Troy Lee Designs Jeff Ward finished seventh in SuperMoto X. He said this will be the last time he competes in X Games Supermoto. But we've heard that before haven't we?
MotoUSA just got back from X Games 15. Home of tattoos, tattoos and more tattoos. Seriously, it’s crazy how many people have tattoos in Southern California. Regardless, fans (did I mention they have a lot of tattoos?) packed inside the Home Depot Center outside of Los Angeles. Every year it seems the Games get bigger and bigger and this year didn’t disappoint. Tons of folks turned out on Saturday and I would say that attendance was roughly the same as the last few years, despite the economic doom and gloom you hear about every day. Similarly to year’s past we arrived to the event on two-wheels which substantially reduce the pain of parking and getting inside the stadium.
The first motorcycle event of the day was the SuperMoto X race and it was Italian World Supermoto pilot, Ivan Lazzarini who emerged on top after a dogfight with the KTM SXF450 ridden by Monster Energy rider Mark Burkhart. Lazzarini, who was riding a borrowed Honda CRF450R led right from the get-go leading each and every one of the 20-laps.
Two-time X-Games Supermoto X gold medal winner and Troy Lee Designs rider Jeff Ward looked like he was going to have something for the Italian running in second place for the initial laps. However, Ward would make a mistake clipping a concrete barrier with his foot.
“My foot caught the barrier and just ripped it off,” commented a frustrated Ward after the race. “I broke my ankle in May and just when it was starting to feel good it gets ripped off the peg. I made a couple of mistakes I over jumped one jump and missed the blue groove and immediately got gapped by five bikes. Then I closed back up a bit and I was pushing a bit too hard and made that mistake. It [his foot] felt really numb like if you hit a bone with a hammer. I couldn’t use the rear brake and I kept overshooting co
Italian World Supermoto racer, Ivan Lazzarini won the SuperMoto X race on a borrowed Honda CRF450R.
rners. It was downhill from there.”
Ward and the rest of the riders who competed in last year’s X Games SuperMoto race all agreed that this year’s track favored the European contingent due to its faster pavement section and fewer dirt obstacles.
“The pavement was better because it was faster,” continued Ward. "But the dirt was… there were no jumps. It was catered more to the euro-type style which Lazzarini and them are used to.”
Burkhart agreed, “The asphalt was a lot better. The dirt they tamed that down a lot which I think was good. But for me, I like jumps. Personally I think jumps are better for the fans but getting more people to race it is good too.”
Toward the end of the race Burkhart had caught up to Lazzarini and it looked like he was going to pass him but when he attempted it, Lazzarini countered by sliding the rear end of his bike into Burkhart and almost forcing him into a concrete wall. After that near incident Burkhart couldn’t close the gap on the Italian.
“He had a better line going up the hill,” said a cool and collected Burkhart after the race. “I knew if I didn’t brake I was going to get cleaned out. I kind of messed up in the last lap I let him go a little bit too much.”
Euro Supermoto racers Adrien Chareyre and Sylvain Bidard finished third and fourth and Ward’s teammate, Cassidy Anderson would be the top Troy Lee Designs rider finishing in fifth.
Honda Red Bull’s Ashley Fiolek won her first ever X Games gold medal in the girls division.
In the Moto X Super X Women’s race it was Ashley Fiolek who took home the gold on her Honda Red Bull CRF250R over Jessica Patterson and Elizabeth Bash.
Before the race even started, Patterson was the heavy favorite based on her being the fastest woman on the technical and extremely challenging supercross-style course. And Patterson didn’t disappoint as she was immediately out in front at the start of the race. In fact it seemed like she was going to run away with the race win. But as the laps wound down, Fiolek steadily crept closer and passed her by taking an inside line after the whoops section. She would then open up a small gap taking home the medal with a fist in the air on the finish line jump. Bash and her Kawasaki KX250F would go on to finish third, despite taking a hefty crash in practice on one of the triple jumps banging up her right knee in the process.
After the race an elated Fiolek, jumping up and down and hugging everyone in sight, tossed some of her gear into the screaming crowd. Third place finisher, Bash was equally as ecstatic; however, Patterson looked like she was ready to punch somebody. You could tell that she was mad at herself for failing to hold off Fiolek for what would have been her first gold medal. There's always next year, Jessica.
Although we’re not quite sure how he did it, in the 20-lap Super X motocross race it was Josh Hansen, who won over KTM’s Justin Brayton and Geico Honda’s Kevin Windham. Hansen, riding a factory Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX450F, seemed to be on rails on a track that many riders said was slick and hard packed. Saturday’s win would give Hansen his second consecutive X Games Super X gold medal
He did it again. Josh Hansen won his second consecutive gold medal in Moto X at the Home Depot Center.
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At the start of the race it was Windham with the holeshot and early lead. But with each lap Hansen methodically made his way through the pack eventually passing Windham by pulling up alongside him then diving into the lead. A few laps later, Brayton would also sneak past him. The King of Supercross Jeremy McGrath finished in seventh after running as high as third place early in the race.
Fan favorite and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Josh Grant crashed heavily in his heat race, breaking both of his ankles when his Yamaha YZ450F seized forcing him to eject off the bike and land feet first on the top peak of a jump. Grant will be out for the remainder of this year’s AMA Motocross season.
Geico Honda’s Blake Wharton was also injured in the last chance qualifier when another rider ran in to him sending both to the ground. Wharton cut his arm in the fall, requiring stitches but said that he would be okay by for the next AMA Motocross round at Unadilla.
Notably absent from both the SuperMoto X and Super X race was James Stewart who banged himself up after qualifying third on Friday. The reining AMA Supercross champ had this to say in regards to the accident: “I was coming around a corner and kind of washed the front end. The tire caught a little bit and I ended up slamming my shoulder against the wall pretty hard. I'm hurting pretty bad right now. It is very, very painful, and I can't lift my shoulder above my side at all. If I could ride the bike I would, but there's just no way at this point.”
James Stewart had to withdraw from Saturday's X Games events after hurting himself during SuperMoto X qualifying.
After being robbed of the win in Best Trick, Blake “Bilko” Williams redeemed himself by acing his fellow Metal Mulisha rider Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg in Moto X Freestyle. Like all the guys in this contest, Bilko pulled off a crazy series of motorcycle aerial acrobatics, though his were just a little more insane than the other guys. Nate Adam’s final run wasn't all that spectacular relegating him to third with Mat Rebaud taking fourth.
That’s it from the motorcycle portion of X Games 15. As we were walking out of the stadium we bumped into Travis Pastrana and he wanted to let all the fans out there know that he is in fact okay.100% in fact and ready to shred on four wheels tomorrow in the rally car event.
