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/1546134
If there is any single person who symbol- izes the X Games, it's Travis Pastrana. At this year's X Games 12 in Los Angeles, California, Pastrana made history and wowed fans once again, taking a total of three gold medals, winning the Best Trick, Rally Car and Freestyle competitions. Moto X gold medals also went to Matt Buyten for the Step Up, and Jeff Ward in the Supermoto race. The first of the Moto X events, the Best Trick competition, took place Friday night at the Staples Center. The question on everyone's mind wasn't who would win, but rather, "Is Travis Pastrana going to perform his double backflip?" It became clear that Pastrana was going to attempt something unique when he was on the floor with the Staples Center crew before the event, setting up a separate and carefully measured ramp much closer to the landing. Through the course of the event, all the athletes put on a great show. If it hadn't been for a remarkable one-handed nac nac under flip by X Fighters winner Mat Rebeaud, Pastrana might not have needed to perform the stunt to take the gold. But Rebeaud's second run gave him the high score, so Pastrana was going to go for it. For the last trick of the competition, the track crew came out with shovels and began breaking up the landing to soften it up in case the worst (and likely) should happen. The entire crowd at the Staples Center held its breath, and then erupt- ed in cheers of amazement and relief when Pastrana executed two full back- ward rotations to a perfect landing in the final run of the evening. "There is not much in life that com- pares to this feeling I have now," Pastrana said. "I'm on cloud nine. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it, but was confident enough to get close. When I landed, I was riding away and said, 'Wow, I can't believe that actually worked.'" Pastrana does not have plans to make this a regular trick. "I promised myself after the first time I did it that I would never do it again," he said on the podium. While all FMX stunts are certainly dangerous, the double backflip is especially perilous. The backward spinning momentum slows in the air, making the second rotation markedly slower. The height must be enough to allow time for the bike to come fully around, and in the event that it doesn't, the rider could be drilled into the ground like a coffin nail by a 200-pound dirt bike. "That's pretty much the stupidest thing I've ever seen," Blake "Bilco" Williams of Australia said. "I'd heard rumors that he'd never do it again, but you can't count Travis out. And then, sure enough, in prac- tice I saw them pull the ramp back. At that point, I know everyone else would be fighting for silver and bronze." Williams came away with the bronze for his cliffhanger backflip and a heel-clicker 360, while Rebeaud collected the silver medal. The next morning it was off to the Rally Car racing for Pastrana, where he took another gold medal over Rally Racing star Colin McRae. In a final effort to take the gold from Pastrana, McRae charged toward the finish line in the Home Depot Arena, resulting in a spectacular wreck as he rolled his car com- pletely over, yet was still able to continue his lap for second. Pastrana's third gold medal came in the closing Moto X event of the games, the Freestyle Final. He completed a flawless round, sealing the win on his first run (of two), and just when it seemed he would walk away from the X Games unscathed, having defied death more times in one weekend than most do in a lifetime, Pastrana tripped over a television cable in the staging area and blew out his knee. People, you can't make this stuff up. Jeff Ward brought home his first X G a m e s g o l d i n S u n d a y ' s Supermoto race. Pastrana grabbed the holeshot, and then promptly went down in the first turn. Graves Yamaha riders Mark Burkhart and last year's gold-medal win- ner Doug Henry got out front early in the race followed by Ward and Chris Fillmore. Jeremy McGrath and Chad Reed were steadily reeling in the top four after getting caught up in the first turn bottleneck. The dirt portion of the course inside the Home Depot Arena proved to be very challenging for many riders. A Supercross- style rhythm section quickly separated the field. Those without a background in Supercross or motocross struggled through the tricky, unforgiving section for 35 laps. The turning point of the race, however, was the X Games signature pit stop, requiring riders to do a gas fill and rear-tire change. There was a miscommunication about the timing, and several riders who made early stops were forced to pit again or face disqualification. Henry, who had been pressuring Ward for second, was one rider who had to pit twice. Although he maintained a solid grip on third, he lost any hopes of rejoining the battle for the lead. Ward got through his stop clean, but Burkhart's stop didn't go well, leaving him 10 seconds behind Ward. The Yamaha rider gave an impressive charge, closing the gap on Ward by nearly a sec- ond per lap. "I was pushing hard, that's for sure," Burkhart said. "I caught up with him in the last couple laps, but there was noth- ing I could do. I could have had a chance a couple times, but I didn't want to do something stupid." Ward and Burkhart finished within a half-second of each other, much to the crowd's delight, with Ward's number-3x Honda taking the checkers. "I was wearing down fast out there," Ward said. "But my plan was to just stay consistent; I didn't push it until the end when I needed to. This might be my last opportu- nity to win a gold medal at the X Games and I'm really happy to have done it." Burkhart took the silver and his team- mate Henry joined him on the podium with a bronze medal. Chad Reed finished fourth ahead of Ivan Lazzarini of Italy. Aprilia's Darryl Atkins finished sixth ahead of Jeremy McGrath (whose pit stop also went awry). KTM's Benny Carlson, Pastrana and Cassidy Anderson finished out the top ten of the Supermoto race. (Top) Travis Pastrana does a double backflip during the X Games 12 Best Trick final. (Left) Troy Lee/Honda's Jeff Ward (3x) fended off hard- charging Graves Yamaha rider Mark Burkhart in the final laps of the Supermoto race to take his first X Games gold. C Y C L E N E W S • AUGUST 16, 2006 13 Pastrana and Ward Rule X Games 12 30 Years Ago August 17, 1976 Suzuki's all-new GS750 graced the cover of Cycle News 30 years ago... The four-cylinder bike was the first four-stroke streetbike ever pro- duced by Suzuki, and garnered high reviews in every depart- ment... Gary Scott took a 5-year-old Triumph to his third Ascot TT flat-track win over Yamaha-mounted Kenny Roberts Sr.... Austin, Texas, played host to the Aqua Fest Road Races, and it was Paul Stephenson tak- ing to two premier-class wins... Steve Stackable went 1-3 to take the 500cc National motocross win over Pierre Karsmakers in New Berlin, New York. 20 Years Ago August 29, 1986 Husqvarna's all- new 510 motocross machine shared the cover of Cycle News with Fred Merkel 20 years ago... Husky's new MX bike was a 510cc two-stroke that featured a mag- nesium cylinder head, which was a first on any production motocross machine... Merkel was able to wrap up the AMA Superbike title by virtue of a second-place finish at Road Atlanta. Kort Ballington took the Formula- One win that weekend, while Rich Oliver took top honors in the Formula-Two class... Georges Jobe swept both motos to take the overall win in the Belgian 500cc World MX GP. 10 Years Ago August 14, 1996 Alex Criville, Pier- Francesco Chili, Colin Edwards and Andy Tresser all shared the cover of Cycle News 10 years ago... Criville topped teammate and cham- pionship points leader Mick Doohan to win the Austrian 500cc Grand Prix... Chili and Troy Corser split World Superbike wins at Brands Hatch, England... Edwards teamed up with Japanese slide-master Noriyuki Haga to take the Suzuka 8 Hours win aboard a factory Yamaha... Tresser fought off several hard chargers to take his first Peoria TT flat-track win... Jeff Emig was the man on a mission in Millville, Minnesota, taking the 250cc motocross overall win over Jeremy McGrath... Dave Sadowski rolled over the competition at the Road America round of the Formula USA series. PHOTOS BY IRAYMOND GUNDY