XGames weekend
Clint Esposito
X Games weekend
June 2nd - 5th 2016
What a great weekend if you are into Moto. First the Third round of the Outdoor nationals at Thunder Valley in Colorado. It looks like the Ken Roczen train is full steam ahead! Winning both motos Ken has put his stamp on the series so far. There are two guys that have a shot to derail it though. Ryan Dungey of course, who is never that far off the top step of the box. This makes Dungey the benefactor of any miss step that may happen, and as we know anything can happen out doors. Next is Eli Tomac, having dealt with double shoulder surgery shortly after this round last year. Add to that I switch in bikes and teams, Eli didn’t get to train or test very much leading into this year. To compete at that level the riders have to be super comfortable, being tentative in any one part of the track leads to lost time. I look for Dungey to stay consistent all season and for Tomac to make progress all year and be up front competing for wins by seasons end.
The 250 class is no less exciting, there are a handful of riders capable of winning the series and at the very least some races. I look for Joey Savatgy, the Martin Brothers, Cooper Web, Austin Forkner and Aaron Plessinger to compete for Moto wins and possibly the championship.
Finally Xgames, the last year in Austin, TX did not disappoint either. Despite on and off rain storms and wind all of the events happened for MotoX. I was on hand and in the pits for sundays events, best whip, Quarterpipe and Best Trick. Other than the tricks being super gnarly the biggest thing that stands out in my mind is Jackson “Jacko” Strong. In Quarterpipe Jacko went for a double open loop. He executed the trick perfect however the impact of the 45ft drop to the bottom of the landing was too much to hold on to. The impact andrebound of the landing blew his hands and feet right off the bike. It didn't look good for his XGames, he was moving slow and looked beat up. Jacko was then checked out by EMT and airlifted to the hospital. After seeing the ER Doctor he was cleared.
So what did Jacko do, asked the Hospital to Airlift him back to the venue so he could compete in best trick.. At first he was laughed at, now I’m not sure exactly what happened but for some reason they had to return to the venue anyway so the gave Jacko a lift. His disappointed crew got a call saying don’t bother coming to the hospital I’m on my way back. Jacko then hopped out of the helicopter and gets dressed for best trick. Where he lands a front flip off of a standard freestyle ramp and wins Gold in Best Trick!! Epic! Congrats to all of the competitors who took home some hard wear!