Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128337
Bostrom Takes First X Games Supermoto n front of a sold out crowd, the inaugural X Games Supermoto event took off without any problems, Leading up to the event, fans and riders alike were questioning if it was going to actually go over as well as expected, But, after the first lap, everyone's doubts were put to rest as the racing proved to be some of the closest in recent memory. And with some of the best of the best in motorcycle racing lined up ready to race , it was surprising anyone would have expected any different. At the start Jeremy McGrath jumped out to the early lead ahead of Honda's Ben against such big names," Seel said. "I am so happy to be here for the first Bostrom and visiting European Supermoto no matter jf it's I World Champion Eddy See!. McGrath proceeded to lead for four laps before being passed by Bostrom and See!. Once that happened, the two riders began to pull away from the field, leaving McGrath to ride around in third. With about six laps to go, Bostrom bobbled in a corner and fell over, allowing Seel to move into the lead and causing everyone to wonder if Bostrom was truly going to win. three seconds ahead of Seel with McGrath another eight seconds back in third . At the medals presentation, Seel was quite happy to be there. "Second is great when you are racing time at the X Games. " Since this was the X Games a few big-name stars from motocross and supercross, Chad Reed and Kevin Windham, came out to try their luck out on the Supermoto course. And dirt or street, they still battled like it was National Motocross. Reed and Windham had a brief battle for the fifth place position before Windham finally made a pass stick and began to gap the reign- "Yeah, that was me," Henry said. "I crashed in the first turn and ruined my ing supercross champion. chances. But I just "It was fun," Reed said. "Kevin was right on me, so I kind of had to ride a little defensively. Then he got by me, then I was able to straighten my lines up and the both of us were able to catch the people in front of us. disappointed ; I just wanted to try and get up and do the best I could with what I had tried to not get too and put in some fast lap times." Langston was lucky to walk away from a nasty crash where he cartwheeled over a berm and landed on his head . Langston wasn't alone , though, as a few of his KTM teammates were waiting on the sidelines for him, after they too had crashed in the same d ifficult section as Langston . While Bostrom was busy winning the first "I got the rear wheel in the gutter over there, and the thing just went sideways and just spit me off the track, and then I crashed," Bostrom said. "And then I said, 'Where's Eddy?' and I realized he must have made a big mistake , because by the time he came by I had my bike up. So I said, ' Please let this thing start on the first kick.' And it fired right up and I was only a couple of seconds behind him." Aher his miscue , Bostrom was a few seconds down from Seel, but he put his head down and began to charge. On the white-flag lap Bostrom made a brave pass on Seel that secured the win for the Honda rider. The ecstatic Bostrom crossed the line 8 It was pretty neat." "I had a lot to learn , and the learning curve was fairly steep," Windham said. ''I'm glad they gave us a lot of practice here at the Games. This was the first time I have ridden a full supermoto track." As for the other favorites going into the race, Doug Henry, Mike Metzger, Thierry Van Den Bosch, Jeff Ward and Grant Langston were all in attendance. Many of them crashed or had bike problems. In the first turn, Henry went down and took Van Den Bosch with him as he slid on his back for most of it, and his bike hit Van Den Bosch's big KTM, effectively ending his race before it even began . AUGUST 18,2004 • CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary Supermoto race. the usual suspects, Nate Adams and Travis Pastrana, were busy preparing for Freestyle Moto-X (Pastrana also competed in the Supermoto event but pulled out after falling). Each year Adams has played the bridesmaid to Pastrana in Freestyle Moto-X and came this year ready to win. In a true upset defeat, Adams took the win with a score of 93.80 to Pastrana's 92 .00. In third was Adam Jones with a score of 90.20. In the Best Trick contest Chuck Carothers took the gold after he unveiled a new unnamed trick that can best be described as a "Body Varial.' Carothers would come off the back of his bike do a 360 spin and then pull himself back on right before landing. In the Step-up competition, Jeremy McGrath made a surprise appearance and took home the gold medal, beating out last years champ Matt Buyten by only six inches; in third was perennial Step-up favorite Tommy Clowers. Making the win even more impressive for McGrath was the fact that he had never even competed in a Step-up competition before.