By name and discipline, Moto X Racing is brand new to the X Games. But make
no mistake, the sport it represents is as old as dirt biking itself.
Picture, if you can, motorcycles racing head-to-head 'round a dirt track replete
with hairpins, double-jumps and triples, and all within the confines of an arena
(in this case, the Home Depot Center). Seems pretty familiar, right?
"It'll be very, very similar to supercross; almost identical. But with fewer guys in
each heat, fewer laps in each race and a shorter track, it'll be really, really good
for TV," says Ricky Carmichael, a five-time premier-class supercross champion.
The debut of Moto X Racing, in August, in L.A., expands the X Games' motorcycle
sports lineup from four events to five. It also raises the stakes in the freestyle vs.
race game, adding a racing event to the mix, with SuperMoto and Step Up being
well established as primetime pillars of freestyle motocross and SuperMoto
representing racing (on hybrid bikes and mixed dirt/asphalt tracks).
Ricky Carmichael is in it to win it with nothing to prove.It is curious that motocross
is the latest addition, considering sub-disciplines like SuperMoto and Step Up are
its mere spawns, or so some might argue. Nevertheless, it's a nod to the roots of
all things combining two-wheels, engines and dirt—a fact not lost on Carmichael
and his brethren. So brace yourself: An already high-octane event is about to be
injected with more horsepower and even more star power.
The planet's elite supercross racers, including Chad Reed, James Stewart, Ivan
Tedesco, Carmichael and only 12 others will be ready to do battle. "It'd be a great
feather in my cap," Carmichael says, referring to the first X Games gold medal of
the motocross kind. "But, shit, we've got the best guys in the world coming, the
parity is gonna be there and obviously everyone wants to win gold.
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