I absolutely agree that Madison's jump was a more impressive feat. In my opinion the long distance jump stuff, whether it be car, truck, or motorcycle became boring about 15-20 years ago. Yea, it's impressive to watch a car jump 250 feet for sure. I give Travis credit for having the guts to do it. But, realistically the only thing he had to do was get to 92 miles per hour and trust that his stunt coordinators had everything organized correctly. For Travis this alone was a huge step for him because he usually does all of the stunt coordinating on his own. I just think it's more guts than skill. Like my cousin's back flip attempt last year. I give him credit for engineering the ramp, the truck, and having the guts to strap himself into the truck, especially after it nearly killed him the year before. But, when it comes right down to it, it does not show the skill these guys have as driver's.
Travis Pastrana- Amazing dirtbike rider and good Rally driver. This year he won the U.S. rally series. He is hands down the best freestyle motocross rider ever.
Pointing the car straight and accelerating to 92 MPH...Does not show his skills...
Rhys Millen- Pikes Peak winner, Drifting Champion, Rally champion and stunt driver for major motion pictures like 2 fast 2 furious, dukes of Hazzard, and more...Amazing driver who only had to accelerate to 26 MPH and let the truck and ramp do the rest of the work for him...Had some guts to do the stunt, but it didn't show his amazing driving ability.
Robbie Madison- HUGE pair!!! GIGANTIC!!! But, he's never won a major freestyle motocross event or race. Yea, he has a huge pair but who knows how much talent he really has on the motorcycles. He might be like Seth Enslow...Amazingly courageous and fearless, but not a really special talent on a motorcycle. Although, Robbie did show his skill when he was able to hang on to the bike during the landing...That got pretty squirrely.
I understand that these events are really just to sell their sponsor's (Red Bull) name and energy drink. But, I just wish they would hold events that would show case their amazing talents as athletes. Unfortunately though, the general U.S. public would not appreciate watching these guy's drive their machines to their limits like master's. Instead they just want the risk/danger factor. In my opinion it's a shame and a waste of their talents. I would really like to see them design a race track that had a dirtbike track, interweaved with a rally course overlayed on a drift course...Now THAT would be cool to watch these guys in each of their elements and have the cars and motorcycles flying and crossing around each other...
