Finals:
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
