 | Click the following links for the start of each photo gallery at X Games 14 in Los Angeles. Moto X Speed and Style Final |
Saturday’s action at X Games 14 was moto-filled, in a variety of disciplines. Here were some of the highlights for us:
Kevin Johnson had boosted his bag of tricks following the Navy Moto X World Championships last Spring in San Diego, and with the difficulty of the moto portion of this year’s course, it helped Kevin stretch his lead in the Speed portion. He definitely surprised a few of the freestyle regulars en route to taking the gold.
Travis Pastrana is now 0-2 in this event, after another crash took him out of contention. He hit some marbles in a berm used to transition onto another straightaway, and slammed hard into it. He did come back on Sunday to score another X Games medal in his Subaru rally car, though.
 Kevin Johnson. |
Moto X Speed & Style Final Results
Name / Hometown
1. Kevin Johnson / Albuquerque, N.M.
2. Ronnie Renner / Fallsbrook, Calif.
3. Jeremy Stenberg / Winchester, Calif.
4. Mike Mason / Carson City, Nev.
5. Edgar Torronteras / Barcelona, Spain
6. Travis Pastrana / Annapolis, M.D.
7. Mat Rebeaud / Payerne, Switzerland
It’s probably fair to say that there was a little apprehension when it came to the Women’s Moto X Finals. This was the first time for many of the ladies on a Supercross track, and definitely their biggest moment in the spotlight. Alisa Nix had a digger during practice earlier in the week over the same 75-foot triple (from a metal ramp) that the men were using. That left her with a broken wrist and arm. Then Ashley Fiolek, who was already riding with a broken wrist, crashed while practicing on a private Supercross track, and she was forced to drop out of the competition.
Among the remaining riders, Sherri Cruse, Jessica Patterson, and Tarah Gieger put on a good show. Cruse grabbed the holeshot and was passed by Patterson and Gieger. Patterson looked like she might be good for gold, until a crash dropped her into the field. That left Gieger with the Gold, Cruse with the Silver, and Tatum Sik with the Bronze.
 Tarah Geiger. |
Moto X Racing Women’s Final Results
Name / Hometown
1. Tarah Gieger / Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
2. Sherri Cruse / Bakersfield, Calif.
3. Tatum Sik / Temecula, Calif.
4. Jessica Patterson / Tallahassee, Fla.
5. Sarah Whitmore / Cheboygan, Mich.
6. Mariana Balbi / Belo Horizonte, Brazil
7. Ashley Boham / Loveland, Colo.
8. Vanessa Florentino / Edgewood, N.M.
In the Men’s Moto X Finals, the biggest surprise of the weekend might have been Josh Hansen’s win. He scored a ride for the weekend from the Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Honda squad, and lead the main event from start to finish nabbing a Gold medal at a time in his career when he could surely use a boost.
Jeremy McGrath returned to the site of where he broke his neck in ’06, and nabbed the silver medal after repelling advances by Josh Hill (who crashed after being pressured to the edge of the track by MC), Josh Summey, and at the end of the race, Josh Grant.
While the track was dry, dusty, and slick, the riders noted afterwards that it probably would have been worse if it had been watered right before the event. The morning’s practice had been run in wet slick conditions, and it did look rather icy out there.
 Josh Hansen. |
Moto X Racing Men’s Final Results
Name / Hometown
1. Josh Hansen / Murrieta. Calif.
2. Jeremy McGrath / Encinitas, Calif.
3. Josh Grant / Wildomar, Calif.
4. Josh Summey / Huntersville, N.C.
5. Justin Brayton / Murrieta, Calif.
6. Nathan Ramsey / Murrieta, Calif.
7. Josh Demuth / North Richland Hills, Calif.
8. Troy Adams / Homosassa, Fla.
9. Jason Lawrence / Summers Point, N.J.
10. Josh Hill / Yoncalla, Ore.
In the Supermoto Final, it was nearly all Jeff Ward, after Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Honda rider came in for a one-off race following his retirement earlier this year.
Heading into the first turn, a large crash took down several riders, including last year’s Gold medalist, Mark Burkhart. After that, Ward had to dispatch KTM-mounted Troy Herfoss, and then it was a high-speed cruise to the gold.
 Jeff Ward. |
Moto X Supermoto Final Results
Name / Hometown
1. Jeff Ward / Newport Beach, Calif.
2. Robbie Horton / Grovetown, Ga.
3. Brandon Currie / Anaheim, Calif.
4. Steve Drew / Buckeye, Ariz.
5. Ivan Lazzarini / Pesaro, Italy
6. Sylvain Bidart / Jurancon, France
7. Dalton Dimick / Fort Collins, Colo.
8. David Pingree / Temecula, Calif.
9. Troy Herfoss / Goulburn, Australia
10. Matt Burton / Ottumwa, Iowa
11. Mark Burkhart / Pataskala, Ohio
12. Micky Dymond / Placentia, Calif.
With the sun setting in the West, it was time to start the freestyle eliminations, in a head-to-head heat format.
The big shocker of the night was problems suffered by Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg, who stomped away from his Yamaha before the end of his semi-final run. We’re not sure of the reason, whether mechanical or biomechanical, but he had been having problems with one of his thumbs during the day.
Twitch’s troubles handed the bronze medal to Mike Mason, who had to be pretty surprised after keeping his expectations in check heading into the X Games. Look for a video interview with Mike later this week.
The final round featured a head-to-head matchup between Jeremy Lusk and Mat Rebeaud, and his final run included an Indian air, a superman seat-grab backflip, a cliffhanger, an under-flip, a rock solid Indian air, and a knack-knack flip that clinched the Gold for him…and gave him two medals for X Games 14. Mat settled for the silver, but seemed stoked to finish on the podium.
 Jeremy Lusk. |
Be sure to check the photo galleries above for much more from X Games 14.
8/4/2008 2:15am
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