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from the editor
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The end of the road or
a new opportunity?
A
S THE 2015 RED Bull X-Fighters
season was coming to a close, Red
Bull announced the devastating
news that 2016 will see the world
tour move to a one-off highlight event, to be held
in Madrid, Spain without much of an explanation
as to why.
This news was as big of a shock to us - as
it was to the global FMX community - as the
series appeared to be going from strength to
strength. The Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour
has been running eight years now and over
that time has established itself as the premier
freestyle motocross series in the world. Many of
the world’s elite FMX riders such as Tom Pagès
and Levi Sherwood compete almost exclusively
at X-Fighters and the loss of the world tour is
bound to have a big impact on the riders and the
sport as a whole. With last year’s cancellation of
Freestyle Moto X from X Games, following the
cancellation of Best Trick the previous year, this
news comes as another hefty blow in the face of
FMX for 2016.
But it’s always good to try and look on the bright
side of things. The X-Fighters team are said to
be looking into new ideas for the series, with
fresh concepts in the hopes of making the series
even stronger in the future.
When we look back at the history of Red Bull’s
involvement in FMX, across series such as the
Red Bull Ride to the Hills and the Red Bull X-Ray
events, we see a variety of different contest
formats and ideas that all worked in their own
way. We saw these series grow, develop and
ultimately inspire the next generation of new,
different projects to come to fruition. What I’m
trying to say is that change can be good.
So don’t panic, I don’t think we’ve seen the end
of the Red Bull X-Fi ghters yet, maybe just as we
know it.
Ride on
Adam Simpson
Editor
Regular contributors
Doug Parsons
Doug is an OG
Californian FMX and
Freeride legend who
made a name for himself
in the Moto XXX videos.
When Doug isn’t out
shoveling jumps and
riding the hills with the
Dirt Bike Kidz, he’s
getting creative with a
pen and paper.
Simon Makker
Ex-editor of Freerider MX
magazine, New Zealand
born Simon Makker is
as well respected in the
action sports media
industry as they come.
A talented writer and a
truly sick photographer,
‘Smakker’ has the skills
to pay the bills.
Jason Halayko
Jason is the leading
FMX photographer in
Japan. Having worked
a lot with Eigo Sato in
his early days, Halayko’s
photography has
progressed to an aweinspiring level over the
last decade or so.
Michael Laverty
When it comes to
Superbikes, no one
knows their stuff more
than Michael Laverty.
In 2015 Michael will be
racing the BSB series
for Tas Tyco BMW and
working as a test rider for
the MotoGP Aprilia team.
In-between all this he will
be bringing us the best
SBK features direct from
the pits!
Ricky Monti
One of Europe’s top
action sports and FMX
photographers, Ricky has
written for many a major
motocross and FMX
magazine. The artistic
Italian continues to blow
us away with his unique,
inspirational photos
and open, in-depth
interviews.
Adam Wheeler
Adam is one of the
motocross industry’s
leading journalists. He
has written for RacerX
(USA), Motocross
Illustrated (USA),
Motorwereld (BEL), Dirt
Bike Rider (UK), Moto
(UK), MotoX (GER),
Motociclismo (SPA), Race
(SWE) and Motocross
(ITA) to name a few.