Final MX Events
The X Games
Check out the MX "bloopers" HERE
Men's MX :
Check it out here. Watch the start to see what happened to Chad Reed.
Justin Brayton took home the gold in Men’s Moto X Racing, beating out Josh Hill with a final lap pass for the front. Chris Blose finished with the bronze.
Off the start, the physical race started with Chad Reed and a host of others getting bumped into the blocks as they tried to enter the first turn. Hill, who has been sidelined with injury of late, made a push for the lead and settled in with Brayton right on his rear tire. The tight track made it difficult to pass, and Hill played defense against Brayton for the first half of the 20 lap competition.
Brayton made a strong attempt at the front halfway through, but Hill was quick to answer back. Blose, who had been running steady in third, benefitted from the lead battle, catching the two front runners and then making an aggressive pass for second which stood Brayton up briefly.
As the race neared the final laps, Brayton found a line back to second-place and quickly started to make up ground on Hill. Blose, meanwhile, had Reed to contend with as the veteran rider pushed up hard from fourth. Hill led into the last lap, but during the final turns Brayton took an inside line which stood Hill up, allowing him to assume the lead where he’d hold to the finish.
Men’s Moto X Racing Results 2013:
1. Justin Brayton
2. Josh Hill
3. Chris Blose
4. Chad Reed
5. Kyle Regal
Women's MX :
Click here to see the race and how Australian Megan Rutledge lost the gold to Vicki Golden.
Vicki Golden added to her medal count, grabbing her third Women’s Moto X Racing gold. Meghan Rutledge finished with the silver followed by Kiara Fontanesi, who took the bronze.
Fontanesi took the early lead with Rutledge and Jessica Patterson in the number two and three spots. Golden was back in fifth after a bad start. Rutledge and Fontanesi battled through the initial laps until Rutledge found a line to the front on Lap 3.
Golden was mounting a charge and had moved up to fourth, pressuring Patterson for the number three spot. Patterson held strong until Lap 10, when Golden finally made a pass for third stick. The following lap Golden got past Fontanesi into second and only had one lap to try and catch Rutledge.
Rutledge had a comfortable gap and would have easily taken the gold, but coming off the metal ramp prior to the final turn she threw a premature fist-pump in celebration, letting her front end dip too low. The mistake caused her to land off-kilter and she came off the bike. Golden held steady and rounded the turn to take the gold. Patterson finished in fourth followed by Taylor Higgins in fifth.
Women’s Moto X Racing Results 2013:
1. Vicki Golden
2. Meghan Rutledge
3. Kiara Fontanesi
4. Jessica Patterson
5. Taylor Higgins
Men's Enduro X
Blazusiak found his rhythm early in the day, dominating his heat race for a bid to the main event. During the race for the gold, the KTM ace shot off the start to earn the holeshot and proceeded to battle with Brown and Kawasaki’s Taylor Robert through the opening turns. Robert slipped back in the pack soon after, but Brown remained steady behind his teammate. Brown reeled Blazusiak in a few times during the initial laps, but some bobbles here and there made it difficult to attempt a pass on the eventual gold medal winner. Brown finally lost sight of the lead mid-race when he went down in a rock section.
Colton Haaker took advantage of Brown’s getoff to move into second and he ran a few laps chasing Blazusiak, but then he too went down nearing the end of the contest in the chopped wood section. Brown weaved past Haaker to reassume the runner-up spot and though he was able to close the gap slightly on his teammate, Blazusiak couldn’t be caught.
“I am feeling the best I’ve felt all year coming into this race,” said Blazusiak. “The track was really different than what we’re used to, but I was very prepared and I’m happy to leave with a gold medal.”
Webb was a small distance behind Brown in third, but his bronze medal is a laudatory achievement considering he wasn’t supposed to compete in the event. Earlier in the summer Webb broke his foot and was forced to undergo surgery to fix the injury.
“This was only my second day riding in seven and a half weeks,” said Webb. "I had surgery and missed the last X Games. I got cleared Wednesday to ride, so I had two days to prepare. I showed up in L.A. and went for it.”
Haaker recovered to finish fourth followed by Robert in fifth.
Brown said he and Blazusiak are close friends off the track but emphasized that "racing is racing."
Blazusiak said that adding the three international events into the mix has made for a long but rewarding season. His planned celebration will extend well beyond the X Games after-party. "I'm going back home and I'm going to be sitting at the pool for a few months," he said.
Chris Birch didn't make the final. His comment: "Kriky that was brutal! I didn't make the main event, too many mistakes. So stoked to have had the opportunity."
Men’s Enduro X Results 2013:
1. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM)
2. Mike Brown (KTM)
3. Cody Webb (Beta)
4. Colton Haaker (Honda)
5. Taylor Robert (Kawasaki)
Women's Enduro X
Mark Kohlman/ESPN "It was a difficult start but then I kept calm and, trying to be faster, I caught all of the riders," Sanz said about her win.
Spanish rider Laia Sanz tangled with other riders right out of the gate in Sunday's Women's Enduro X, but she managed to make up for lost ground to earn her third gold medal of the year.
By the second lap, Sanz had passed everyone but Tarah Gieger. A slip-up in the rocks in Lap 4 tossed Gieger off her bike, leaving Sanz and Maria Forsberg to battle it out up front.
"I had a really bad start," Sanz said. "Tarah was jumping a lot and I'm not good at jumping. At the end, I didn't make mistakes today and I feel super pumped for that because in Munich it was a disaster. The race was good and the bike was much better than it was in Munich."
Racing out front is more familiar territory for Sanz than chasing down the pack, and by the time she crossed the checkered flag she'd extended her lead, beating silver medalist Forsberg by 37.189 seconds -- an enormous interval in a six-lap race -- and bronze medalist Gieger by nearly a minute.
Forsberg dominated Women's Enduro X in its first two years at X Games but she's had her hands full since Sanz, the 2012 FIM Enduro World Champion and a 12-time FIM Trials World Champion, made the scene. The two riders have held the top two spots at every global X Games event in 2013, with Sanz on top in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, and Barcelona, and now Los Angeles, and Forsberg with the win in Munich.
"It's funny that everyone calls it a rivalry because we're friends," says Forsberg. "We haven't really gone back and forth because I've beat her once and she's beat me three or four times. It's been an honor riding with her and I feel like I've learned a lot from her. We both obviously want to win in the end, but she rode an awesome race and it's well deserved."
Gieger ran out front early and built a sizable gap on the field during the initial laps, but then she got hung up in a rock section and fell back to third-place behind Sanz and Kacy Martinez. Forsberg was holding steady in fourth.
Martinez followed Gieger’s example soon after, going down in the same rock section. Sanz maintained a smooth, consistent pace and opened up a comfortable lead. Gieger pushed to close-in on the leader, but ran into more trouble with a near-off in another rock section, which allowed Forsberg to catch up from third-place and move to second. The three riders held their positions through the final laps to the checkers.
Women’s Enduro X Results 2013:
1. Laia Sanz
2. Maria Forsberg
3. Tarah Gieger
4. Sandra Gomez Cantero
5. Rachel Gutish
Moto X Best Whip
In the fan-chosen Moto X Best Whip competition, Josh Hansen walked away with the gold thanks to his seemingly impossible contortionist whips late in the session. Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg secured the silver and Vicki Golden (often seen among the ranks of Moto USA off-road test riders) ended with the bronze.
Golden and Stenberg were virtually neck-and-neck in the running for the gold during the initial minutes, but Hansen started whipping hard in the latter portion, with passes that were completely sideways and nearly upside down. Robbie Maddison took fourth with Edgar Torronteras in fifth.
Moto X Best Whip Results 2013:
1. Josh Hansen
2. Jeremy Stenberg
3. Vicki Golden
4. Robbie Maddison
5. Edgar Torronteras
Moto X Freestyle, Step-Up, Speed & Style
Taka Higashino took the gold in Moto X Freestyle with two solid 90.00 scoring runs. Adam Jones finished with the silver and Nate Adams earned the bronze.
In the Moto X Step-Up final, Ronnie Renner secured gold with a 38.50 jump, besting Libor Podmol by a full foot. Matt Buyten finished with the bronze.
Adams earned the gold in Moto X Speed & Style, beating Blake Williams handily in the gold match. Andrea Villa won out against Matt Buyten to take the bronze.
Adaptive Moto X Racing
Mike Schultz grabbed the gold medal in Adaptive Moto X racing, beating Todd Thompson by a comfortable margin. Chris Ridgeway finished with the bronze.
Ridgeway ran out front early, but had Schultz contending hard from second. Thompson was well entangled in the lead pack as well in third. Schultz pushed through the opening laps and was able to pass Ridgeway through the whoops for the lead. Thompson followed a few turns later, passing Ridgeway to move into second. Though Thompson was in sight of Shultz to the end, Schultz maintained a smooth pace and was uncatchable. Max Gomez ended in fourth-place followed by Steve Howe in fifth.
Adaptive Moto X Racing Results 2013:
1. Mike Schultz
2. Todd Thompson
3. Chris Ridgeway
4. Max Gomez
5. Steve Howe