FreestyleXtreme Magazine Issue 8 | Page 54

© MATT MORNING / ESPN IMAGES

© MATT MORNING / ESPN IMAGES

£ Battle of the
360’s! Bilko and
Nate spin to win

Speed and
Style
Speed and Style has become a
trademark event for a lot of riders who
have made a name for themselves in
FMX, such as André Villa and Mike
Mason. Amongst the newcomers this
year was the Japanese rider Genki
Watanabe. He was fast, stylish and
had no shortage of tricks. It was
difficult to work out who was the
fastest during the practice sessions,
however Jarryd McNeil cut a fine figure
in the midst of the roar of his fourstroke engine. Nate Adams seemed
at home on the track and like always,
looked determined and rode flawlessly.
Adam Jones’ two-stroke Yamaha
dazzled the spectators on the ramps:
perhaps he was the rider with the
biggest and most unique tricks. Bilko
rode well and was aggressive. As usual
he joked around a lot and apart from
the occasional huge 360, he threw
at least one trick per round based on
a pelvic movement. Bamburg and
Lance Coury were fast but seemed the
weakest on the ramps.
Quarter-finals:
First up was Mason vs. McNeal. The
gate dropped and they were both
quick off the mark. Jarryd led and his
tricks were very impressive, but was
possibly penalised for his Indy Flip.
Even though he was slightly slower,
Mason demonstrated greater all round
strength with his tricks, which earned
him enough style points to take the
win.

The second heat saw Bilko vs. Genki.
Genki made a mistake imme diately
and slipped on the first corner while
Bilko calmly took the wide line. Genki
tried to recover but a broken rear brake
caused him to make another mistake
and go off in another corner, forcing
him to abandon the heat. Bilko made it
through to the next round.

The final race for the third and fourth
places saw the two close mates, Jones
and Mason, at the starting gate. At the
first corner Mason took a smooth, wide
line and passed into the lead. Jones
defended himself with his unique tricks
but they were not enough to snatch the
medal from Mason who was decidedly
faster, and took home third place.

In the third heat it was Beau Bamburg
vs. Adam Jones. The two took off from
the gate and were neck and neck.
Jones demonstrated serious mastery
of his tricks to bring home a win with
seemingly little effort.

The Finals:

The final heat was Nate Adams vs.
Lance Coury. Right from the start Nate
showed his superiority with his big
flat 360s, and together with plenty of
speed he won convincingly.
Semi-finals:
The first semi-final saw Blake Williams
vs. Adam Jones. The two were neck
and neck until Bilko cut Jones off in
the first bend, forcing him into second
place. Both riders performed very
technical tricks on the ramps, but
Bilko’s speed and perhaps his 360s
helped him beat the trick master Adam
Jones.
The other semi-final is Nate vs. Mason.
Mason lost against Nate despite
being faster and executing his tricks
perfectly. Nate demonstrated his
mastery by throwing powerful tricks
like two huge 360s and the judges
decided Patchy should go through to
the final.

In the finals, Speed and Style vets
Bilko and Nate started off aggressively.
Nate took the lead on the first bend
but Bilko overtook him before the first
ramp so when they hit it the two were
side-by-side. After the next corner
they were still neck and neck. It was a
tight battle and proved to be a worthy
final heat! Nate was in front and Bilko
tried to launch an attack but slipped.
With his chance at victory going up in
smoke, he left the track clear for Nate
to take home the gold medal.
It was a pity about the quick exit of
Jarryd McNeil, because his tricks and
style were both well executed and
really original. Adam Jones was also a
bit unlucky and I felt deserved a better
result.