Features

Click the following links for the start of each photo gallery at X Games 14 in Los Angeles. Moto X Speed and Style Final Women’s Moto X Final Men’s Moto X Final Supermoto Final Moto X Freestyle Final

Saturday’s action at X Games 14 was moto-filled, in a variety of disciplines. Here were some of the highlights for us:

Kevin Johnson had boosted his bag of tricks following the Navy Moto X World Championships last Spring in San Diego, and with the difficulty of the moto portion of this year’s course, it helped Kevin stretch his lead in the Speed portion. He definitely surprised a few of the freestyle regulars en route to taking the gold.

Travis Pastrana is now 0-2 in this event, after another crash took him out of contention. He hit some marbles in a berm used to transition onto another straightaway, and slammed hard into it. He did come back on Sunday to score another X Games medal in his Subaru rally car, though.

Kevin Johnson.

Moto X Speed & Style Final Results
Name / Hometown

1. Kevin Johnson / Albuquerque, N.M.
2. Ronnie Renner / Fallsbrook, Calif.
3. Jeremy Stenberg / Winchester, Calif.
4. Mike Mason / Carson City, Nev.
5. Edgar Torronteras / Barcelona, Spain
6. Travis Pastrana / Annapolis, M.D.
7. Mat Rebeaud / Payerne, Switzerland

It’s probably fair to say that there was a little apprehension when it came to the Women’s Moto X Finals. This was the first time for many of the ladies on a Supercross track, and definitely their biggest moment in the spotlight. Alisa Nix had a digger during practice earlier in the week over the same 75-foot triple (from a metal ramp) that the men were using. That left her with a broken wrist and arm. Then Ashley Fiolek, who was already riding with a broken wrist, crashed while practicing on a private Supercross track, and she was forced to drop out of the competition.

Among the remaining riders, Sherri Cruse, Jessica Patterson, and Tarah Gieger put on a good show. Cruse grabbed the holeshot and was passed by Patterson and Gieger. Patterson looked like she might be good for gold, until a crash dropped her into the field. That left Gieger with the Gold, Cruse with the Silver, and Tatum Sik with the Bronze.

Tarah Geiger.

Moto X Racing Women’s Final Results
Name / Hometown

1. Tarah Gieger / Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
2. Sherri Cruse / Bakersfield, Calif.
3. Tatum Sik / Temecula, Calif.
4. Jessica Patterson / Tallahassee, Fla.
5. Sarah Whitmore / Cheboygan, Mich.
6. Mariana Balbi / Belo Horizonte, Brazil
7. Ashley Boham / Loveland, Colo.
8. Vanessa Florentino / Edgewood, N.M.

In the Men’s Moto X Finals, the biggest surprise of the weekend might have been Josh Hansen’s win. He scored a ride for the weekend from the Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Honda squad, and lead the main event from start to finish nabbing a Gold medal at a time in his career when he could surely use a boost.

Jeremy McGrath returned to the site of where he broke his neck in ’06, and nabbed the silver medal after repelling advances by Josh Hill (who crashed after being pressured to the edge of the track by MC), Josh Summey, and at the end of the race, Josh Grant.

While the track was dry, dusty, and slick, the riders noted afterwards that it probably would have been worse if it had been watered right before the event. The morning’s practice had been run in wet slick conditions, and it did look rather icy out there.

Josh Hansen.

Moto X Racing Men’s Final Results
Name / Hometown

1. Josh Hansen / Murrieta. Calif.
2. Jeremy McGrath / Encinitas, Calif.
3. Josh Grant / Wildomar, Calif.
4. Josh Summey / Huntersville, N.C.
5. Justin Brayton / Murrieta, Calif.
6. Nathan Ramsey / Murrieta, Calif.
7. Josh Demuth / North Richland Hills, Calif.
8. Troy Adams / Homosassa, Fla.
9. Jason Lawrence / Summers Point, N.J.
10. Josh Hill / Yoncalla, Ore.

In the Supermoto Final, it was nearly all Jeff Ward, after Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Honda rider came in for a one-off race following his retirement earlier this year.
Heading into the first turn, a large crash took down several riders, including last year’s Gold medalist, Mark Burkhart. After that, Ward had to dispatch KTM-mounted Troy Herfoss, and then it was a high-speed cruise to the gold.

Jeff Ward.

Moto X Supermoto Final Results
Name / Hometown

1. Jeff Ward / Newport Beach, Calif.
2. Robbie Horton / Grovetown, Ga.
3. Brandon Currie / Anaheim, Calif.
4. Steve Drew / Buckeye, Ariz.
5. Ivan Lazzarini / Pesaro, Italy
6. Sylvain Bidart / Jurancon, France
7. Dalton Dimick / Fort Collins, Colo.
8. David Pingree / Temecula, Calif.
9. Troy Herfoss / Goulburn, Australia
10. Matt Burton / Ottumwa, Iowa
11. Mark Burkhart / Pataskala, Ohio
12. Micky Dymond / Placentia, Calif.

With the sun setting in the West, it was time to start the freestyle eliminations, in a head-to-head heat format.

The big shocker of the night was problems suffered by Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg, who stomped away from his Yamaha before the end of his semi-final run. We’re not sure of the reason, whether mechanical or biomechanical, but he had been having problems with one of his thumbs during the day.

Twitch’s troubles handed the bronze medal to Mike Mason, who had to be pretty surprised after keeping his expectations in check heading into the X Games. Look for a video interview with Mike later this week.

The final round featured a head-to-head matchup between Jeremy Lusk and Mat Rebeaud, and his final run included an Indian air, a superman seat-grab backflip, a cliffhanger, an under-flip, a rock solid Indian air, and a knack-knack flip that clinched the Gold for him…and gave him two medals for X Games 14. Mat settled for the silver, but seemed stoked to finish on the podium.

Jeremy Lusk.

Be sure to check the photo galleries above for much more from X Games 14.

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Click the following link for the latest news, along with a 31-photo gallery covering Friday's action at X Games 14 in Los Angeles, CA

The first event that attracted our attention on Friday at X Games 14 was an all-new one, the Moto X - Adaptive, which features riders with a variety of challenges, whether it was riding with prosthetic limbs (or not), or some level of paralysis. They rode much of the same course as the rest of the male and female Moto X racers, and they did themselves proud. It was a cool event to see, as you'll be able to see in the photo gallery (check the link above).

The other one was the Step Up competition at Staples Center, and Ricky Carmichael got his revenge on the event that bested him at the ESPN Navy Moto X World Championships earlier this year. (That was the one that left him with a gash on his chin when he smacked it on his bike after a particularly hard landing.) RC went 33 feet to grab the gold, and he beat out Ronnie Renner, who'd won the gold at the previous X Games.

In the photo gallery you'll also find some shots from Friday's Moto X Racing practice sessions for the men and women, and the real action will kick into gear tomorrow, with finals in Speed and Style, Freestyle, Supermoto, Men's and Women's Moto X Racing, and more. Be sure to check back in for full coverage.

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Click the following link for the latest news, along with a 31-photo gallery covering Thursday's action at X Games 14 in Los Angeles, CA

The action ramped up on Thursday at X Games 14, with practice for the Moto X Racing events (both for the guys and women), and finals for the always nail-biting Moto X Best Trick. There was also a new event, the Best Whip contest. What else? How about an attempted front flip? Nicky Hayden and Jeremy McGrath both making racing appearances here? Kyle Loza successfully defending his gold medal from last year? Josh Hansen returning to ride for the Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Honda team? You can check all that out, plus photos from the entire day by clicking into the photo gallery above.

Results

ESPN X Games 14 Moto X Best Trick
Staples Center in Los Angeles
Name / Hometown / Score

1. Kyle Loza / Trabuco Canyon, Calif. / 94.00
2. Jeremy Lusk / San Diego, Calif / 92.80
3. Todd Potter / Temecula, Calif. / 90.00
4. Blake Williams / Baxter, Victoria Australia / 88.00
5. Mat Rebeaud / Payerne, Switzerland / 87.60
6. Thomas Pages / Biarritz, France / 87.60
7. Nate Adams / Glendale, Ariz. / 86.40
8. Jim McNeil / Glendale, Ariz. / 81.60
9. Scott Murray / Helps, Mich. / 67.80
10. Jim DeChamp / Hardwood, Md. / 64.00

ESPN X Games 14 Moto X Best Whip
Staples Center in Los Angeles

1. Todd Potter
2. Ricky Carmichael
3. Myles Richmond

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Here's a doubleheader of images from two classic MX tracks, Unadilla and Washougal. Next week? The wallpapers will be all about the X Games, and the intro of several new moto events. Best Whip, Speed and Style, Women's MotoX, and more.

Click the dimensions (1400 x 1050 or 1440 x 900) next to each photo to open the large image in the aspect ratio that work best for your monitor. After the window pops up with the large image, you can right click to save it as your desktop image (PC), or Control-click to set it as your desktop (Mac).

	Josh Hill 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Washougal MX2 Moto 1 Start 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Ryan Dungey 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Robert Kiniry, Brett Metcalfe and Ryan Sipes 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Martin Davalos 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Josh Grant 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	James Stewart 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	James Stewart 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Andrew Short and Timmy Ferry 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Washougal MX1 Moto 1 Start 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Trey Canard, Ryan Dungey and Ryan Villopoto 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900
	Washougal MX1 Moto 2 Start 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900

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Click the following link for a 34-photo gallery covering AMA Toyota Motocross Championship race action from Washougal MX Park in Washougal, WA.

Driving to Washougal MX Park on Sunday morning required the use of your windshield wipers, which made you wonder if the rain would put a damper on things by making the track a quagmire. But when all was said and done, it was definitely the best thing that could have happened to it, laying down just the right amount of liquid to make for a great racing surface. Saturday’s track had been dry, fairly smooth, and devoid of the usual ruts normally found at Washougal. But that all changed once the riders hit the track.

Washougal had been tough on James Stewart (Monster Energy Kawasaki) last year, after he popped his knee out of place, requiring him to drop out of the season. But this time around, he got his revenge, scoring a pair of first-place finishes, and extending his moto win streak to 18, and his points lead to 145…just five points short of what he needed to wrap up the series title.

James’ teammate, Timmy Ferry, had a rough weekend. He was feeling ill on Saturday, and skipped practice, and came back on Sunday off his normal pace, finishing with an 11-6 day, but he still holds down second place in the MX1 series standings.

Andrew Short (Honda Red Bull Racing) had a somewhat lonely day in second spot in the MX1 class, finishing with a 2-2 ahead of Michael Byrne (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) who carded a 3-3. Cody Cooper (Rockstar Suzuki City) nailed both holeshots, but eventually finished fourth in both motos.

In the MX2 class Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) followed his usual script…at least for the first moto. He took at that win, after working his way past Broc Tickle (Division 7/Star Racing/NCY/Yamaha), Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) and early leader Josh Grant (Geico Powersports Honda), though Ryan Dungey kept the pressure on throughout.
In the second moto, however, Villopoto got a bad start, while Trey Canard sprinted away out front. Dungey passed Canard just before the halfway point, and Villopoto got by Canard a couple laps later and began closing on Dungey. The lead duo put on a great race out front, until Villopoto caught a rock in the goggles, and the sweat splatter obscured his vision enough to cause an off-track excursion. Dungey continued on to the win, and his first outdoor overall. Villopoto took second, and Josh Grant rounded out the podium.
The bad news of the day belonged to Trey Canard, who after leading the first half of the moto, tangled with a lapped rider on the last lap. In the ensuing crash, he ended up with a broken left femur. Get well soon, Trey.

In MX2 points, Ryan Villopoto now has a 109-point lead (438-329) over Ryan Dungey, while Brett Metcalfe has a good grip on the third spot at 267 points.

While next weekend is an off weekend for the series, a percentage of riders are headed to various events at next week’s ESPN X Games in Los Angeles. The next regularly scheduled event is in two weeks at Millville, MN.

MX1
1. James Stewart (Kawasaki) 1-1
2. Andrew Short (Honda) 2-2
3. Michael Byrne (Suzuki) 3-3
4. Cody Cooper (Suzuki) 4-4
5. Josh Hill (Yamaha) 5-5
6. Jimmy Albertson (Honda) 6-7
7. Jeff Alessi (Honda) 7-9
8. Timmy Ferry (Kawasaki) 11-6
9. Antonio Balbi (Honda) 13-10
10. Billy Laninovich (KTM) 10-14
11. Nick Wey (KTM) 14-11
12. Sean Collier (Kawasaki) 38-6
13. Sean Hamblin (Yamaha) 8-31
14. Chris Blose (Honda) 9/33
15. Charles Summey (Yamaha) 39-12
16. Justin Sipes (Suzuki) 12-36
17. Paul Carpenter (Honda) 24-13
18. Bobby Bonds (Kawasaki) 16-18
19. Ryan Clark (Honda) 40-15
20. Kevin Rookstool (Honda) 15-28
21. Cole Siebler (Honda) 25-16
22. Tyler Bright (Honda) 29-17
23. Kyle Partridge (Honda) 17-37
24. Kyle Summers (KTM) 18-22
25. Robert Fitch (Honda) 35-19
26. Jack Carpenter (Honda) 19-29
27. Adam Metzler (Honda) 22-20
28. Gray Davenport (Kawasaki) 20-21
29. Ryan Abrigo (Yamaha) 32-23
30. Jeffrey Man Jr. (Yamaha) 30-24
31. Jeff Loop (Honda) 28-25
32. Mitchell Rask (Honda) 34-26
33. Greg Crater (Honda) 26-27
34. Michael Blose (Honda) 21-30
35. Konnrad Kuest (Honda) 33-32
36. Daryl Ecklund (KTM) 31-34
37. Tony Boughten (Yamaha) 27-35
38. Michael Willard (Yamaha) 36-38
39. Kyle Mace (Kawasaki) 23-39
40. Derek Costella (Honda) 37-40

MX2
1. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki) 2-1
2. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) 1-2
3. Josh Grant (Honda) 3-4
4. Brett Metcalfe (Kawasaki) 5-3
5. Ryan Sipes (KTM) 4-5
6. Jake Weimer (Honda) 6-6
7. Nico Izzi (Suzuki) 7-7
8. Robert Kiniry (Honda) 9-10
9. Matt Goerke (KTM) 12-8
10. Kyle Chisholm (Kawasaki) 11-9
11. Kyle Cunningham (Honda) 10-11
12. Martin Davalos (KTM) 8-15
13. Jake Moss (Yamaha) 13-14
14. Phil Nicoletti (Kawasaki) 17-12
15. Andrew McFarlane (Kawasaki) 16-13
16. Wil Hahn (Yamaha) 15-17
17. Mike Brown (Yamaha) 19-16
18. Tommy Hahn (Kawasaki) 14-31
19. Tucker Hibbert (Yamaha) 18-19
20. Broc Tickle (Yamaha) 33-18
21. Sean Borkenhagen (Honda) 20-20
22. Jason Potter (Honda) 32-21
23. Trey Canard (Honda) 22-22
24. Donald Vawser (Honda) 30-23
25. Tye Hames (Suzuki) 25-24
26. Brad Kelly (Yamaha) 28-25
27. Willy Browning (Suzuki) 27-28
28. Scott Champion (Honda) 26-27
29. Adam Miller (KTM) 38-28
30. Corey Pennington (Honda) 31-29
31. Freddy Sanchez (Honda) 29-30
32. Brandon Brower (Honda) 37-32
33. Matt Lemoine (Yamaha) 36-33
34. Ryan Newton (Kawasaki) 34-34
35. Sean Hackley (Kawasaki) 24-35
36. Justin Brayton (KTM) 23-36
37. Kyle Beaton (Yamaha) 21-37
38. Eric McCrummen (Honda) 35-38
39. Bryan Perry (Yamaha) 39-39
40. Ryan Morais (Yamaha) 40-40

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Click the following link for a photo gallery covering Saturday's second moto Women's Motocross National at Washougal.

Jessica Patterson took the second moto of the WMA’s fourth round at Washougal, which gave her the overall win for the weekend, her first of the season in the AMA/WMA Women's Motocross National Championship Presented by Kawasaki.

JP$ grabbed the holeshot aboard her CRF250, and took off out front, while a trio of riders that included Sarah Whitmore, series points leader Ashley Fiolek, and Tarah Gieger duked it out for second, third, and fourth. Ashley eventually got around Whitmore, while Gieger eventually moved into the third spot. Those finishes also matched the overall for the weekend.

Now some of the ladies from the WMA will head for the ESPN X Games in So. Cal., where they’ll compete in their own Moto X event for the first time.

The next round of the AMA/WMA season will be held at Motocross 338 in Southwick, MA, in four weeks.

AMA/WMA Women's Motocross National Championship Presented by Kawasaki
Washougal, Moto 1 Results

1. Jessica Patterson (Honda) 2-1
2. Ashley Fiolek (Honda) 1-2
3. Tarah Gieger (Yamaha) 5-3
4. Mariana Balbi (Kawasaki) 5-5
5. Sarah Whitmore (Suzuki) 8-4
6. Alisa Nix (Yamaha) 7-6
7. Sherri Cruse (Suzuki) 3-12
8. Tatum Sik (Kawasaki) 6-10
9. Elizabeth Bash (Kawasaki) 9-8
10. Aubriana Dunn (Honda) 12-9

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Click the following link for a photo gallery covering Saturday's first moto Women's Motocross National at Washougal.

One of the annual fixtures at Washougal is that the AMA guys share the track with the AMA/WMA girls, and the first moto of the AMA/WMA Women's Motocross National Championship Presented by Kawasaki ran on Saturday afternoon.

One of the big question marks heading into the round was the health of series points leader Ashley Fiolek (American Honda / Red Bull / Alpinestars), who was racing with an injured left wrist. A portion of that question was quickly answered, as Ashley grabbed the holeshot.
Jessica Patterson (American Honda / Honda of Houston / Fox Racing / Bad Boy Energy Drink) took over the lead, but after a lap or so she crashed on the exit of a corner. She quickly remounted, but Fiolek had reassumed the lead, and sprinted away to the win.
Patterson worked her way back to second, with Sherri Cruse (Malcolm Smith / Suzuki / Zip Ty Racing) in third. That’s the way the podium finished, but behind the lead trio, there was a good battle between Mariana Balbi, Tarah Gieger (who’d made a good charge through the pack), and Tatum Sik.

The second moto will run before the start of Sunday’s AMA Toyota Motocross Championship motos.

AMA/WMA Women's Motocross National Championship Presented by Kawasaki
Washougal, Moto 1 Results

1. Ashley Fiolek (Honda)
2. Jessica Patterson (Honda)
3. Sherri Cruse (Suzuki)
4. Mariana Balbi (Kawasaki)
5. Tarah Gieger (Yamaha)
6. Tatum Sik (Kawasaki)
7. Alisa Nix (Yamaha)
8. Sarah Whitmore (Suzuki)
9. Elizabeth Bash (Kawasaki)
10. Ayla Cabus (Yamaha)

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Click the following link for the latest news, along with a 19-photo gallery covering Saturday's pre-race action in the pits from Washougal.

This weekend is a doubleheader, with the AMA and WMA. There's also a chance James Stewart could wrap up the MX1 title, Jimmy Albertson and Jeff Alessi are still duking it out for a shot at a spot with Honda Red Bull Racing, Josh Summey's a-ok after getting squashed by a flying Jeff Alessi last week, Nick Wey got a new mohawk, and there's plenty more to check out in Pit Bits.

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(Click any photo in this article for a larger version.)

Factory Effex is just all about graphics, right? Well, maybe that was the old story, but rather than just enhancing the look of your bike, they’re now moving into hard parts and have added complete wheels to their roster of items for sale.

While this is a new project for them, they actually spent quite a bit of time developing their wheels using a variety of familiar pro teams for input. Here’s what they worked up.

The hubs are machined from cold-forged 6061 billet aluminum, for maximum strength, but they’re also well-ventilated to keep the weight to a minimum. They also have what Factory Effex dubs a Mag type 3 coating to give them a mag-look that’s similar to the factory Kawasaki wheels. To keep things rolling smoothly, the hubs are fitted with Aircraft-grade type C6 bearings.

Connecting the hubs to the 7000-series aluminum rims are sets of single-butted stainless steel spokes that are equipped with stainless steel nipples. Why stainless? They wanted to maximize the thread entry, while making sure to minimize the corrosion build-up you can get with some other materials.

Colors available include black rims with a mag-color hub, or polished (silver) rims with a mag-color hub. Factory Effex logos are laser-etched on both the rims and hubs.

The wheels are assembled in the U.S., are sold in sets or individually, and complete sets retail for $1195.00. When you can get them? Around September 25th, and they’re available for most late model two- and four-stroke bikes.

What’s next for Factory Effex? You’ll very likely see some additional wheel accessories, like axle blocks, rimlock kits, and more. They also have a complete line of hard parts in the works. What might be included? Goodies like chain blocks, engine plug and oil filler kits.

What do you think? If you’re a Vital MX member (membership is free), you can leave a comment below, or talk about it in the Vital MX Forums.

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Click the following link for highlights of the 2009 Fox Racing motocross gear.

We recently stopped by Fox’s new design center in Irvine, CA, for a quick peek around their new more spacious digs. In case you’re confused, yes, Fox’s corporate headquarters are still in Morgan Hill, CA. But they’ve had offices in Southern California for several years, and a lot of other action sports brands like Hurley, Quiksilver, Billabong, Volcom, etc.) are in the area as well. Besides their design offices, they also have showrooms for the men’s and women’s lines. There may even be a place to get in a little riding there…though that might be a secret that we’re not supposed to talk about.

Anyway, moving on…we also got a chance to check out some highlights of Fox’s ’09 gear, and were impressed. You can check out the results of that by clicking the video link above.

We also got to check out their ’09 line of goggles at a local ride day at Perris Raceway. As always, we were impressed with the Oakley heritage of Fox’s two models of goggles (Main and Main Pro), and we also like the nice touches like the included nose guard and tear-offs that accompany the Main Pro model.

Something else that they’ve done extremely well for '09 is matching up the graphics on the goggle frames and straps to the various styles of their ’09 gear, and you can see a trio of examples below. The top goggle matches up nicely with their Shard 360 line, the middle frame and strap blend in well with the blue/yellow Explosion and the Ronin V2 helmet, and the plaid aligns perfectly with their 180/HC line.

There are several other goggle designs that work with other colorways in the Fox lineup. Check out their catalog or at your local Fox dealer for more info.

Okay, that's it...check out the video link above, and Warren will fill you in on what's new for '09.

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