Everything’s Bigger in Texas. Freestyle Motocross Meets Rodeo in the First-Ever U.S. Red Bull X-Fighters
Santa Monica, Calif. (June 12, 2008) – When the third of five global series stops takes on a rodeo theme at the Historic Fort Worth Stockyards in Texas on Saturday night, June 14, the riders and 18,000-plus fans will be witness to one of the largest, most challenging freestyle motocross courses ever built.
More than 13,000 cubic yards of Texas dirt fill the 300-foot x 400-foot riding area, which is more than one and a half times the size of a football field. Course designer Dane Herron and his staff of five have worked for more than two weeks to sculpt the dirt into a moto masterpiece on what was recently a blank canvas. Among the features are seven competition ramps with gaps ranging from 75-feet to 120-feet, two custom metal quarterpipes and several multi-directional dirt hits for the riders to choose from for their 90-second runs. The centerpiece of the course is a 20-foot dirt quarterpipe, where the riders will go for big air.
The list of world-class riders includes previous Red Bull X-Fighters winners Mat Rebeaud (Switzerland), Ronnie Renner (USA), Dany Torres (Spain) and Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg (USA), as well as Eigo Sato (Japan) and Thomas Pages (France), plus Robbie Maddison (Australia), the Guinness World Record holder for longest jump on a motorcycle. Rounding out the 12-rider competition will be the five riders who advance from a seven-rider qualifier taking place on Friday, June 13.
Travis Pastrana, who is not competing so he can focus on his rally car racing career, will make a special appearance as the event’s Grand Marshal.
Keeping in line with the rodeo theme, fireworks, rodeo queens, and bull riders will add an authentic Texas flavor to the event, making it truly a night to remember for spectators and riders alike.
In the 2008 series opener in Mexico City, Rebeaud claimed victory at the Monumental Plaza de Toros – the world’s largest bullfighting arena. Stenberg samba’d his way to the win at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro. After the Fort Worth event, the series heads to Europe at the Steinbruch Oetelshofen in Wuppertal, Germany on July 4 and concludes at the Plaza de Toros de las Ventas in Madrid on July 17-18, where the overall series champion will be crowned. Rebeaud leads the series point standings heading into Texas.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting
www.redbullxfighters.com. There are limited course-side standing room tickets for only $15. For those who can’t make it to Ft. Worth, the event will be aired on ABC on Sunday, June 22 at 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT, immediately following the IndyCar Series race.
For additional information on Red Bull X-Fighters, please visit
www.redbullxfighters.com and for hi-res images, free for editorial use, visit
www.redbull-photofiles.com.
