Happenings in Motorcacling
Red Eull X-Fighters Mexitro fitg:
First Victorg for Mat Rebeaud
Mexico City, Mexico
played
host
to
the annual Red Bull X-Fighters
freestyle motocross event and it was
Swiss rider
14at
Rebeaud risking
it
all
to come out on top of the distin-
guished
field of riders on l'4arch 31.
A sold-out crowd of 42,000 at
the Monumental Plaza de Toros
watched as early favorite Travis hs-
trana and surprise Norwegian
chal-
lenger Andre Villa came out hard in
the opening round. Rebeaud
Eot
a
slow
start on the night, and was only
able to manage fifth
place
after the
first run.
The top five riders advanced to
the semi-finals where the three
places
for the final were deter-
mined. Villa looked certain to make
it, but a fall took him out of con-
tention, while a disappointing sec-
ond round
for
Spaniard Dani
Torres
ended his night as well. This left
Rebeaud, Pastrana, and fellow
American Ronnie
Renner to duke
it
out for the top spot.
Last
year's
winner Renner kicked
ofl the
final with a
breathtaking
run,
which was then topped by
Rebeaud
- who showcased a trick he
iust
recently
mastered that
looks like
an
under-rotating
backflip.
Those two
set the bar high for Pastrana, and in
typical
Pastrana fashion he
went
for
it all, trying to link two obstacles on
the course as one
giant
step-up
iump.
But
things didn't
go as
planned
for the 22-year-old American, and
the end result was a hard fall, leaving
him battered and bruised. With the
crowd chanting his name, Pastrana
was able to walk off the course with
assistance and
wave
one
last
time to
the audience
he inspired
with his
abilities.
"l
have fallen in love
with
these
fans,'' raved Pastrana after the first
round. L,ast
year's
winner Renner
thanked
the
fans with
the
''largest
whip oI
[his]
life,"
but
it was
the
23-year-old from Payerne, SwiEer-
land who
pulled
out
his
entire bag of
tricks to win his
first
international
freestyle motocross competition,
''l
risked it and
won!''
exclaimed
KTM rider Rebeaud,
"This
is an
unbelievable victory lt is
probably
the most
beautiful
day in my life."
Sleve Atlos
86 APRTLl?,2(n6
.
CYCI.E NEws
Trovis PorFono
(obove
righr) ond Ronnic RonnGr (boltom) dcmonstrqto lwo vqriolionc
of
the
bockflip.
Renncr
ended up recond,
while Postrono
hit the
ground
hord in the finol.
w
q!*Dq
4
e3
*{
,I
f
,rlot Rebeoud
(top
left)
(elebrotes
the firs,
interno-
lionol FlrlX vi
