If one thing is becoming clearly evident in the world of Moto X Freestyle it’s that the gap between Travis Pastrana and the rest of the field is narrowing.
And it’s making for a well-rounded, complete competition. One where the winner isn’t as clear a slam dunk as it has been in the past.
That being said, Pastrana still has the bull’s-eye on his back. And that’s pretty much all anyone saw in Saturday night’s X Games 11 Moto X Freestyle final at Home Depot Center in Carson, California, as he flipped everything in sight on his way to his fifth Freestyle gold in six attempts and his 10th medal overall, edging out Kenny Bartram with a score of 92.80.
“Everyone has a completely different style of riding and a different style of judging,” said Pastrana of the first through fourth places that were separated by less than 2.5 points. “I feel amazing. This has been the most competitive Freestyle field I have competed against and it feels great to win.
Pastrana wowed the crowd of 26,413 at Home Depot Center with huge Cliffhangers, a big Lazyboy and numerous flip combinations as well as a huge wall ride.
Bartram earned his third silver and fifth medal overall with a score of 92.00 from a first run that included Superman Double can-cans to no-handed lander and a Fakie off the wall. He also threw in the Side-saddle Backflip that earned him fourth place in the Best Trick competition.
“Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose,” said Bartram.
Last year’s champ, Nate Adams, was disappointed with his bronze after turning out many flip combos and variations, including linking a 360 and a backflip on consecutive jumps.
“I thought I would do better, but considering I wasn’t even riding four weeks ago, I’m happy,” Adams said.
Jeremy Stenberg, who has proven that he can be a legitimate challenger to Pastrana via consistent performances this year, finished fourth despite a huge 100-foot flip, 10 feet longer than the world record setter that gave him gold in Best Trick on Thursday.
