Red Bull X-Fighters
X-Fighter might sound like a plane, but these aerial acrobatics are performed on machines never designed to leave the ground. This is the baddest, most thrilling incarnation yet of the rapidly growing sport of freestyle motocross – the art of jumping a motorbike high, high off the ground and contorting the body into death-defying tricks once up there. Remember the old wall-of-death at circuses? Well, this is the 21st century equivalent.
Sure, there are many competing freestyle motocross events currently running, mainly in the States, but no-one does it quite like the Red Bull X-Fighters. Created by Red Bull, X-Fighters is a global FMX series conceived with vast budgets and a fine eye for the theatrical. For a start, no venue is just a stadium. Anything traditional goes straight of the window, so for example the Madrid round of this year's six-event series took place in the city's famous bullfighting arena, the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas.
The 2008 Fort Worth round in Texas, the first time Red Bull X-Fighters had actually been to America, involved trucking in 14,000 cubic metres of dirt to build the Wild West themed ramps. And, in Germany on August 16, the entire circus decamped to a vast quarry in the blue-collar Ruhr Valley region. Everything at the industrial-themed event was built from scratch, including the jumps and the stadium seating. Because of all this, each event is extremely well attended, a fact that seems to inspire the riders to even greater heights. Or push them further than their talents will allow.
Comments (4)
Tazz14
December 15, 2008
9:23 a.m.
wwest11
November 5, 2008
8:54 p.m.
Andre1996
October 29, 2008
8:51 p.m.
clumsycluts
October 26, 2008
8:25 p.m.