Red Bull X-Fighters Texas Report

The amount of talent in this contest was unreal. Looking down into the corrals where the riders were pitted, I saw Nate Adams, the first guy to ever beat Travis Pastrana; Robbie Maddison, holder of multiple world records and the winner of the X-Fighter’s previous round in Calgary; Adam Jones, the 2007 X Games gold medalist; and Eigo Sato, a less known Japanese rider who is actually leading the Red Bull X Fighters points chase! There truly was no favorite, and the judges were in store for some very difficult decisions.

Three days of practice in 100 degree Texas heat lead up to the big night, and for guys like Jeremy Stenberg, the event was over after just 90 seconds. You see, the Red Bull X-Fighters has a unique head-to-head, single elimination format instead of a traditional “jam” format where they are scored out of 100 points. The judges chose Mat Rebeaud, the 2008 event winner, as the better of the two after they’d each put in their best, and just like that, Twitch’s night was over.

Six riders made it in through qualifying on Friday night, and five more would have to compete for the final two spots. After Spain’s Dany Torres put down an energetic opening run, France’s Thomas Pages had his work cut out. Pages made a mistake early and knew he needed something huge to stay in the game, so huge he went! Out of nowhere the Frenchman hucked a front flip in the middle of his run. Unfortunately, it turned out a lot like Jim Dechamp’s flip at X Games 14, and Pages hit the ground hard after grossly under-rotating. He was down for a while, but somehow walked off under his own power. Torres’ spot was locked in soon after, and Adam Jones survived a stint in the hot seat with the second best score to land the final qualifying position.

Eigo Sato and Robbie Maddison would face off next. Sato does all the big tricks and gets great extension, and he’s been the most consistent rider on the tour, but he made a rare mistake and went with a dead sailor for his final leap. The door was open for Maddo, but an awkward landing dislocated his shoulder mid-run. Doing his Aussie brethren proud, Maddison popped his shoulder back into place, got back on the bike, and carried on like nothing had happened. He still lost unanimously to Sato.

Though he didn’t win, the man of the evening was another Australian, Cameron Sinclair. Cam is one of what is now a handful of riders who have tried the double backflip, and he was so confident in the maneuver that he actually ended his Friday night qualifying run by nailing it off a super-kicker. It was the first time in FMX history that the trick had been part of a timed run, and he did it in front of empty stands at 1:30 in the morning. He made short work of Dany Torres by repeating his run, which in my opinion, was the best of the night. With 15 seconds left on the clock he casually rolled up to the steepest ramp, and again executed a perfect double backflip. He was noticeably pained afterward though, and it turns out he had sprained his ankle on the landing.