Mar

27

2009

If you did not know the first round of the X Fighters kicked off a little while ago in fact it’s finished. If you were lucky enough to remember it (or get a little reminder in my case) then you would have seen the new kid, the 17 year old phenom went off and is instantly my favourite for the year.

Let’s head back to the beginning. To the surprise of commentators Ronnie “Who’s your daddy” Renner and Tes Sewell, Danny Torres 8th in qualifying. To add to that he didn’t even make the semi final going down to X Fighters veteran Eigo Sato who was superb the whole night. Aussie FMXer Cam Sinclair was also on top of this game riding a 2-stroke bike which he had brought along to do the double backflip in an FMX run; Too bad Mexico is so high above sea level and the oxygen levels are low so power to the bike suffered. However he displayed his Aussie pride and took out 4th place overall.

Mat Rebeaud the champ from ’08 had a crash in practice; the day prior whilst doing an underflip. Of course he felt a little pain but you couldn’t tell by watching his run. Throwing down his signature tricks he was flawless against all the competitors except Levi Sherwood. Mat had his usual tricks, the underflip and backflip variation but Levi has the same tricks almost with his one style for each. Not to mention he worked the crowd.

It was disappointing to see so many riders screw up. Eigo Sato missed a shift, Sherwood was a little quick with the throttle on the slick ramps, Andre going off the down ramp. There were many mistakes but most recovered nicely. It’s also disappointing to see so much emphasis on how many tricks you do. Tes Sewell mentioned that the judges want 8 tricks. In my opinion it’s about how good the tricks are. More tricks equals less extension maybe they can improve the course design to compensate that.

But the major shock for the night was Levi Sherwood, the young gun, 17 years old from New Zealand (South-East from Australia for those unfamiliar) literally whacked a frying pan over everyone. It’s hard to comprehend how someone which such huge tricks is a) 17 and b) never been to a big competition before. That’s right, he hasn’t been at x Games, Dew Tour or the IFMXF series. He’s the new kid on the block who is sure to provide some intense rounds ahead.

Tags: Backflip Cam Sinclair Freestyle Motocross LuskFMX Metal Mulisha Video X Knights

Mar

19

2009

Travis Pastrana, a legend in everything Motocross is making a comeback to what he loves most; Supercross! After a 3 year break from any AMA Supercross racing, that being Daytona 2006 where he had shown so much promise but went down in the whoops (Watch Racing Days Vol.1 to see), now he is back and has been training for 2 weeks solid. No doubt the 199 could beat 80% of the riders that line up to the gate week in, week out without training, now lets see how much he can improve.

The track will play to his advantage since he was part of it’s design and no doubt he added in aspects that will help him get along. The only thing that Travis has to watch out for is crashing. It seems everybody’s favourite racer just couldn’t seem to stay on the bike long enough to grab an AMA 250cc/Pro Class wins but perhaps now it’s time. No doubt Stewart and Reed won’t give Travis an inch, they have the championship. Similarly to Jason Lawrence at Daytona this year, Travis also has nothing to lose so he’ll be going all out this time.

If you’re going to the race be sure to mention KICKERMAN360 and KICKERfilm.com to Travis! Or if you’re like me you’ll be watching the broadcast which airs on either CBS or SpeedTV this weekend. Check your local listings.

Tags: Backflip Double Freestyle Motocross James Stewart Kevin Windham KICKERfilm KICKERfilm.com KICKERMAN360 Travis Pastrana Video