Freestyle motocross? Red-Bull X-Fighters? What the heck is that all about? Put simply, it's an event in which guys with absolutely no fear for their physical well-being compete to pull off the most far-fetched motorbike stunts you’ve ever seen.
Red Bull are bringing the ultimate motorbike extravaganza to Slane in May . When they asked would we be up for seeing a sneak preview in Mexico – well, they didn't have to ask twice. A city teeming with machismo and life seemed the perfect place to catch the bikers in action – and so it proved.
The format is simple: riders compete in knockout duels the object of which is to whittle the number of competitors down from 10 to a final three. The hope is that the seven who are eliminated will all be in one piece – but there are no guarantees. The three finalists then face off in a final, with judges assessing their performance in a two-minute foray in the ring.
In this final stage, finalists must pull off series of gravity-defying trick moves. At the very least...
These include The Cliffhanger, in which the rider leaves the bike and catches his toes under the handlebars! As he flies through the air, he has to stand up straight. Then there's the Superman Seat Grab: you hold the bike by the saddle as you fly through the air (with the greatest of ease!). And who could forget the Superman Backflip: the rider flips upside down, rotating 360° through the air. While holding the bike. By the saddle...
But my personal favourite was The Nothing: while flying through the air, you remove yourself entirely from the bike so that no part of your body touches it. And then you have to re-connect on landing – it's the stuff of any ordinary Joe's nightmares. You won’t be surprised to hear that most riders have metal in some part of their body – wrists, legs and collarbones are often snapped and plenty of internal organs have had to be whipped out.
No surprise, then, that the world’s leading FMX rider Travis Pastrano retired last year claiming “It’s simply too dangerous”. That said, it’s clearly an addiction, because having stayed away from the start of the season, Pastrano’s coming back for this summer’s X-Fighters event Slane Castle.
This year the RedBull X-Fighters has become a truly global event with Mexico City, Madrid and Moscow joining Slane as venues for the spectacular contest. The Mexico City leg took place at the bull-fighting arena, Palacio Torres. The hallways and tunnels of the Palacio ooze history, with bronze statues of famous Matadors gazing down at you from every side.
The Palacio Torres itself is a spectacular venue, seating nearly 45,000 people in a tiered, coliseum-style setting. You’re right in the middle of the action, too – on occasion, it feels like the riders are literally at arm’s length.
And no matter how world weary you are, nothing that can prepare you for the sheer explosion of energy and adrenaline that hits you as the rider’s zoom into the arena.
Showmanship is expected in every department – it isn’t enough to hurtle through the air, you’ve got to display style and panache as you start, finish, turn around (mostly by bouncing off a wall!).
As the final riders finish going through their paces, and the judges deliver their verdict, the crowd bellows its approval. The exception is when home-town rider Johan Nungaray is eliminated – there’s an immediate cascade of boos and whistles. It’s good humoured enough, though. Most people seem to recognise that he was outclassed on the night.
The three finalists are Danny Torres from Spain, Robbie Maddison from Australia and Nate Adams from the US.
Despite having already competed in two rounds, they’ve saved their best for last – what follows is simply an astonishing display that leaves your jaw hanging open. The clear winner is 19-year-old Torres, whose bag of tricks leaves the audience stunned. Torres is clearly the rising star of the freestyle motocross game – he falls to his knees while being declared winner, and you get a sense that this really is the start of his plan for world domination.
Clearly, the gauntlet has been thrown down for Lord Henry Mountcharles in Slane. Can the riders top this wild performance in Slane? Considering the Castle's track record in putting on great shows, I think we can assume that Lord ~Henry he knows what he’s doing. It's a mouth-watering prospect. In the meantime, Viva Mexico – Viva Dany Torres!
Red Bull X-Fighters is at Slane Castle, County Meath, May 26