Big Bikes Can Fly!

KTM rally racer Marc Coma took to the air after winning his fifth Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. In the deserts of the UAE, Coma tried his hand at launching the 140kg 2011 KTM 450 Rally bike over the sand dunes with help from X-Games gold medal winner Ronnie Renner.

The two riders had some fun swapping between Coma’s rally bike and Renner’s freestyle motocrosser — a weird experience for both, with Coma making a 15 meter long, 6 meter high, jump on the usually terrestrially grounded rally bike. Photos after the jump.

“Normally, for us the important thing is keeping the bike in contact with the ground. The speed is what matters,” said Coma. “That’s why it’s not usual for Rally riders to be jumping these heights and distances. Compared to a Freestyle bike, my bike weighs about a dozen kilos more than this. The tank alone can hold 40 liters.”

“That was really an eye-opener!” exclaimed Renner. “I was able to take a spin on Marc’s bike and I’ve got to admit I must have looked pretty awful. The speed is incredible and the handling compared to a Freestyle bike is extremely hard. Taking this jump on a KTM Rally bike is phenomenal.”

SNOWMOBILE STARDOM LURES DIRT SPECIALISTS

Snowmobiling is not a year-round activity, and even the best riders with long backgrounds in the snow find other things to do in the warmer months. Many, such as 10-time SnoCross medalist Tucker Hibbert, race motocross. Some athletes in Snowmobile Best Trick and Freestyle actually launched their careers on the dirt first with motorcycles and ATVs. When the opportunity to double down and make a name at a place called Buttermilk Mountain opened up, several riders seized it. With a diverse set of skills, riders such as Daniel Bodin (bikes), and the Moore brothers (ATVs) have found their biggest success while moonlighting as snowmobile hucksters. More medals equal more notoriety and more notoriety means more shows, demonstrations and other paying gigs on sleds, bikes and quads.

People Are Awesome 2013

The latest instalment in the 'People Are Awesome' series hit the yootoobs a couple of days ago and is rapidly doing the rounds. So, we thought we would get in on the act and share it with you guys too.

Okay, so some of these clips aren't exactly '2013' but c'mon - you've just watched humans somersault over moving cars, rollerskate underneath them, catch and hit things they should have no right to do so and generally be very clever. What have you achieved today? Because scratching your balls and microwaving a tin of soup for your lunch doesn't count for much...

2013 Winter X Games Snowmobile Wipeouts

The Winter X Games kicked off last night and the competition at Aspen has already resulted in some great action - and some pretty gnarly crashes, particularly in the Snowmobile Freestyle contest. If you didn't appreciate how ballsy these Snowmbile guys were before now, this collection of crashes will prove that flipping 200kgs worth of machine (about double the weight of a dirt bike) is far from easy. And you're really going to know about it should it land on your head if you fall off. Last night, three of the competitors - Texan brothers Caleb and Colton Moore and Swede Daniel Bodin - experienced some nasty accidents during the finals. Both Caleb Moore and Bodin suffered from the front skis digging into the snow while trying land, while Colton Moore over-rotated and looks like he injured his hip but we are awaiting further details. Their mistakes helped contribute to American Levi LaVaelle walking away with the X Games Gold medal.

Ken Block Reveals His New Hoonigan Headquarters!

Say goodbye to the Monster World Rally Team. Say hello to Ken Block's new Hoonigan Racing Division! Today, KB and the Hoonigan crew revealed pictures for his new team headquarters in Utah and a few tantalising hints as to what his new car livery will look like. If it isn't a mixture of blue, lime green, purple and leopard print we will be very surprised. Clearly got an early 1990's vibe going on. Check out these pictures from Ken Block's awesome new digs - and find out more information about the HQ at the official Hoonigan Racing Division website! New livery will be revealed tomorrow! Be sure to check here, on the Ken Block Racing official Facebook page or the Hoonigan Racing Division website

FMX Star Andre Villa Hits Up FreestyleXtreme For His UK Arenacross Kit

MX hero and GQ Magazine's 'Sexiest Man in Norway' Andre Villa is a star of numerous Red Bull X-Fighter, FIM World Championship and Night of the Jump events events.
While he has performed his Freestyle tricks most frequently in America and mainland Europe, he hasn't had quite so many appearances over in the UK. Until now! Villa has been drafted in to take part in the FMX section of the new UK Arenacross series and the Norwegian Fox Racing and Monster Energy athlete needed a customised kit to wear for the remainder of the shows. So, without his US pals to hand, he turned to FreestyleXtreme to personalise his new Fox kit for him. Check it out!

Based on the Fox 360 Vibron MX kit, you can see the special badges Freestylextreme added that only any proper sponsored athlete has access to.

If you want to see Andre Villa in action, there is still time to catch him in the UK Arenacross FMX show on 2nd February at the LG Arena in Birmingham and Echo Arena in Liverpool on 10th February.

Ken Block's 2013 Hoonigan Racing Division Fiesta!

Ken Block and his newly formed Hoonigan Race Division (formerly the Monster Energy Rally Team) revealed their new headquarters to the world yesterday. Today, we finally get to see what his new 2013 HFHV (Hybrid Function Hoon Vehicle) and GYM3 racecars will look like. First up - woah. These vehicles look incredible. Sure, there's a bit of early 90's about the look - plus a design that takes some inspiration from a lot of Volcom patterns that we have seen.

Ken himself admits the old skool style: "With the name change to Hoonigan Racing Division, we wanted to take the look in a slightly different direction, one that has been inspired by my love of 80s and early 90s skateboarding graphics, as well as Miami Vice-era offshore powerboats and a dash of hair metal and old school hip hop mixed in for good measure,” he says.

You can find out loads more about the cars at the official Hoonigan Racing Division website. Love or hate the look, KB has got big plans for the new car, with appearances planned for X Games, Global Rallycross, Rally American, WRC, Gymkhana, Octane Academy and more...

James Stewart Confirms Torn ACL

According to stories from Alli Sports and Race X Online, a MRI scan has confirmed damage to his anterior cruciate knee ligament. However, unlike what we have come to expect from the Stewart of old, Bubba has vowed to continue to ride and compete in the 2013 Supercross championship for as long as he can. How long that will be, we can only guess - but we'll be hella shocked if it's every race...

Extreme Pogo

Today, the cheers of a hundred thousand scooter kids echoed through the streets. For today was a momentous occasion: no longer will they be laughed out of skateparks and pointed at on the streets. No more were they bottom of the action sports food chain. Because now... the pogo boys were in town... In all fairness, what these guys do is totally sick. It's one thing to front flip a BMX or motorcross bike. Or even a scooter. Those things have got wheels. A pogo stick is just a freakin' stick and a spring and if you eat shit while landing a trick on one of those all manner of nasty things is likely to happen. So, watch this vid and tell us you aren't a little bit impressed...

Please Snow !

What with the very rare  "Red alert" snow forecast here in the UK , with one of these bad boys who would care if all milk and bread has sold out!

Riding With Ronnie Renner In Turkey

We're not 100% sure what the aim of Ronnie Renner's Network A series 'Upside Down and Inside Out' is - apart from giving the FMX rider a jolly little holiday around the world. Still, we won't complain as Renner gets to do things that we we're unlikely to get the chance to do ourselves and this little rip around Turkey is well worth a watch, if only to soak up some of the natural beauty that Istanbul has to offer. We want to see a few more tricks next time, Ronnie. You may be having a lovely time but you've got an audience to please...

James Stewart Announces His New Official Motocross Gear - Seven MX!

Rumours have been circulating for a while but James Stewart has finally announced his official line of MX gear, created by Troy Lee Designs. As the man himself points out, this isn't a lazy collaboration with his name attached - this is a custom range that he claims will be "sports driven and performance balanced... Seven brand will be completely different. If you're a serious motocross racer or just a guy that wants to have fun, Seven brand is going to give you a benefit over everything else."

Bold claims, Bubba but we've got to admit that the kit looks sick! Fingers crossed that we'll get some for the FreestyleXtreme store very soon. Keep an eye out and we'll let you know as soon as we get our hands on it! In the mean time, you can follow Seven MX on its Facebook page

2013 Dakar Rally

We might all be super pumped for the Supercross race at Anaheim, but we're also excited for another event that kicks off in January - the 2013 Dakar Rally.

Once again racing over a punishing, 8000 kilometre off-road route through Peru, Argentina and Chile, competitors on Bikes, Quads, Cars and Trucks will have until the 20th January to traverse the three continents from Lima, capital city of Peru to Santiago, capital of Chile.

Four times winner Cryil Despres will once again be competing on his KTM 450 Rally Bike. If he crosses the line in first again, this will be the 12th consecutive win for a KTM bike. However, Honda will be returning to Dakar after a 23 year break, so it will be interesting to see how well its new bike debuts.

One four wheels, the Dakar Mini Countryman (driven by Stephane Peterhansel and Jean Paul Cottret) dominated the stages but will face new competition from the likes of the RaBe Range Rover Desert Warrior Evoque and rally legend Carlos Sainz competing in a custom made Qatar Red Bull Rally Buggy
The Argentineans and Yamaha completely dominated the Quad class, with Alejandro Patronelli winning almost every stage that brother Marcos didn't win. However, for 2013, only Marcos will be competing in 2013 so expect another whitewash from him this year!

For the Trucks, last year's winner Gerard de Rooy will be competing again in a 900 horespower Iveco Trakker, but will be facing competition from drivers in Renault, Mercedes, MAN, Tatra, MAZ, DAF and more.

We'll keep you posted once we find hear of some results!

PIRELLI AT THE 2013 DAKAR RALLY WITH TEAM HRC HONDA

The Milan tyre manufacturer will participate in the 35th edition of the most famous and most difficult raid in the world, fitting the Honda CRF450 Rally bikes ridden by Helder Rodrigues, Javier Pizzolito and Johnny Campbell with Scorpion Rally tyres

Pirelli will participate in the 2013 Dakar rally as technical partner to Team HRC, fitting the Honda CRF450 Rally bikes ridden by the three riders Helder Rodrigues, Javier Pizzolito and JohnnyCampbell with Scorpion Rally tyres.

This year, the prestigious and now legendary Dakar raid will start on 5 January from Lima (Peru) and will end on 20 January in Santiago (Chile) after completing a route containing 14 legs and spanning Chile, Peru and Argentina. For the bikes, this means a grand total of 8,423 kilometres, 4,277 over normal roads to reach special trial tracks or the bivouacs at the end of each leg and 4,146 kilometres on special timed trials which will determine the competition standings.

For the Dakar rally, Pirelli is making 2 front and rear versions of the Scorpion Rally tyres available to Team HRC. The rear size of 140/80-18 was selected as the best rear rally tyre by Honda, and the front size of 90/90-21, which is absolutely unrivalled in terms of performance on hard terrain. So Team HRC and its riders, with the assistance of on-site Pirelli technicians, will be able to choose the best solution depending on what type of leg the riders are racing.

During the tests conducted in the Autumn in Morocco and California, Pirelli was able to confirm and even strengthen the rear specifications and, thanks to the valuable feedback from the riders and the team, the company with the long "P" was able to turn its attention immediately to the front tyre, improving performance in record time. During the tests, Pirelli worked to improve the tyre on sand whilst maintaining the excellent hard terrain performance which has always defined it. For this purpose, the engineers from the Milanese manufacturer worked mostly on the tread pattern, changing the layout of the knobs, where needed, in order to guarantee better line holding and better floating on sand.

Scorpion Rally is the Pirelli product which is dedicated to raids and has been developed over decades of participating in various off-road competitions on all types of terrain, from soft sand to hard rocks. The success of the Scorpion PRO in the enduro classes, the multiple world titles won by the Scorpion MX, and the introduction of the Scorpion XC in cross country competitions have made Pirelli a household name across the world. It took several years to develop the Scorpion Rally tyres but, in the end, taking advantage of vast know-how and the most demanding testing environments, Pirelli engineers have introduced innovative solutions for off-road competitions and, once again, Scorpion Rally tyres are ready to surge ahead through the courses of these legendary competitions.

More information regarding Pirelli’s entire range of racing and road tyres can be found at www.pirelli.co.uk/moto