Hansen has been more or less out of the public eye here in America for the last few months after exiting the AMA Supercross Championship at about the halfway point, but he lined up a deal with Mitch Payton for the X Games, and wouldn't you know it, Mitch Payton knows how to pick a winner.
In the main event, GEICO Powersports Honda's Kevin Windham got the holeshot, but it wasn't long before Hansen found his way into second place and began slowly eating into Windham's lead. At about the halfway point, Windham made a couple small mistakes, allowing Hansen to get to the inside. Hansen made an aggressive move, forcing Windham wide, and preventing Windham from jumping the track's main rhythm section. With the distance gained in that one move, Hansen was gone.
Windham seemed to have trouble from that point out and fell into the clutches of Jagermeister KTM's Justin Brayton, who then passed him for second, and the top three were set.
Hansen took his second X Games gold in a row over Brayton and Windham.
But then Honda Red Bull Racing's Ashley Fiolek went on the move. Fiolek missed last year's X Games after crashing on the supercross track at the Red Bull Compound prior to the race. Looking to make up for lost time, she pushed Patterson until, on the last lap, she snuck by her arch-rival to take the win.
Fiolek took the gold, Patterson the silver, and Elizabeth Bash the bronze.
Men:
1. Josh Hansen (Kaw)
2. Justin Brayton (KTM)
3. Kevin Windham (Hon)
4. Matt Boni (Hon)
5. Nick Wey (Yam)
6. Chris Blose (Hon)
7. Jeremy McGrath (Hon)
8. Christian Craig (Yam)
9. Heath Voss (Hon)
10. Daniel Blair (Hon)
Women:
1. Ashley Fiolek (Hon)
2. Jessica Patterson (Hon)
3. Elizabeth Bash (Kaw)
4. Sherri Cruse (Suz)
5. Jacqueline Strong (Kaw)
6. Tarah Geiger (Yam)
