Walt Ostarly's hot shots in the Gallery

Fort Worth, Tex. (June 15, 2008) – Swiss superstar Mat Rebeaud flew to
victory at Red Bull X-Fighters Texas on Saturday night. Twelve of the
world’s best freestyle motocross riders turned the historic Stockyards
district into their own personal playground, and the action was as hot as
Texas baked beans. The combination of freestyle motocross and rodeo was
witnessed by more than 20,000 fans, plus an additional 20,000-plus people
outside of the venue, turning the area into a standstill, marking the
first-ever Red Bull X-Fighters in America. The event featured rodeo
queens, cowboys, and a rodeo chute, where the riders blasted out of to
start their runs. Rounding out the top-three finishers were Americans
Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg and Jeremy Lusk, who claimed second and third
place respectively.

FULL SEQUENCE OF SATO's CRASH plus Charles Pages' launch in the Prelim Gallery

Sato's Fall in Practice	Robbie Renner Raps with SuperHumanMag

Photos: Walt Ostarly 

Rebeaud, who won the season opener in Mexico City, could barely believe
his victory. “This is my first win in America,” he said. “I gave it
everything on my last jump and if anything had gone wrong, I would have
paid heavily.”

The Swiss star knew he had to go big and pulled a Backflip Superman Indie
over the 20-foot-high quarterpipe on his last run of the evening. “That
was absolutely decisive for the win. I was under massive pressure, but the
feeling of relief now is indescribable,” said Rebeaud.

After being forced to concede defeat in the final, Stenberg paid respect
to his Swiss colleague. “I am disappointed because I made a mistake, but I
have to congratulate Mat,” Stenberg said. “He risked everything and
deserved to win. The motto ‘Everything’s bigger in Texas’ was omnipresent
here and this hard course has left its marks on all the riders.”

The riders competed on a Texas-sized course created by esteemed designer
Dane Herron, which featured 13,000 cubic yards of dirt sculpted onto a
300-foot by 400-foot pad of land. Among the features were seven
competition ramps with gaps ranging from 75-feet to 120-feet, two custom
metal quarterpipes and several multi-directional dirt hits for the riders
to choose from in their 90-second runs. The centerpiece of the course was
the dirt quarterpipe, where the riders went for big air.

Robbie Maddison of Australia had to learn the dangers of extreme rodeo
riding the hard way in his semifinal against Stenberg. The Australian star
fell heavily during his second run. “I landed hard after pulling a
Backflip Cordova and my kneecap popped out,” said Maddo. “I couldn’t bend
the joint anymore so I was forced to quit the competition straight away.
On the way back to the riders’ camp it popped back in on its own. Now I’m
really going to go for it at the next Red Bull X-Fighters event.”

Freestyle legend and multi-time Red Bull X-Fighters winner Travis Pastrana
made a grand entrance in his rally car, much to the delight of the crowd.
Pastrana is focusing on his burgeoning rally career this year and served
as the event’s grand marshal.

Following the event in Texas, Rebeaud now leads the riders’ overall series
classification with 280 points, followed by Stenberg (235) and Maddison
(165). This was the third of five global Red Bull X-Fighters competitions
in 2008. The series began in 2001, and this year, in addition to Ft.
Worth, has visited Mexico City and Rio, with stops in Germany and Spain to
follow.

Final Result - Red Bull X-Fighters Texas
1.   Mat Rebeaud (SUI)
2.   Jeremy Stenberg (USA)
3.   Jeremy Lusk (USA)
4.   Robbie Maddison (AUS)
5.   Thomas Pages (FRA)
6.   Taka Higashino (JAP))
7.   Andre Villa (NOR)
8.   Myles Richmond (USA))
9.   Chuck Carothers (USA)
10.  Charles Pages (FRA))
11.  Ronnie Renner (USA))
12.  Todd Potter (USA)

Hot on the heels of winner Rebeaud were Jeremy Stenberg (USA) and Jeremy Lusk (USA), who claimed second and third place respectively. After being forced to concede defeat in the final, Stenberg paid respect to his Swiss colleague: “I am disappointed because I made a mistake, but I have to congratulate Mat. He risked everything and deserved to win. The motto ‘Big, Bigger Texas’ was omnipresent here and this hard course has left its marks on all the riders.”

Rebeaud, who won the season opener in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) and eliminated Jeremy Lusk at the semi-final stage here in Texas, could barely believe his victory: “This is my first win in America. I gave it everything on my last jump and if anything had gone wrong I would have paid heavily.” The Swiss FMX star pulled a Backflip Superman Indy over the quarterpipe on his last run of the evening. “That was absolutely decisive for the win. I was under massive pressure, but the feeling of relief now is indescribable.” 

Taka Higashino