The 2013 Red Bull X Fighters world freestyle motocross tour round 4 will go down in Osaka, Japan on June 1st.

After many years of extraordinary success all over the globe, the Red Bull X Fighters is set to stop in Asia for the 1st Time. Paying tribute to the soaring popularity of FMX in eastern Asia, the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour will make its eagerly awaited debut in the land of the rising sun by staging the fourth stop of the 2013 season in the pulsating southern Japanese city of Osaka on June 1 at a stunning location in front of the Osaka Castle in the city’s famous Nishinomaru Garden.

Frenchman Thomas Pagès, the winner of the season opener in Mexico City, is back on top of the World Tour standings with 245 points following his second-place finish in Glen Helen, California while Dubai winner Dany Torres of Spain (210 points) and Glen Helen victor Rob Adelberg (210 points) are close behind. Defending champion Levi Sherwood of New Zealand (145 points) also remains in the thick of the battle while Osaka’s very own Taka Higashino got an impressive third place in Glen Helen, his first Red Bull X-Fighters appearance this year, and could still figure in the title hunt with three stops left.

Japan’s no. 1 freestyle rider – Taka Higashino. photo: Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool

 “I’m really looking forward to the stop in Osaka even though I’m a little bit nervous about all this in my home town,” said Higashino, one of the world’s most exciting FMX riders with his big bag of tricks and his gold medal in the 2012 X Games. “I’m sure the crowd is going to love seeing this. It’s going to be a great event for Osaka and all of Japan.”

The japanese event will unlike to the previous of the 2013 tour have an Wildcard Qualifier. Five local riders will have the chance to battle it out for the remaining open spot to complete the list of 12 for the main event on June 1st.

Riders List Red Bull X-Fighters Osaka, Japan 2013

1. Levi Sherwood (NZL)

2. Tom Pagés (FRA)

3. Dany Torres (ESP)

4. Todd Potter (USA)

5. Josh Sheehan (AUS)

6. Rob Adelberg (AUS)

7. Taka Higashino (JPN)

8. David Rinaldo (FRA)

9. Javier Villegas (CHI)

10. Adam Jones (USA)

 11. TBC

12. Japan Wildcard

Japan Wildcard Qualifier for Spot 12. of Main Event

- Genki Watanabe

- Daice Suzuki

- Kota Suzuki

- Kota Kugimura

- Shinichi Kaga

Barcelona made its stunning debut as an X Games global tour venue for 2013 this week. X Games Barcelona is now done and dusted, and the freestyle motocross elements were full of suprises and excitement. Unfortunately the FMX had to be cancelled due to unsafe wind speeds, but all the other events were going off! Check out the results and highlight edits from all the freestyle motocross events from X Games Barcelona below:

STEP – UP

Ronnie Renner collecting his Gold medal. photo: Sebas Romero/Red Bull Content Pool

GOLD – Ronnie Renner

SILVER – Josh Hansen

BRONZE – Matt Buyten

4. Libor Podmol

5. Brian Foster

6. Wally Palmer

Ronnie Renner. photo: Quique Garcia / Red Bull Content Pool

BEST WHIP

Tom Pages. photo: Alberto Lessmann/Red Bull Content Pool

GOLD – Edgar Torronteras

SILVER – Jeremy Stenberg

BRONZE – Josh Hansen

FREESTYLE

Tom Pages. photo: Sebas Romero/Red Bull Content Pool

The Freestyle Moto X has been cancelled due to heavy winds. The riders still managed to go out and throw down a sick demo!

SPEED & STYLE

Rebeaud, Mason and Adams on the Podium. photo: Quique Garcia / Red Bull Content Pool

Mike Mason takes a well earned Gold Medal in Speed & Style in Barcelona! An epic battle on a tight course turned into victory last night for the rider from Nevada who was riding a local rental bike for the event.   

Matt Rebeaud racking up the style points. photo: Sebas Romero/Red Bull Content Pool

Results:

1. Mike Mason

2. Mat Rebeaud

3. Nate Adams

4. Andre Villa

Finals: Mason  vs Rebeaud

Semi-Finals: Courey vs  Rebeaud

Bronze Match: Villa vs Adams

Quaterfinals Heat 4: Adams vs Faisst

Quaterfinals Heat 2: Torronteras vs Villa

Twitchthis Films have just dropped their latest edit: Twitch - Going for Gold! Twich has his eyes on the Gold medal going into X Games Best Whip in Barcelona. There is going to be some stiff competition in Spain from local rider Edgar Torronteras and Frenchman Tom Pages, but Twitch coming off Two recent X Games best whip Gold medals, a new school, unique style of whip ‘ a turn up ‘ and a huge fanbase put him well in the running for a Gold in Barcelona on Sunday.   

Deft Family Presents: Nate Adams on the Nitro Circus Live Australia tour 2013 – check it out!

Night Of The Jumps will return to Hamburg, Germany on May 25th 2013 for the final round of the European Freestyle Motocross championships.

Stay tuned for more info coming soon.

http://www.nightofthejumps.com/

Finals Cancelled due to dangerous winds!

photo: Balasz Gardi/Red Bull Content pool

Australia’s Rob Adelberg won the third stop of the 2013 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour by virtue of his victory in qualifying earlier on Saturday after heavy, gusting winds caused the cancellation of the finals. France’s Tom Pages was second and moved ahead of Spain’s Dany Torres in the overall standings halfway through the season.

 Tom Pages, Rob Adelberg & Taka Higashino. photo: Sebastian Marko/Red Bull Content Pool

Rob Adelberg scored his first Red Bull X-Fighters career victory in Glen Helen thanks to his thumping triumph in the Qualifying session, taking top honors when heavy winds caused the cancellation of the main event. The wind gusts of up to 20 mph made the already challenging track too dangerous for the world’s best freestyle motocross riders. Tom Pages took second place on the biggest Red Bull X-Fighters course ever built, moving back into the overall World Tour lead with 245 points, ahead of Dany Torres (210). Japan’s Taka Higashino finished third before his home event next month in Osaka, Japan.

Taka Higashino during qualifying. photo: Balasz Gardi/Red Bull Content Pool

Tom Pages during qualifying. photo:  Balasz Gardi/Red Bull Content Pool

The strong winds had forced the postponement of Qualifying from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning. Adelberg, who has a hot hand at the moment and just won the silver medal in Moto X Freestyle at the X Games in Brazil, had a brilliant first run in Qualifying with a perfect cliff-hanger flip, getting 85.1 points. That was more than enough to beat Pages (83.8 points) into second and Higashino into third (83.6 points). Torres, the 2011 World Tour winner, struggled on the treacherous course in Qualifying and could finish no higher than seventh.

 “I started my run with one of the hardest tricks I’ve ever done – the cliff-hanger flip – and it was the best I’ve ever done,” said Adelberg, 24, a tough-as-nails rider who broke his jaw in Glen Helen last year but still managed to finish sixth. His previous best was second in Dubai in 2012.

Rob Adelberg in his qualifying run. photo: Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool 

Torres was disappointed that the knock-out rounds were cancelled. “The wind was also blowing in the morning during the Qualifying,” he said. The riders jump up to 15 meters high on their motorcycles and are airborne for distances covering up to 30 meters. Crew members had worked heroically to build the Glen Helen FMX course, moving tons of dirt and building an entire event infrastructure to accommodate the capacity crowd of 15,000 spectators.

Adam Jones picked up the Swatch Best Trick award for a dope Turntable sidewinder combo – congrats Adam – super ballsy trick in the wind!

Adam Jones. photo: Jörg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool 

Final Results:

1. Rob Adelberg

2. Tom Pages

3. Taka Higashino

 4. Javier Villegas 

5. Adam Jones

6. David Rinaldo

7. Dany Torres

8. Josh Sheehan

9. Wes Agee

10. Brody Wilson

11. Todd Potter   

Qualifying:

Australia’s Rob Adelberg took top honors in the Qualifying session in Glen Helen today on the biggest Red Bull X-Fighters track ever built, beating Tom Pages of France into second and Japan’s Taka Higashino into third ahead of the main event later on Saturday where the world’s best freestyle motocross riders will be putting it all on the line.

Rob Adelberg. photo: Chris Tedesco/Red Bull Content Pool

Rob Adelberg was outstanding on the incredibly difficult FMX course carved into the Southern California hills. The Australian ace, who was fourth in Glen Helen a year ago, earned the best Qualifying score of the day on Saturday, an 85.1, from the panel of five judges. Pages, who is second overall in the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour standings, was close behind with an 83.8 even though he did not perform his most electrifying tricks on the difficult course. Higashino was third with 83.6 points.

Tom Pages. photo: Sebastian Marko/Red Bull Content Pool

The Red Bull X-fighters World Tour leader, Dany Torres of Spain, had an off morning on Saturday with mostly cautious jumps and was back in seventh place. Also struggling was last year’s winner, American Todd Potter who finished 11th, and Australia’s Josh Sheehan, who was eight. Both Potter and Sheehan crash-landed during their runs. Defending champion Levi Sherwood of New Zealand had to pull out of the competition in Glen Helen due to a shoulder injury suffered in training.

Todd Potter. photo: Sebastian Marko/Red Bull Content Pool

Practice:

Round 3 of the Red Bull X Fighters 2013 world tour has officially kicked off at Glen Helen, California. Practice got underway yesterday, and it is fair to say that Dane Herron and the crew have stepped up again and built a freestyle motocross course that will go down in history!  The big question on everyone’s mind will be whether some of the riders like Danny Torres and can improve their game and better utilize the big FMX course in California after appearing daunted and almost lost on the cavernous track with its towering step-up jump last year.  “Last year they really struggled with the elevation and the dirt hills,” said Red Bull X-Fighters sporting director Tes Sewell. “Can Levi and Dany step up and use the big course to full advantage? The massive jump up on the hill is the defining feature of Glen Helen.” Both Sherwood and Torres prefer the tighter stadium courses. Pages, who finished a close second a year ago to Potter, has been on fire this season with his impressive win in Mexico City and his three unmatchable tricks: the “Flair”, the “Volt” and the “Special Flip”.  The fearless Frenchman, in second place with 165 points and just 15 points behind Torres, will find the unique “wall ride” back in Glen Helen as well as an improved quarter-pipe that he can use for his flair, and the superman flair which we never got to see in Dubai.  As massive as the 2012 track was, the 2013 course has increased in size, with more dirt, more features and more action.  The step-up will grow to two stages. These additional uphill and downhill options will result in the biggest transfer jump in the history of freestyle motocross.

Tom Pages. photo: Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool

The gnarly 60-foot high Step-Up has made many of the world’s best freestyle motocross riders nervous ahead of the third stop of the 2013 World Tour on Saturday in Glen Helen.  “It’s definitely one of the scariest jumps anywhere,” said Adelberg, who broke his jaw while attempting a back flip up the Step Up jump in training last year but got his jaw fixed in time to back flip up the hill in the competition. “We don’t have a jump like that anywhere to practice on. If something goes wrong, it’s going to go terribly wrong. It looks scary but a lot of it is in the mind.”

The Step Up is so scary that last year many riders quietly dropped it out of their runs. Those skipping the Step Up last year got penalized hard in the judging. Australia’s Josh Sheehan doesn’t even want to think about not making it to the top. “I think that would ruin you if you fell back down the Step Up,” he said. “But it’s fun and I love it. To hit it is really fun. It’s the biggest jump I’ve ever done.” Todd Potter was the Killing it on the step up last year, winning the event with a bold run that included a crowd-pleasing back flip up that sucka.  The man from Temecula — just 60 miles from Glen Helen — is confident he can win again this year. “This is my type of riding – I love it,” Potter said.

Rob Adelberg. photo: Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool

 Taka Higashino. photo: Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool

Tom Pages. photo: Chris Tedesco/Red Bull Content Pool

Tom Pages & Taka Higashino check out the course. photo: Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool

Unit rider Brody Wilson has been drafted in at the last minute to take the spot of Nate Adams, who cannot ride due to injury.  

Brody Wilson. photo: Balasz Gardi/Red Bull Content Pool

Brody Wilson. photo: Balasz Gardi/Red Bull Content Pool

Don’t fortget to tune in live to the action from Glen helen at : www.redbullxfighters.com

In preperation for this weekends much anticipated 3rd round of the 2013 Red Bull X-fighters series at Glen Helen, California, FMX riders Wes Agee, Rich Kearns and Keith Sayers put on a sick demo on the Venice Beach Boardwalk as part of the Red Bull X-Fighters jams.

Rich Kearns. photo: Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool

Keith Sayers. photo: Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool

Wes Agee. photo: Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool

 photo: Jason Halayko of Tensai Riot Photography

Genki Watanabe. photo: Jason Halayko of Tensai Riot Photography

Final Results:

1. Daisuke ‘Daice’ Suzuki

2. Kota Thugway

3. Shinichi ‘ Bupper’ Kaga

Edit courtesy of Popcorn Love Records

More than 15.000 people witnessed the Red Bull X-Fighters Jam go down at Talcahuano´s port in Chile recently. Riders Nick Franklin (New Zeland), Nick De Wit (South Africa) and Martin Koren (Chec Republic), where in charge of impressing the audience with a sick display of FMX action!

Martin Koren, Nick De Wit and Nick Franklin. photo: Juan Luis De Heeckeren/Red Bull Content Pool

The Red Bull X-Fighters World Series is one of the highest profile FMX competitions competition, and unites the best FMX riders to show their creativity and talent in different, breathtaking locations around the world. Although not every country can host a round on the World Tour, the best FMX riders travel through different countries showing their tricks to thousand of over-excited fans at the Red Bull X-Fighters Jams. This year, the Red Bull riders arrived in Chile for the first time!

Martin Koren. photo: Juan Luis De Heeckeren/Red Bull Content Pool

“This is our first time in Chile and we are very happy to finally be here to show people at Talcahuano a show like this” said Nick Franklin.

Nick Franklin. photo: Alfredo Escobar/Red Bull Content Pool

The Freestyle Motocross tricks left the Chilean audience astonished after the three riders showed off their courage and skills on the bikes. “In this sport your head plays a very important role. The psychological factor is what gives you the confidence to jump. However, people of Talcahuano encourage us to give them an awesome show and of course have an amazing time”, added De Wit.

 Nick De Wit. photo: Juan Luis De Heeckeren/Red Bull Content Pool

“Definitely a great day at Talcahuano where we gave the audience a time of real fun, specially after all they have suffered with the Tsunami a few years ago”, assured Martin Koren after finishing the event, where the three riders proudly showed the best of their tricks wearing the Official Chilean Soccer Team shirt as a tribute to the local audience.

All the riders. photo: Alfredo Escobar/Red Bull Content Pool