Stunt fans gathered at the Indiana War Memorial for the finale of this year’s XDL Championship series. Coming into the event, Nick Brocha held a slight points lead over reigning champ, Bill Dixon. Both had overcome tough starts in practice and qualifying, but Brocha’s poor placement in the Indy’s first two rounds left the championship title in Dixon’s lap. With the victory, Dixon became the first three-time winner of the XDL Championship. Dixon reflected on the championship: “The stress level was high going into Indy. I set a goal to become the first three-time XDL streetbike freestyle champion and that’s exactly what I did. I crashed Thursday in practice and broke a fork leg, but Graves Motorsports saved the weekend when Chuck Graves took a set of his forks and next-day aired them to me just in time for the competition. Practice, determination, and concentration kept me cool throughout the weekend. However, I didn’t ride perfectly, but well enough for a second place finish in the FMF Cup and a Championship win for me and my sponsors!”
Graves Yamaha rider Bill Dixon...
Graves Yamaha rider Bill Dixon became the 3x XDL champion at Indy.
Crowd favorite Dan Jackson...
Crowd favorite Dan Jackson brought his crazy back as he threw his Kawasaki ZX-6R around like a toy.
Josh Borne showed that his...
Josh Borne showed that his Hyosung could hang.
Championship secured, the FMF Cup was no less exciting as Polish rider Rafal Pasierbek (a.k.a. “Stunter 13”) wowed the crowd with a well-rehearsed mixture of technical skill and style that took him to the top spot. Expect young Pasierbek to continue making headlines in the international stunt circuit and finish on the podium at US events.
Dena Sodano and Brytni Noell played off one another throughout the series and gave the fans a nice exhibition at the season finale. Both highlighted the fact that gender plays no role in being a talented stunt rider and will hopefully motivate more females to compete next year.
With new blood like Stunter 13 winning first place and other riders like Brocha more motivated than ever, the 2012 season should be entertaining. With stops across the country there’s probably one in your neighborhood, and if technical stunting gets your blood pumping it’s the only game in town. SSB
XDL RESULTS
2011 XDL Men's Champion: Bill Dixon
2011 XDL Women's Champion: Dena Sodano
FMF CUP FINAL
1. Rafal Pasierbek
2. Bill Dixon
3. Ernie Vigil
WHEELIE TEACH
WHEELIE RACE
1. Dan Jackson
2. Aaron Colton
3. Jesse Toler
K&N CIRCLE CHALLENGE
Brian Bubash
RACING 905 SPEED AND STYLE SHOWDOWN
Jesse Toler
SICKEST TRICK
Brian Bubash - No Hand
Scrape into Circles
STARTSO WOMENS CUP
1. Dena Sodano
2. Brythni Noel