monster Energy Supercross will be returning to Salt Lake City's Rice-Eccles Stadium, April 30 for the penultimate race of the 17 race championship.

"We are thrilled to bring Supercross back to Utah in 2011. Playing host to a major sporting event like AMA Supercross, that provides both significant economic impact and global exposure, once again highlights the value of hosting these key sporting events for the image building and promotion of Utah," said Jeff Robbins, president & CEO of the Utah Sports Commission.

"We are also very excited for our dedicated Supercross fans that this event is returning in 2011."

The Utah Sports Commission plays a central role in the Salt Lake City supercross races and continues to take vital routes to keep Rice-Eccles Stadium on the AMA Supercross schedule.

"By extending our relationship with the Utah Sports Commission, we will once again work cooperatively with the community to produce another exciting event for the loyal supercross fans in Salt Lake City," said Todd Jendro, senior director of operations, Feld Motor Sports. "Annually the Monster Energy race in Salt Lake City generates an estimated $9 million economic impact."

Last year more than 35,000 fans braved a mixture of snow, sleet, and rain at Rice Eccles Stadium where GEICO Powersports Honda's Kevin Windham raced to his second victory and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Jake Weimer claimed the Western Regional AMA Supercross Lites championship.

The first supercross race held at Rice-Eccles Stadium took place in 2001 where 42,135 fans packed the venue to witness Ricky Carmichael win his 13th race of the 16 round season.

July 25, 2010 – Corona, CA – Expect non-stop action as Monster Energy athletes hit events across Moto, BMX, Skate and Rally at X Games 16, beginning this Thursday, July 29 through Sunday, August 1. It’s all going down center stage in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum and in and around STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA.

A total of eight Monster riders are competing in Moto events. In Best Trick, Kyle Loza will be defending as the three-time Moto X Best Trick Gold medalist—after a recent wrist surgery, could we see the bike flip and the first-ever four-peat in the event? He’ll face Monster Energy Teammate Blake “Bilko” Williams, an always-exciting rider with loads of swagger.

Hitting the track as defending 2008-2009 Super X Gold Medalist will be John Hansen, who’s playing triple duty as a competitor in Super X, Speed & Style, and Best Whip—it should be a great show. Also lining up in Super X is Nick Wey, a rider with speed and perseverance that’s always a force on the track.

A methodical trick machine, Nate Adams will hit the Speed & Style course as the event returns to the X line-up. He’ll also do work in Freestyle Motocross, joined by the defending gold-medalist “Bilko” and serious threat Adam Jones, who’s already won at X Fighters this year.

Sarah Price will battle as she combines speed and rhythm on July 29 in Super X Women, a semi-new event that’s gaining more interest, fans, and excitement constantly—these girls are powerhouses!

In BMX Vert the number one threat will be Monster’s Jamie Bestwick, who’s often called the best BMX Vert rider ever and is a five-time X Games Vert gold medalist.

In BMX Park two time X Games gold medalist and four-time medalist Scotty Cranmer will be back for more hardware, but he’ll have to contend with the legendary Dave Mirra,

a medal-collector who’s been practicing hard lately and contest-mainstay Ryan Guettler. Andy Buckworth, a young buck from Australia with loads of flip variations like the double front, will battle in BMX Big Air.

Mirra and Ken Block are playing double duty behind the wheel as they both compete in Rally Racing and the all-new Super Rally, which sees four cars on the track at the same time. Mirra, known for his legendary BMX career, has become a threat as he pushed a different pedal to the metal. And Block, now a WRC driver, will be hot off the line and nimble through the turns as he seeks redemption and his first-ever Gold in the event he’s medaled in every single year.

Expect more major action as Skate Big Air and Skate Big Air Rail Jam competitors take to the MegaRamp inside the iconic Coliseum. Jake Brown will come in with big plans after the memorable gold medal last year and perhaps more-memorable slam two years ago, while his Monster teammate Pierre Luc Gagnon (PLG) will translate his vert skills and smoothness to the Big Air ramp. The Quebec tech-wizard will also compete in Skate Vert Trick (as the defending Gold medalist) and also Skate vert alongside Alex Perelson, a young force on the ramp with a proven 900. Perelson will also look to make a big impression as he competes in Skate Park.

Visit monsterenergy.com for more on all these athletes as they compete in X Games 16, plus the coverage of Monster’s activities during the four-day event.

It's been almost two years since Blair Morgan broke his back at a motocross race in Montreal.

"I was laying on the ground and I knew I was hurt really bad," Morgan recalled of the Sept. 20, 2008, accident. "I knew I broke my back."

In the world of motocross, what happened to Morgan's front and back tires at the Montreal Supercross is referred to as cross-rutting.

Both tires became momentarily caught in ruts on the track during a qualifying lap, and he was launched from his seat.

He severed his spinal cord upon impact with the ground. Doctors in Montreal told Morgan he was paralyzed from the chest down.

"I had a bit of a hope that maybe something could happen where the doctors could be wrong," Morgan said. "But after months and months, you accept it. It was almost like a dream, everything is different, and after time it sinks in."

The Prince Albert product boasts an impressive list of snocross and motocross accomplishments: five-time ESPN X-Games gold-medallist, six-time SSX (Clear Channel Super SnoCross) champion, two-time CMRC national motocross champion, and 1998 CMRC 250 national champion.

He was also included in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2005 for winning the most gold medals in snocross history.

Now the man with a propensity for flight, nicknamed 'Superman' by motocross fans, is settling in to a different way of life.

"I've just been laying low since I got hurt," said Morgan, a Carlton Comprehensive High School graduate. "I'm just really kind of adapting to my new life."

Morgan has been setting goals ever since the accident happened, the first being to get out of hospital.

"I wanted to get out of the hospital, I hated it there," said Morgan, who attended the SPCA celebrity golf tournament Thursday at Cooke Municipal Golf Course. "So I worked really hard."

He was released from Saskatoon City Hospital on Dec. 5, 2008.

"It was nice to get home," Morgan said. "I have two young kids (Breck, 6, and Corbyn, 9). It was kind of my goal to get home and be with them. Spending time with them is all I've been doing the last couple years. The kids definitely helped with motivation and everything like that, making me happy really."

Since moving back to the family farm just outside Prince Albert, Morgan has been slowly adjusting to life without the use of his legs.

"Now that I'm at home and everything, getting settled, I'm getting better at doing things like driving, and getting in and out of my truck - just everyday things. I'm still adapting. Some days I'll try some things, just the way I move in and out of the wheelchair. You learn different types of techniques."

Morgan raced competitively for about 20 years leading up to the accident. He said the injury-induced break has been a welcomed one for him and his family.

But he still manages to find time to ride an ATV, or a snowmobile when the white stuff is around.

The time away from racing has also allowed Morgan to rekindle his love for soccer. The Manchester United fan, a player himself in his younger days, now spends time coaching his brother's men's league team in Prince Albert.

Sooner or later, however, Superman plans to don the tights and cape, and hop back onto his vehicle of choice.

"If you told someone a guy is in a wheelchair, but he rides a motorcycle, they wouldn't believe you. Something like that is obviously a goal. I've heard of guys actually duct-taping their legs onto a motorcycle, and they get their buddies to start them off."

He isn't setting a date for his return to motor biking, but Morgan said he might have a customized bike by next summer.

Given his track record, Morgan should be back in the saddle sooner than later.

osh Hill, who finished sixth in the 2010 AMA Supercross series, reportedly broke his femur attempting a back flip at Deft Family facility. Hill, who has not been racing the AMA 450 Nationals, was preparing for the X Games, which starts next week.

L&M Team manager Larry Brooks posted this on the Vital moto board:

"Broken Femur, broken shoulder and a couple fractures on his pelvis.

"Parents please tell your kids, "Racers should stick with racing and leave back flips to the Freestyle guys." I've been trying to tell Josh this for weeks and he just wanted to show everyone that he could do a back flip in Speed & Style. Was it really worth it? Was anyone really going to be that pumped that he pulled a back flip? The risk was and is just way too high and for a guy that races motorcycles for a living, injury's are just devastating to their career. I'm really bummed for Josh.

"Yes, I know he's a kid and doesn't always make the best decisions, but he is a really good kid and has huge talent racing motorcycles. Right now I'm a little upset at him and trust me I'm holding back not to say "I told you so", but please don't bash him too hard, he was just trying to do something spectacular for you guys—the fans."

Cypress, CA – July 22, 2010 – Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A.’s outdoor power equipment division announces a two year partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) – making Yamaha the official supplier of generators for all JGR Supercross as well as Sprint, Nationwide and K&N Pro Series race teams.

As part of the partnership, Yamaha has supplied JGR with a variety of generators that will be used to power welders, engine block warmers, laptops, telemetry equipment and charging communications equipment. Thanks to Yamaha’s Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technology, the JGR team can use Yamaha generators with confidence as a power source for anything with a built in microprocessor.

“We seek to give our teams the best tools and equipment to be successful and our partnership with Yamaha will provide us with the best in generators,” said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. “Whether it’s our motocross operations or our NASCAR teams, we know we have the highest quality product when it comes to Yamaha.”

“Partnering with a winning organization such as Joe Gibbs Racing is an excellent opportunity for Yamaha to demonstrate to the NASCAR community the quality of our generator products,” says Dave Park, Yamaha’s outdoor power equipment product line manager. “We look forward to a long working partnership with JGR and to our involvement in NASCAR.”

The generators JGR is most looking forward to putting to the test are the EF2000iSH, EF2400iSHC, EF2800i and the EF6300iSDE inverter generators as well as the premium EF12000DE . Compact, lightweight and quiet while still powerful, reliable and with low emission these portable generators are perfect for the teams needs both on the track and at the shop.

About Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A.

Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (YMUS), a leader in the outdoor power equipment market, offers the highest quality generators on the market. The company’s ever-expanding line of products also includes outboard motors, motorcycles, ATVs, side-by-side vehicles, scooters, personal watercraft, snowmobiles, boats, race kart engines, accessories, apparel and much more. YMUS products are sold through a nationwide network of more than 4,000 dealers in the United States.

Headquartered in Cypress, Calif., since its incorporation in 1977, Yamaha also has facilities in Wisconsin and Georgia, as well as factory operations in Tennessee and Georgia. For more information on Yamaha, visit www.yamaha-motor.com.

FMX News

Motocross champion Josh Hansen revs up for his third consecutive gold medal at this summer's X Games 16 in Los Angeles. Hansen, known for his natural talent and inimitable smooth riding style (inherited from his father, Donnie Hansen, former world supercross champion), secured back-to-back X Games victories in 2008 and 2009 during the Men's Moto X Super X event.

Following a comeback season, the 26-year-old has been invited to compete in this year's following main events: Best Whip, Speed & Style and Super X. Hansen hopes to close the summer with another win under his belt.

In 2009, Hansen elected to put his career on hold after the tragic loss of two close friends, choosing only four AMA races to compete in for the year. In January, renowned motocross coach Mitch Payton selected Hansen to ride the West Region for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit team.

Making what many have called a comeback, Hansen finished at the top of the season, winning the final round of the 2010 Supercross West Lites series at Salt Lake City, placing second at the AMA East/West Shootouts in Vegas, and concluding top 10 overall.

Since stepping into the limelight of professional motocross at the age of 17, Hansen's career has exploded, receiving top honors in the AMA Lites Class and Full Factory Ride sponsorships, a professional campaign that has placed him amongst the very best of the sport.

X Games 16 will be held in Los Angeles from July 29-Aug 1 at the following venues: L.A. Live, L.A. Coliseum, Nokia Theater and STAPLES Center. For a full schedule, visit www.xgames.com

Red Bull X-Fighters brings together the world’s top FMX riders and the world’s most celebrated bull-fighting arenas to create the most intense freestyle motocross event on the planet. Check out all the details for 2008 at www.redbullxfighters.com

VADODARA: City-based Veer Patel, who has the distinction of being country's youngest rider and the winner of national supercross championship last year, has launched his own private supercross team in India.

Nineteen-year-old Veer was so far riding for Pune-based Team Pashankar Racing, but the rider launched his own team Team Lilleria Racing at the second round of MRF National Supercross Championship 2010 which was held in Coimbatore.

"Ours is the first such team from Gujarat. The official launch of our team will happen in October when the city will host the fourth round of the national supercross championship," says Veer, who last year had brought laurels to Gujarat by not only winning the national supercross championship, but by also creating a history by becoming first privateer to have clinched the championship.

The national supercross championship is returning to the city after a gap of two years with the fourth leg of the championship to be held on October 31.

Veer, who had in December ended stranglehold of factory team -- Team TVS Racing, which had always bagged the championship since it was formed in 1987, is upbeat about the single rider team with two mechanics and two crew members for support and two test tracks, including one at Umeta on the outskirts of the city and other one at Kolhapur at Mohite Racing Academy.

"This year, I missed the first round at Bangalore and hence, won't be able to retain the title. But I am looking to claim back the title next year. At the same time, with our own team, I will be now competing at both national and international circuits," says Veer, who after a six-month long off season due to knee injury started racing again at Coimbatore, where two international riders from Sri Lanka and Dubai had also participated.

Veer's new team, which will join the league of other private teams like Pune's Pashankar, Goa-based A S Racing and Nagpur's Jatin Racing Academy, which also has a single rider Jatin Jain, will also participate in international championships, including the round three of the Asian Motocross, to be held in Iran in September and the Sri Lankan Supercross scheduled in Sri Lanka on August 20. "We are looking at gaining this international exposure to win Asian championship after two years," Veer added.

prashant.rupera@timesgroup.com