Rider: Bobby Lee Location: MDP Block Photo: Kyle Jones
Rider: Mike Mason Location: MDP Block Photo: Kyle Jones
Contents Issue No.1 Andre’ Villa Interview .................................... 12 Go Big : Round one ....................................... 20 FMX 4 Ever : Kuwait ...................................... 32 Chris Birch : Bike check ................................ 40 Tom Pages Exclusive ..................................... 42 Night of the Jumps ........................................ 52 Jamie Squibb : Down the Woods .................. 60 Cool Fmx Shit ................................................ 70 Red Bull X-Fighters : Osaka & Madrid .......... 74
Rider: Kota Kugimura Photo: Jason Halayko of Tensai Riot photography
Editor
Adam Simpson
Art Director
Francis Lofthouse
Contributing Photographers Jason Halayko David Blazek Ricky Monti Kyle Jones
Contributing Writers Martin Koren Ricky Monti
Contact
info@lokomagazine.com www.lokomagazine.com
Copyright @ Loko Magazine. All rights reserved. All content inside this magazine is copyright @ Loko Magazine and may not be reproduced without express permission from Loko Magazine. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Loko Magazine or it’s employees.
Rider: Les Parsons Location: Wyvern Ranch Photo: Kyle Jones
Who is Andrè Villa? Tell us your story from the beginning. I grew up in a middle class family. My dad was a very hard working man who rode motocross with his two brothers, one of which was a motocross regional champion, winning 6 or 7 medals in regional series in Norway. One of them gave me a pw50 for my fourth birthday. I can’t really remember exactly how motocross came into my life, it was just there. I grew up in a place in Norway where there are very cold winters, one hour from the highest mountains in the country. You can only ride in summertime here, which is 5-6 months a year. You can’t ride too much in Norway, and you can’t ride until you’re at least 11 years old. I raced all over Norway, not supported by my dad very much, as he was busy with his work. I was always travelling with people from my moto club, so I had to take care of my self. At 14 motocross was my full time job. I also worked in my father’s company with school on one side and a motocross career on the other, so I learnt very fast, you have to work very hard to get whatever you want. I don’t feel bad now with my dad for not supporting me when I was young. At 16 years old my father gave me a new mx bike but he said “Now you have the motorbike, so you need to work to buy all the new parts” so I started to work more so I could afford all the bike parts. At 17-18 years old I was pretty fast on a dirt bike, but I had a lot of injuries too, so I decided to have some fun, doing wheelies, long distance jumps and in 2000 I built an fmx ramp for myself. Around this time I also spent two winters skiing in Austria and Canada.
When did you decide to move to Spain to start your FMX career? After two long winters I worked all summer to get some money together, I think 7-8k €, to spend on fmx, and I decided to give fmx 100%. In that period I had some contacts in Spain and I decided to move from Norway to Spain, but my Mercedes Vito broke down on the road, and all the money that I had earned during the summer I had to spend on a new engine. Ridiculous! When I was in Spain there were some Norwegian guys like Morgan Carlson, and I also met Nicolas Ortuno there. I remember my first show well. There was Edgar Torronteras, who I was so happy to ride with, Dany Torres too and obviously Nicolas. The promoter was super impressed with me and step by step I had more events there to do. At the beginning I
stayed in Nicolas’s garage, you can’t understand what a spanish garage is like, there was just loads of old things and me. It was hard for me but it was the only way for me to ride my dirt bike. Then I went in Nicolas’s family house, staying in a very small apartment with him, his parents and his grandparents - and I slept in the same bed as Nicolas! After some time in Spain I came back to Norway to work on the backflip, and in 2004 I was the third rider to have a backflip in their trick list, so I came down to Spain and I had a lot of events doing backflips. After two great years here in Spain, I had enough money to buy a house, a new van and build my fmx compound complete with a foampit now I was ready to be part of the fmx world scene.
And in 2005 you had your first appearance in Red Bull X-Fighters... Yes, it was in Madrid and Travis Pastrana and Nate Adams were riding. I was so excited about this event. I sessioned my foampit to learn some new tricks for this big event. Then in 2006 I went to the Mexico round, and in practice I was with Travis, and I did an underflip for the first time when he was behind me. After the event Travis invited me to go to the USA to ride in his Cernics team. He was of course a Suzuki rider and at the same time I had a deal with Suzuki Europe. I went to ride Travis’s compound for one week and after that I went to do the Dew Tour which was my biggest comp ever, where I had my first big injury - knee cross ligaments. I came back to Europe because there was also the IFMXF championship to work on and I was working super hard with my personal trainer with physical preparation. In 2008 I won four rounds of the IFMXF and then I went to X-Fighters in Poland, where there was me, Ronnie Renner and Travis Pastrana. For some reason my bike felt really bad, I think something was wrong with my suspension and I crashed and broke my tibia.
Did you think to stop your career? No, I had a lot of surgical operations in Norway so I could come back like before the crash. I worked more on my body compared to my first crash in 2006. 2009 wasn’t such an exciting year in my career. In 2010 I had the deal with Yamaha and I decided to go to the USA again. I wanted to change something in my life, in my training. I wanted to have good results and spend more time on motocross tracks, having fun with my dirt bike and not only focusing on events, but
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to concentrate on becoming stronger. I felt much better with Yamaha than Suzuki, I was so happy I made the switch. My body was good and the first stop of X-Fighters was in Mexico and I won there! Every round of X-Fighters I was on the podium, and every time I was up against Nate Adams! I finished second overall in the World tour that year. All was good and I think it was the best year in my fmx career. That year I wanted to be the best rider in the world but Nate was so strong haha. In 2011 I started off not so bad with a second place in Dubai, but I broke my ankle in Madrid, and I still rode in the contest to get some more points, but I didn’t feel confident in the next events.
This was the year of the worst crash in your career too.. in Poland? Yes during the X-Fighters in Poland I had my bad crash. I broke my femur in three pieces. Before the event I felt something wrong, something bad just before the jump and then in mid air. I don’t remember what happened but it happened.
And then what followed? After this crash my view of this sport changed a little bit, my life changed too, my girlfriend was with me 24 hours a day. I was born in a little town of just four thousand people and my goal when I was young was to be a pro fmx rider. A few moments before the crash I was one of top fmx riders in the world, so I can say that I was happy. Now I want to spend time on my bike, have fun for
sure at first, maybe try to create a family with kids in a couple of years, but still focus on my work to be in the top 10 fmx riders in the world. I think there is a period for all the things, and I have spent 10 years in this world that I love.
So what happened during the last ten years of FMX? If you go back 10 years, Freestyle Motocross started as a show sport. If you look at old videos of Pastrana, Deegan and all the big guns - that’s how this sport grew, by those guys progressing and doing big tricks. A few years later the backflip came in and the sport launched to another level. More and more riders came in, more and more money came into the sport, more and more promoters came into the sport and more and more events started happening. With this money in the business, and the great entertainment that is fmx, it was not hard to fill a stadium with 10,000 people. It’s a great business and fortunately there are a lot of dedicated promoters who invest money. That’s the demo part of it. Contest wise: at the beginning you would often drink the night before you went out to ride a contest, now it’s become much more competitive. The tricks are at such a level that you have to be fit, and you have to be sure in the knowledge of what you are doing. Today a rider has a personal trainer, eats right, party’s less, and there is more risk. In the past it was dangerous for guys to do a heelclicker, now the level has rocketed and the risk is so much higher.
“Today everything is more serious, more competitive, more dangerous” Perhaps people outside the sport think that we are rich, but events are bigger now and there is more competition. Of course you need money to have a good life with your family, but we don’t get money for free. Yes, we love it when we do a holly grab at 37 M or we get a trick on lock down, but we work a long time to achieve this, and the question is ‘how are you getting there’? All the hours in the park, all the thousands of jumps, all the hours in the gym, all the logistics, all the injuries and all the other stuff around it that’s not necessary much fun. A lot of people left this world also for that reason. If you want to be at the top, you need a passion for riding mx bikes. If you don’t have the passion, you will not have fun riding, you will not progress and that will be a mess. Today everything is more serious, more competitive, more dangerous and more money is involved. Let me say today we take the whole package, with a lot of bad things inside, a lot of bad injuries in there. You can get killed, you can get paralysed, and then when your career is over you have no education because you didn’t go to school and you can’t do anything. But there are a lot of up sides as well like the freedom of riding your dirt bike, learning a big trick, having fun with your friends, the feeling of standing in front of 40,000 people, it’s like ‘I worked so hard to get here and this moment is the best in the world’. That’s the package we have to choose, if you want to stay or not.
What do you think of the Red Bull X-Fighters? During these years there were some big events like RedBull X-Fighters, X-Games and Dew Tour that helped the fmx scene grow around the world, that increased peoples awareness of the sport with more coverage on tv and in magazines. I think they spent a lot of money and time organizing big
events all over the world like in Madrid, Sidney, Dallas, Mexico City and every time it’s a successful event. I went to X-Fighters a lot of times during the last few years, and every time it was a great experience, and when you can go on the podium it’s just beautiful. From last year I decided to stop riding X-Fighters, like a lot of other riders like Nate Adams, Adam Jones, Jeremy Stenberg, Blake Williams..maybe I’ll be back in the future.
What do you think about FMX in the future? I think in the future FMX competitions will be a bit different, with more Best Trick and freestyle contests. There will be one top Best Trick rider and one top Freestyle rider. The Freestyle rider is the guy who has a solid, all-round mx background, and the Best Trick rider doesn’t have this, but only best tricks like the body varial, electric death ect.. But actually to win in biggest events you need to have both skills like Tom Pages, because he has a good mx background and knows how to ride his bike and he has the best tricks too. You can see during best trick at X-Games that there are a lot of riders that maybe never closed the trick before, and for that reason I’m not a big fan of Best Trick. It’s too dangerous, and some people try their tricks at home, and only do it to be famous. Sometimes it’s the case that these riders have no sponsors, no money and they want to try to be famous, to get money only for this one trick - it’s not only dangerous for him, but for the sport too. I think fmx is one of most dangerous sports in the world and I don’t think this kind of event will help the sport. Up until two years ago progression slowed down in fmx, but last year Tom Pages made the difference, with no backflips during the events, only huge extension tricks, flairs, special-flips and that is the next level of fmx. Tom is my good friend and he motivated me to do better. I think if there are more riders like him in the future, it will be better for the sport, with less backflip combos and more emphasis on style.
So you think that a lot of people enter best trick only for the money? It’s like I said before, there are different riders with different style and skills, but also there are some riders that you only see at X Games Best Trick, that have never participated in an fmx event before, and that’s when it’s only for money and fame. I don’t like this side of it.
Tell us about your experience in USA You know that I’m from Norway, and when I decided to come here to Torrevieja it was like California for me, but California in USA is different still, and of course freestyle motocross is from there. California is the place that you must go if you want to push hard at fmx, skate, surf... but I had, and I still have a lot of events here in Europe, but now I usually spend four months of the year there. When I went there for the first time, in 2008, I stayed at Jeremy “Twich” Stenberg’s house for two months because Brian Deegan said to me “Andrè go ask Jeremy, he is a good guy”. I had a good feeling about Jeremy before California, but after that our friendship grew, as well as with Nate Adams and Robbie Maddison. It was the best for me to be there with those guys, the best riders in the world - riding and training together. After Twich’s house I went to Ronnie Faisst’s house and in 2010-11 I rented a house for three months and last year I bought it. I can’t live in USA all the time because I miss my family and the whole European style, but most importantly it’s because I need to clean my body of American food. The training there is the best for an fmx rider because you have good weather all the time, awesome fmx park set-ups and the best riders to train with. You need to come there for the next interview.
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What is a normal day for you? I will start with my week - that is 3-4 days in the gym and 3-4 days on the bike. I get up at 7.30-8 am and after breakfast I go to the fmx park, then I come back for lunch, and I do some work on my computer in the house, then I go to the gym and sometimes I’ll go for a surf. Then I come back for dinner. I’ve a little problem on my body, in that my metabolism is too fast, and I burn all I eat so I need to eat 6-7 times a day.
How is the feeling with your parents now? It’s pretty good, I went to Norway for Christmas time, and spent a few days with them. I think it’s cool to come back to your home country to visit your family - I’ll go back normally 4-5 times during the year. They understand my work and I’ve a good relationship with them.
And your day-off? Easy answer..day-off is day-off so I try to do nothing all day! play some games, eat good food and have a massage and spa.
Best rookie? Chris Mayer
Best place?
How important is the body in fmx?
The Maldives
The body is very important for this sport, because you need to be skinny, but at the same time you need to be strong and ideally not so tall. For example you can see Taka Higashino, Jacko Strong, Dany Torres, Tom Pages are all not tall guys, so for example during the tzunami flip or cliffangher flip if you are short it’s better..I’m 1,87m, I’m so big for this sport hahaa.. Now I’m 30 years old so I need to take care of my body. The time it takes to come back after a crash is much longer now.
Best food? Italian food
Best drink? Lambrusco
Best music?
What do you do before a comp? The big competitions are normally far away, in a different continent too, so you need to travel, you have the jet-lag, you eat some bad food during the flight, so you need to take care of your body. You generally need to sleep as much as possible to feel good. I don’t have any superstitious things to do before, but it’s a must to have a shower before the event because I need to be clean, not because I was dirty, but it makes you feel like a new guy after traveling.
70’s rock’n roll
Best fmx rider? Travis Pastrana
Who is the best rider to ride with? Tom and Charles Pages for sure.. they are like my brothers
They said the same.. Haha we are a little family! I love those guys!
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Thanks to..
I can’t forget to thank Misha for her love and support over the years, my mechanic Joe, my personal trainer, my sponsors and all my fans around the world.
ne Round O
a w a g e Sam
The GO BIG Freestyle motocross series is the biggest FMX championship in Asia, and attracts the best riders from across Japan. Each round is held at existing FMX parks around the country. The series was the brainchild of the late Eigo Sato, the man who’s dream it was to both bring major FMX events like X-Fighters to Japan, and to get the Japanese FMX scene noticed by the rest of the world. The riding level in Japan has rocketed over the last few years, and we are now seeing some of the worlds top riders coming out of the Land of the Rising sun, not only throwing huge tricks, but adding a crazy amount of style and originality to the way they ride.
Photo: Jason Halayko
Never Forget MC: Yosuke Wada Photo: Jason Halayko
Eigo Sato
No Japanese FMX event would be complete without Yosuke Wada AKA the ‘Wada Police’ on the mic!
Rider: Genki Watanabe Photo: Jason Halayko
Left: Rider: Genki Watanabe Photo: Jason Halayko Right: Rider: Kota Suzuki Photo: Jason Halayko
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Photo: Jason Halayo
Photo: Jason Halayo
Final Results Round One
First - Daisuke Suzuki Second - Kota Kugimura Third - Shinichi Kaga LOKO 29
Photo: Rutger Pauw Red bull content pool
Rip
Eigo Sato 30.10.78 - 28.02.13
Red Bull X - Fighters Jams In...
Kuwait City Words By:
Martin Koren Photos By:
David Blazek
FMX
continues to spread its glamour, with numerous tours and show concepts. These events continue to boom across Europe, North and South America and Australia, continents that have developed strong fan bases through the years. One of the best things about FMX as a sport is its huge entertainment factor. As a visitor you don’t need to know any names or rules to be astonished by it. There is no wonder why it’s sweeping through the
world like a plague. In order to get to a fan base, where you sell out arenas, you need to start out small and gain awareness. FMX 4 Ever has had the opportunity to be the first to entertain crowds in over 30 countries and ride in front of amazing locations from the Egyptian Pyramids to the Horse of Troy in Turkey, to the highest yet FMX show in the world in La Paz Bolivia set at 3.500m above sea level. Every event starts on the white board
Photo: Ricky Monti
in the office of our rider built company. The first question that comes up is, “how are we going to get there?” Planning events across the world requires a lot of logistics management. Every rider at FMX 4 Ever brings his skills to the table in organizing these events from maintenance of the bikes, welding of the ramps to communication and planning
in the office. Once everything is set, its travel time! Hurray to Red Bull X-Fighters Jam Kuwait city! Travelling with FMX has given me the opportunity to visit places that are not on your typical holiday list of destination. In fact, even if you decided that you want to take your family for a round trip to Kuwait, there’s no chance.
“ You can get a 12 pack of beers on the black market for 400 Euros.” A tourist visa is not an option here. Only business. Ask your self, what have you heard about Kuwait? On arrival, we were told a list of rules to keep us out of jail. Little things a typical European wouldn’t see as a big problem could put you behind bars, such as swearing in public or fornication
before marriage. Alcohol is completely forbidden in the country, but if your craving is too strong, you can get a 12 pack of beers on the black market for 400 Euros. The party factor was pushed aside, but that doesn’t at all mean you can’t have a good time in Kuwait. The people are very friendly and the cuisine is absolutely top notch. We had the luck to meet Sheik Ali, who is a big supporter of motorsports in the country. We were invited to his chill area for a chat and some tea. We were also blessed with a tour of the royal palace. As we came closer to D day, our container arrived and we could get to work. The event location was in front of the Kuwait Towers, the most iconic site in Kuwait
“Remember what you experienced when you saw your first rock solid or back flip? These guys get a mouth full all in one go!” City. On this occasion, we were lucky to have a nice flat parking lot to set everything up. We shared our lighting needs and made a plan for the show. Went through all the technical aspects and measurements and as soon as everyone was on the same page we could get to building up. Once everything was set up, it’s always important to test it out. We go through a full equipment check LOKO 36
and fix all the bugs so we don’t have any surprises during the show. We look at the best angles for action shots and make a plan with the photographers and camera crew to maximize on the outputs. We all know that this is a once in a life time opportunity and everyone wants to get
the best out of this. Its moments like these that stay on your wall forever. When show time comes around, you can feel the excitement in the air. It doesn’t matter if it’s the big Red Bull X-Fighter tour, or a smaller Jam. The energy is all around. Bare in mind, that a huge
“It shouldn’t always be about the latest trick, but about passion and creativity”
majority of these visitors have never seen FMX in their life. Remember what you experienced when you saw your first rock solid or back flip? These guys get a mouth full all in one go! Its great to see how crazy the public can get, even in a very laid back culture. The atmosphere is unforgettable. People are climbing into trees to get a good view! Today, our sport has gone so far, that hard tricks are taken for granted in places where FMX has built
tradition. It shouldn’t always be about the latest trick, but about the passion and creativity. We completely blocked the main road around the city as everyone who drove by sopped to watch the show. This was a 6 lane road! As we finished off, there were burnouts in the streets, cheers and a ton of smiles. Although there was no after party, we were proud to be able to say, we did it again.
FMX 4 Ever It’s in the name...
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CUSTOM FMX PARTS LIST One Full Travel Racing suspension Grip tape on forks Two Excel rims Three Klayver Foot Lever Cut down gear lever Grip tape on frame Four Pro circuit pipes
Five Stompgrip seat cover Six Stoica graphics Seven Ohlins steering dampener Eight Klayver flip Levers Renthal fat bars Full diamond grips Nine Rapture titanium foot pegs
In 2005 two young brothers, Charles and Tom Pages, from Nantes, Brittany and motocross riders in the French Mx championship moved to Hossegor, south-west France, Europe’s biggest surf spot - not to ride the waves, but to cultivate their passion for freestyle motocross. In Hossegor there was Manu Troux, the Pages brothers fmx idol. Manu Troux was definitely the most famous french freestyle motocross rider in the world at that time, and was the first European fmx rider to go to the USA to ride fmx events. Among the Pagès brothers and Manu Troux a deep friendship was formed over the years, as they practiced in the same fmx park at home and travelled the world riding fmx events together. When Manu stopped riding fmx professionally in 2007, his manager, Sebastien Billault, began to follow the two Pagès brothers, experiencing their first great successes. In 2008 the Pagès brothers participated in the Red Bull X-Fighters, carrying their names among the top riders in the world. Bercy, France was the last fmx event at the end of a long career for Manu Troux, but also threatened to be the last event for Charles in 2010, because he had a very serious accident trying a frontflip, which led to a major recovery that took two years. 2012 was supposed to be the end of the world for the Mayans, but for the Pagès brothers it was the beginning of their new world, because Tom was second overall at the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour and Charles had started to jump ramps again, and we were there. We spent three full days at the Pagès home, hanging out from breakfast until the evening.
“I was so scared and in my helmet I said - Tom I’ll never do this trick again”
Your name is linked to the Red Bull X-Fighters..what is X-Fighters for you? For me the Red Bull X-Fighters are the most important contests in my life and I’m so proud to be a part of it. My first X Fighters was in 2008 in Mexico, and I remember riding with the big names of fmx like Robbie Maddison, Jeremy Stenberg and Jeremy Lusk. I was really impressed and so proud to be there with them. I finished in 6th position. Then I went to Fort Worth, Texas, where I remember the course was huge. I was a little bit scared about it because everything was so big, I felt a lot of pressure, and a lot of stress. In 2008 I didn’t go to all the X-Fighters events and it was hard competing with the big stars of fmx. Sometimes during the qualifying I would finish second or third, but during the event every time I made some little mistakes. That year I did the doublegrab backflip before anyone else. In 2009 I signed with Red Bull and I was then part of the entire X Fighters World Tour. The first event was again in Mexico and I finished in 5th position and it was good all season but not the best for me. In 2010-2011 I didn’t ride the Red Bull X-Fighters tour because I decided not to do any backflips, and then I came back in 2012.
So how was last year riding in the Red Bull X-Fighters world Tour? Last year for me was a super important one, because I wanted to ride my bike without the pressure and stress, and just focus on having fun. My season started like last time but I was more focused on my love for riding and not only on winning. I made some videos with my friend Michel Never, who filmed everytime I rode. I went to the foampit everyday to practice for best trick at X-Games - that was my goal. I got the invite just one week before Glen Helen in USA for the X-Fighters, and I was happy not only to be part of the event, but to ride with my friends on a big course like this. I finished in second position. I was surprised about the result, but then all my friends, and
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the media were too. I don’t think I did anything special at Glen Helen, but rode with my own style, no backflips and making all my tricks as huge as I could. I liked the course, it was big and so different to the other courses. The week after X-Games I went to Madrid with my best tricks like the “special flip” and “Volt”. Although it went perfect for me, it was not easy to fight Torres in his home country, and I finished 4th. Then I went to Munich, but I wasn’t so excited to go there because I didn’t have any new tricks for this event, I used them all up in Madrid. Fortunately the course builders put a quarterpipe in the course and I decided to throw my flair, I was so happy, but at the same time so scared to do the flair. During the practice days all the guys pushed me to try it because they knew my level was there. I won in Munich with my best tricks and the flair. I was so happy about that, and I think that
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was one of my best days ever in fmx. After this event I was so stressed because I was in first position tied with Levi Sherwood, same points, and everyone in the media asked me “how does it feel to be first with Sherwood?” but I didn’t know. One month later there was Sydney, and after Munich I rode fmx every single day, training, working on some new tricks, working to be perfect at the special flip, to have bigger trick extensions and also a 360. My goal was to be the best in Sydney, and when I was there my mind was strong. I had a good feeling on my bike and the ramps. During the qualifying I tried the flair four of five times on the quarterpipe, a huge 360 and I think everybody was surprised about my level there. I crashed during the Volt because I hit my flip
lever and after that I didn’t try the special flip, and then during the final I tried the backflip and I crashed again. In Sydney I was disappointed about what happened at the time, but after the event I was so happy because I understood what it meant to be second in a RedBull X-Fighters tour behind Levi Sherwood with 315 points.
How has it been to restart in Mexico in 2013? Mexico is a really good event with lots of people in the biggest bull arena in the world riding there is just crazy. But my heart wasn’t in the competition anymore. Eigo Sato passed away the week before the event and it was tough for everyone to appreciate the riding, the event and stuff... we were all sad and things are never going to be the same. He was like a brother. I went there with Eigo’s jersey, It was the only way that I could push my self. I did good and rode hard in
the practice session. I worked a lot on the hard tricks over there. Eigo’s jersey had to be on the podium. The track was good and technical. There was a super kicker with short run up, and a step down for the first time. During the event I gave my best on everything, I went big because Eigo always used to GO BIG!!!!!!!!!
“I’m always working on new tricks, and thinking about them during the day” What do you think about Levi Sherwood? This is a hard question, he is a very good fmx rider, every time he rides clean. He is the winner of the X-Fighters last year but I think he is too safe. I prefer to see Josh Sheehan, Eigo Sato, Jackson Strong, Dany Torres... people who just go crazy and push hard. Sheehan did three double backflips in a day, Strong tried a frontflip and I know what that is because of my brothers crash... these guys are the best for me. Levi is a trick machine, no mistakes and sometimes too safe but he is a strong guy and he can win..I can’t say anything else.
Could you describe how you worked on the flair? I decided to do a different trick from everybody, like Fred Johansson did in Madrid in 2008. For me it’s freestyle, so I need to try every single trick. I put a little quaterpipe near the foampit at our home compound and then I made a ramp for the dirt landing. The movement and the feeling was good and I decided to add it on my trick list. While I was trying it I said “maybe I’ll try this during a comp..” and when I saw the quarterpipe in Munich I decided to try it there. I was so scared about it but I’m sure next year some other guys will try the flair. Now I’ve two ramps set up for the flair, one near the foampit and one to dirt.
Who is your best competitor and best friends both in X-Fighters and outside this event? During the RedBul X-Fighters tour it’s like a family. For me it’s a funny time with all the riders, but I love to spent my time maybe with Dany Torres, Eigo Sato and Andre Villa is like a my second brother. Me, Charles and him stay together all the time. Also this year I met some new friends like Taka Higashino and Josh Sheehan.
The level of FMX is growing so fast..what do you think about that? Will there ever be a limit? I think there’s no limits in freestyle motocross, today the bikes are better and the events are better. If you look the bmx world is growing day by day and we could get inspirations from them. In the seven years that I’ve ridden fmx, I think about new tricks every day, but also the other top riders are thinking too, you can see this during comps and events. For example Travis Pastrana was in front of everybody in fmx. We can remember the double backflip that changed the level in fmx, but he is still working on new tricks like we saw during last years X-Games with the 720, but now it’s time for us to do some new tricks! When I close a new trick immediately I think “whats the next one?” like when I did the flair in my mind there was already the flair-one hand that I did in Sidney, the tsunami flair, and for sure there will be other combos.
So what do you think about Kyle Loza, that he worked during the year only for best-trick in X-Games? Kyle Loza you like or you don’t like, he did a lot of new tricks, best tricks for sure. But if you can see a video of Travis Pastrana from 2005 there were all these new tricks that he was working on. The bike-flip, the volt, the flair comes from Travis Pastrana, the double backflip, 360 and 720 comes from him too..Travis Pastrana for me “ Is FMX!” If Kyle Loza loves to do the best trick for
X-Games I respect him but he is different from me, someone who loves to ride, like Nate Adams and Robbie Maddison, they love to ride anywhere and anytime, not just one comp..
What do you think about ESPN deciding to cancel “best trick” for X-Games? why? I don’t know why espn stopped Best Trick at the X-games. It was for sure a dangerous event but people loved it. Pretty much all the new tricks came out there. Some riders were practicing all year only for this event. X-Games loved the best trick contest until now, I think they got scared of the evolution of the sport. FMX will keep growing without the X-Games best trick contest.
You said Pastrana “Is Fmx”..what do you think about him? After my brother there is Travis Pastrana, like for my unique inspiration in freestyle motocross. I tried to follow him, to get motivation from him during these years, it’s the same during this year too. Now it’s time for me and my brother to show people what fmx is.
To come back to the bmx idea, Mike “The Godfather” Metzger said that the future of fmx will be similar to bmx.. what do you think? I think it’s a good idea, but because we need the power to jump the ramps and clear big gaps, the motorbikes are too heavy, so if you could use lighter bikes it would be better and easier for everyone, the body would be more equal to the weight of the bike. For example my body is small for a 450, Andre Villa and Travis Pastrana are bigger and taller, and they could do what they want with a bigger bike.
“He is the winner of last years X-Fighters but I think he is too safe.”
How was the X-Games experience last year? I came back to X-Games Best Trick last year, I was so focused on it. It was my goal last year. Last time I was there was in 2008 with a flip doublegrab, but I missed it, and Jeremy Lusk won gold with the same trick, maybe because it was my first experience there and there was so much stress for me. Also the ramp was so different, USA and Europe use ramps with different radius. Two years ago I was ready for Best Trick, but I didn’t get an invite from X-Games, so last year when they called me I was ready again to do the Best Trick. This time it was good, I made my little technique mistake during the trick but I still landed it. I was so scared and in my helmet I said “Tom I’ll never do again this trick”! I was so happy with my trick, not for the result, the important part for me was to getting this trick close to perfect at X-Games. But on my second run I don’t know what the judges saw in my jump, but they only gave me 88.00 - it was better on my first run (88.66), but they decided to keep me in fourth position. It’s difficult for me to understand how it’s possible that five people (the judges) can decide for your life, because a gold medal changes your life for sure. After that I’ll continue to push hard and won’t think about the results too much. Jacko Strong won the best trick with “Barhop rolling flip double grab”, for sure an incredible trick but the rocksolid flip of Taka Higashino is amazing..
How does your family feel about freestyle motocross? When Charles and me were young our passion was to jump bmx bikes in the backyard, step by step we started to ride motocross and then freestyle motocross but always with the support of our parents. They know we are happy living in Hossegor and our job is our life so they are happy! They don’t see so many events, or follow the fmx scene.
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But after Charles’ crash has it changed something with them? Yes because more often now they say to me “Take care guys, be safe..” but the show must go on! Also they know that we keep training everyday, we don’t go to sleep late, we don’t drink or party before an event, we do all we do seriously... so a crash has happened but we must continue to work again!
And you with your brother, how is the feeling? From when we started living here, we were only apart for a few months, now we live together all the time, everyday, so my brother is part of me, he is part of my life. You can understand if your are alone you need to find the power and focus from yourself and sometime it’s pretty hard, but if you are two it’s different. It’s better to stay together, from the morning to the evening we stay together and before we go to the fmx park for training we speak about new tricks and how we can do them. All day we speak about freestyle motocross because we love our sport, we love our life and I hope to continue riding for a long time.
Over the years Some European fmx riders have decided to move to USA for training and to live... and you? We moved to Hossegor some years ago because Manu Troux was here, one of the best fmx riders in Europe, and we decided that our home will be here for our fmx career. I love to live in France because the people are good, the food also, I’ve a lot of friends here, I’ve a lot of events in Europe, our manager is here... also I would need to buy another house there, to build a new park, to build a new foampit. I prefer to go to USA only for X-Games at the moment, to move there only for one event is not enough.
What are your hobbies? I don’t have a lot of free-time for hobbies but during spring time sometimes I ride roadbikes
at a circuit with friends, and during last winter I went to ride some sand races, like “Le Touquet”. I try to spend all my time on a motorbike.
When you travel around the world what do you miss? Ahha that’s easy..my foampit! Because I don’t have a girlfriend or family at home that are waiting for me, my brother is with me, my friends are with me during the events, so I only miss my life in the fmx park!
Are you working on any new tricks? Mmmm..oh yes, I’m always working on new tricks, I’m thinking about them during the day and I can say to everybody that my next trick will be...hahahh..sorry you’ll see next year!! stay tuned!
Best food? Pizza
Best drink? Red bull
Tattoo? No
Why?
I’m scared... it’s not for me!
And for the future? I hope to continue to ride like this, push harder, train and learn more new tricks, but I want to win an X-Games medal - for sure gold is better, and I need to work for that. I don’t know in the next years what I’ll do and I don’t know after fmx... it’s too hard a question.
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H
alf time in the 2013 NIGHT of the JUMPs world tour: Following Rounds 5 and 6 of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship in late June in Basel, the series went into a two month summer break which lasts until 17th August. That’s when the FMX riders resume their NIGHT of the JUMPs campaign in Beijing, the capital city of China. But while the stars of the show are still on holiday, we can look back on the season so far. In the first grand prix tournament of the year there were a number of firsts to admire and enjoy. Lithuania, the southernmost of the three Baltic States, made its first appearance on the FIM freestyle motocross list of fixtures. Spanish FMX torero Dany Torres made his NIGHT of the JUMPs debut in the World Championship event staged in the capital city of Kaunas. The Red Bull rider put on an amazing show, with NOTJ trick premieres such as his Oxecutioner backflip and Paris Hilton
Rider: Clinton Moore LOKO 50 Photo: Adam Simpson
Flip, a performance that was bested only by reigning world champion Remi Bizouard who pulled off a 360, a perfect Cliffhanger Flip and his own version of the Rulerflip. Libor Podmol clinched third place with his awesome underflip combos. The world championship entourage then moved on to Berlin. Fans in the arena and watching the live stream at home were treated to yet another premiere, as Emma McFerran became the first female rider to grace the international series, performing an immaculate Backflip over the Kicker Ramp. In the final of the second round of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship, Remi Bizouard delved deep into his bag of tricks to pull out a Ruler Flip and Hart Attack Flip, but the title holder’s failure to complete an attempted 360 demoted him to third on the night. The absence of Dany Torres clearly proved an inspiration to David Rinaldo who
Rider: David Rinaldo Photo: Oliver Franke
produced some insane tricks that included triple combos plus his new Heelclicker to Tsunami. In the double-up, the diminutive Frenchman went for a Doublegrap Flip that ended up as a ‘mere’ Superman Seatgrab. Consequently, he had to settle for the runnerup spot, one point behind Libor Podmol who sealed the win with his LP Special Roll. The Czech rider’s victory temporarily installed him as FIM Freestyle MX World Championship leader. The second German Grand Prix turned out to be payback time as the three-way battle between Bizouard, Podmol and Rinaldo raged on. Podmol’s execution of his personal 360 variant – the LP Special Roll – in the doubleup fell short of perfection and left him back in third. Bizouard, still visibly annoyed by the outcome of the previous day, went straight into his run with a 360 followed by Cliffhanger
Flip, Hart Attack Flip and Ruler Flip. But even that was not enough to deny his compatriot the hot seat; Rinaldo performed a series of triple combos that persuaded the judges to award him his first grand prix winner’s trophy. But Bizouard at least had the satisfaction of reclaiming second place in the world championship standings. For the fourth world championship event, NIGHT of the JUMPs returned to Poland after a one-year absence. Dany Torres was back in World Championship action, and after qualifying in P1, he looked set to become the fourth winner of the season in as many grand prix events. But the usual NIGHT of the JUMPs suspects – Podmol, Bizouard, Izzo and Rinaldo – were determined to frustrate his ambitions at all costs. First off the blocks in the final was Hannes Ackermann who had qualified with the best run of his career but
Rider: Brice Izzo Photo: Oliver Franke
promptly ruined the occasion for himself with a dead sailor. Brice Izzo did better, showing his Clicker to Superflip combo for the first time. Remi Bizouard’s Rulerflip was good enough to get him onto the podium, but he once again had to admit defeat, this time by a slender onepoint margin, to David Rinaldo who laid on a trophy-winning display of new triple combos. In the meantime, Libor Podmol advanced to third place and had to sweat it out while the last rider up, Dany Torres, went into his run. But in his eagerness to impress, the Spanish rider botched the first trick of his run; an untidy landing from his Paris Hilton Flip bumped him down to sixth on the night. This left David Rinaldo to claim his second grand prix victory of the season. NIGHT of the JUMPs in Gdansk had one extra highlight for the fans, as former kickboxing world champion and Polish MP Iwona Guzowska partnered Petr Pilat in a tandem backflip. Next up was the Swiss Grand Prix double bill in Basel’s Sankt Jakobshalle arena, a venue that has now hosted the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship on seven occasions. With reigning champion Remi Bizouard ruled out of contention due to injury, the other top riders were determined to seize the initiative. David Rinaldo and Maikel Melero each performed a Double Seatgrab Flip, but almost
incredibly, even this trick wasn’t enough for a podium on the night. Libor Podmol also failed to finish in the Top Three, as Clinton Moore ventured into the championship fray for the first time this year. Both riders collided with the barrier, but the difference was that Moore jumped straight back on his bike and continued his final run with a 360, a Tsunami Flip and The Volt. This performance was rewarded by the judges with third place. Brice Izzo celebrated a spectacular comeback in Basel with a new triple combo, a Tsunami Flip and an Underflip, plus various take-off and landing variations. But the Frenchman was ultimately to be thwarted by Dany Torres who secured his maiden World Championship Grand Prix victory with a whirlwind of flips, including Paris Hilton, Oxecutioner and Lazyboy Backflip. Having moved to the top of the championship table on Day 1 of NIGHT of the JUMPs in Basel, Libor Podmol was keen to consolidate
Rider: David Rinaldo Photo: Oliver Franke
his lead with a win on the Saturday as well. So once again, he dusted off his LP Special Roll, but on this occasion, it would not be enough, as David Rinaldo displaced him from the hot seat with a Double Seatgrab Flip. But Rinaldo’s tenure proved equally brief as Brice Izzo went on to pound probably the best run of his career into the dirt. With perfect extensions and the highest levels of difficulty on new tricks such as the Cordova to Superflip or Saranwrap to One-Hand Seatgrab, the Frenchman celebrated his first NIGHT of the JUMPs victory in a long time. With the 2013 FIM Freestyle MX World Championship season now at its halfway point, David Rinaldo leads the way on 98 points. Following two points behind in second position is Libor Podmol. Brice Izzo’s triumph in Basel moved him up to third place on 83 points. 2013 has witnessed the most exciting first
half of any season so far in the history of Night of the Jumps / FIM Freestyle MX World Championship. In the six grand prix competitions, there have been no fewer than five different winners. The only rider to win twice has been David Rinaldo, which is why he currently tops the standings. During the two-month summer break, the riders will have been training hard and working on new tricks. Remi Bizouard has by no means missed the boat for the current title campaign, as his damaged shin bone should be healed in time for the restart, so even though he is currently placed fourth in the championship on a score of 72 points, his title defence is still very much alive. Dany Torres, fifth on 64 points, is also in touch with the leading group. The second half of the 2013 FIM Freestyle MX World Championship is due to kick off on the weekend of 17th/18th August with a NIGHT of the JUMPs double bill in Beijing, China.
Rider: Libor Podmol Photo: Oliver Franke
With an uncharacteristic spell of awesome weather in the South of England, amped riders and Jamie Squibb on a brand new Kawasaki KX450F, Loko Mag headed down to the woods to spend a few days in the UK’s top private FMX park. Jamie Squibb is a true OG of the UK freestyle motocross scene. Since back in ‘99 he has been winning contests and riding demos across the UK and Europe. Founder and owner of Squibb Freestyle ltd, Jamie’s freestyle team now consists of four of the UK’s top riders and two world class portable landing systems. Like many freestyle riders today, Jamie makes his bread and butter from putting
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on, and riding FMX demos. Unlike other freestyle riders however, Jamie’s drive and passion for FMX doesn’t stop at riding demos in front of crowds. Getting in a 13 tonne JCB digger and building big dirt jumps in the woods for him and his friends to ride is how Squibby gets his kicks. Jamie’s woods are quietly legendary across the UK’s freestyle scene - adored by those with the skills to get over the jumps and feared by all newcomers!
Jamie has been operating machinery since he was 12, and his talent for building a freestyle motocross jump, and building it right becomes apparent as soon as you lay eyes on the dirt kickers and landings scattered throughout the trees. As the landscape in the woods is hilly and the trees are dense to say the least, a huge amount of work has been put in over the years to level sections of the ground, clear areas of trees and put in substantial underground drainage systems. After a recent session in the 7 tonne 360 digger, all the jumps were looking primed for our arrival in Devon!
Riding with Jamie for the week was Chris Birch – another UK pro rider who can’t get enough of sessioning the woods with Squibby. If he’s not riding a Demo and the sun is out, you can guarantee Chris will be down in Devon going big in the trees! Birch now spends a lot of his time in his second home of Torrevieja, Spain, where he trains with friend and Eurpoean fmx legend Andre Villa. Because the woods get simply too wet to ride over the deep winter months, Jamie will often head down to Torrevieja to stay with Chris in Spain, and ride the local FMX spots around Torrevieja, meaning both riders always have a place to shred!
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Squibb’s park now consists of two main sections, freestyle and freeride. The FMX area has 4 ramp hits, with hips, a big 4 pack that takes you into a super tight bmx style berm, and the main 21M ramp, set up over the foam pit. The freeride area has a legendary 50’ stepup, and a recently re-built, and super gnarly dirt 8 pack that flows it’s way up and around the woods with hipped doubles of up to 85’. It’s not just the size of the jumps that set them apart from your average dirt hits, but their wide, poppy lips, smooth transitions, flowing rhythm and immaculate construction.
“He’s a lucky c**t haha, I wish I had that place - I love it down there” Danny Veale on the woods
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“Jamie’s woods are by far the best place to ride FMX in the UK. It’s just you, your bike and sweet jumps through the trees” Chris Birch
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Rip
Tyrone Gilks 11.12.93 - 21.03.13
Photo: Graeme Murray Red bull content pool
Photo: Jason Halayko Red Bull Content pool
Rider: Daisuke Suzuki Photo: Predrag Vuckovic Red Bull Content pool
Japanese Wildcard Qualifying
Unlike other rounds of the Red Bull X Fighters, Osaka, Japan had one wildard entry spot available that was open due to Eigo Sato’s accident. A pre-event qualifier was therefore held the day before the main event, and 5 of the best riders in Japan competed for the chance to ride in the main event. This was obviously a huge deal to all the riders, and an amazing opportunity to ride a world class course with the best riders in the world, whilst making their recently departed friend and mentor Eigo proud!
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“I beleive this is a chance that Eigo gave us� Shinichi Kaga
Wildcard Results: 1. Daice Suzuki 2. Kota Kugimura 3. Genki Watanabe 4. Shinichi Kaga 5. Kota Suzuki
Photo: Predrag Vuckovic Red Bull Content pool
Photo: Predrag Vuckovic Red Bull Content pool
The Opening ceremony in Osaka was not only visually stunning, but extremely emotional. A big tribute to Japans greatest FMX legend Eigo Sato was held before the competition started. The first bike the crowd heard that night was Eigo’s. Main Event
Hometown hero Taka Higashino of Japan won the first Red Bull X-Fighters event of his career, ahead of World Tour leader Tom Pages of France in a thrilling final in front of Osaka Castle. Watched by 11,000 fans and a global television audience, the world’s most prestigious freestyle motocross series made its eagerly awaited debut in East Asia. Taka pulled off a spectacular upset victory over Tom Pages at the Red Bull X-Fighters first-ever stop in Japan, giving his home country a fascinating first taste of FMX with an unlikely win against the Frenchman and his big bag of tricks. American Adam Jones took
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Rider: Taka Higashino Photo: Predrag Vuckovic Red Bull Content pool
third place in Osaka. The fourth stop of the six-round 2013 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour that produced four winners in four contests. Pages still led the overall Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour heading to the next stop in Madrid. On an evening that put a spotlight on Japanese traditions, Higashino had the
“Tom and I had a great final. I didn’t think that I had won. It is an honor to win here.” Taka Higashino
Rider: Taka Higashino Photo: Sebastian Marko Red Bull Content pool
excited crowd behind him every jump of the way through the quarter-finals to the semi-finals and into the final against Pages. After dominating the Qualifying on Friday, the Frenchman was the hot favorite to win the main event. But the 28-year-old Japanese ace had the run
of his life. Higashino grew up just 15 minutes away from the breathtaking venue next to the majestic Osaka Castle in the Nishinomaru Garden. He left his hometown of Osaka seven years ago for the FMX hotbed of California. He became an instant legend in Japan that
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Photo: Predrag Vuckovic Red Bull Content pool
Rider:Tom Pages Photo: Jörg Mitter Red Bull Content pool
day. “I can’t believe it,” Higashino said after winning the nail-biting final against Pages by a score of 3-2 that was also watched by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and other local leaders. “Tom and I had a great final. I didn’t think that I had won. It is an honour to win here.” Pages had another spectacular run and won the Swatch
“I can’t do much more than that” - Pages LOKO 81
Photo: Sebastian Marko Red Bull Content pool
Best Move award for his crowd pleasing Double Nac Indian Whip. He also stomped the Flair, the Volt and the Special Flip. It was a disappointing night for defending World Tour champion Levi Sherwood of New Zealand and 2011 champion Dany Torres of Spain – both were unceremoniously eliminated in the quarterfinals. “I can’t do much more than that,” said Pages. “That was about as best as I could do.” Japan’s Daisuke Suzuki got 10th in his debut event.
Rider:Tom Pages Photo: Jörg Mitter Red Bull Content pool
Rider:Taka Higashino Photo: Photo: Jason Halayko Red Bull Content pool
Rider:Tom Pages Photo: Predrag Vuckovic Red Bull Content pool
Rider: Tom Pages Photo: Oscar Carrascosa Red Bull Content pool
Photo: Oscar Carrascosa/ Red Bull Content pool
Tom Pages of France won the 2013 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour in front of a frenzied Madrid crowd of 23,000 with what was probably the sickest run ever in the season finale, if not ever in an FMX contest! Japan’s Taka Hagashino finished second on a thrilling night of FMX in Madrid’s famous Las Ventas bullring with Javier Villegas of Chile taking third place. Pages took the World Tour championship with 360 points with the 2011 champion, Dany Torres of Spain, in second with 260 points. Despite two rounds of the series having to be cancelled, It was still one of, if LOKO 92
Photo: Flo Hagena Red Bull Content pool
Rider: Javier Villegas Photo: Flo Hagena Red Bull Content pool
Rider: Tom Pages Photo: Daniel Grund Red Bull Content pool
Photo: Flo Hagena Red Bull Content pool
“This is more than a dream, it’s just amazing” Tom Pages not the most spectacular season in the 13-year-history of Red Bull X-Fighters, as riders pushed the envelope with new tricks and there were four different winners in the five stops on three continents – Pages won the season opener in Mexico City (MEX), Dany Torres was on top in Dubai (UAE), Rob Adelberg got first in Glen Helen (USA), Taka Higashino won Osaka (JPN) before Pages won in Madrid (ESP) in
spectacular fashion – with what was being called the best fmx run in history. Dany Torres won the Swatch Best Move Award. Due to situations beyond the control of the Red Bull X-Fighters organizing team, the stop in Pretoria, South Africa scheduled for September was cancelled because the execution of a worldclass sportive competition could not be guaranteed. This meant at the last minute Madrid was turned into the season finale. Pages took FMX contest riding to new heights in front of the big Madrid crowd, the most enthusiastic and energetic on the calendar each year. He dug deep into his big bag of tricks, and had an
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Rider: Tom Pages Photo: Flo Hagena Red Bull Content pool
unbelievable move to throw down on each and every ramp, kicker and quarter pipe in the Bullring. His run consisted of the perfect mix of upright tricks, body varials, inverted spins and one banger of a backflip combo. The judges rewarded his run accordingly, and he beat Japans Taka Higashino with a clean sweep of helmets! Pages epitomized consistency all season, getting on the podium in all five events, which is even more impressive when you consider the difficulty, originality and high consequence levels of his tricks. On Friday Tom gave what was probably his most brilliant performance ever LOKO 96
Rider: Tom Pages Photo: Daniel Grund Red Bull Content pool
in a final against Higashino: nailing a huge Flair, his Special Flip, the Volt, and unexpected and simply massive cliffhanger backflip off the super kicker, and then sending the crowd into ecstasy with his new trick, a Flair Tsunami - with his legs flying high into the moonlit night sky. Reflecting on how close the world’s FMX elite has become, the Frenchman
became the fourth different World Tour champion in the last four years. Madrid saw a great quarter final round between the two Spanish locals - Dany Torres and Maikel Melero. Melero has been riding and training a lot with Torres lately, and you can definitely see the influence of Torres coming out in Melero’s riding style.
Rider:s: Dany Torres & Maikel Melero Photo: Jörg Mitter Red Bull Content pool
For Maikel to take the win over Dany, who not only has a huge fan base in Madrid, but finished second overall in the championship, will no doubt be a huge confidence boost for the promising young Spaniard going into the 2014 season.
“This is more than a dream, it’s just amazing”, Pages said after the event, clearly delighted to get his first victory in Madrid. “This is the best crowd in the world.” The 2012 champion, Levi Sherwood of New Zealand, finished a disappointing fifth overall. LOKO 97
Rider: Taka Higashino Photo: Jรถrg Mitter Red Bull Content pool
It was awesome to see Pages throw down some sweet Samuari moves after finishing his run as a tribute to his fallen friend Eigo Sato. Tom’s consistent and deep support for Eigo and his family throughout this season has been outstanding, and there is no doubt that it will have meant the world to the Sato family.
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Rider: Levi Sherwood Photo: Daniel Grund Red Bull Content pool
Rider: Tom Pages Photo: JĂśrg Mitter Red Bull Content pool
Rider: Tom Pages Photo: Flo Hagena LOKOpool 97 Red Bull Content
Reader Shot of the Month E-mail yours to info@lokomagazine.com
Location: Scarry Compound - UK Rider: Stu Macey