When rock legends Bon Jovi first sang Livin' on a Prayer two decades ago, little did they know their signature track would soon become a catchphrase for the graduates at the school of FMX X-Fighters.
Last week's adrenaline-charged Red Bull event in Madrid bore witness to a dozen such students who took flight aboard their 250cc dirt bikes and wowed a crowd of 23,000 people with their death-defying stunts. The city's legendary Las Ventas bullfighting arena was the fourth such competition in the 2008 world series, following action-packed events in Mexico, Rio De Janeiro and Texas.
And while the snazzy tricks held the crowds awestruck, the show wasn't without incident as France's Charles Pagés leaped off the ramp attempting a Whip (involves whipping the bike sideways in the air, before straightening out for landing), only to go crashing into the pit moments later. The deafening silence that enveloped the stadium when Pagés' body was carried out on a stretcher brought to light yet again the dangers of extreme sports.
"You can't be in the game if you are worried about getting hurt when riding your motorcycle," says Australian star Robbie Maddison. " I always get scared when performing stunts; I wake up scared everyday. I don't think there's a single rider in the paddock who could claim otherwise."
As the current number three in the X-Fighters ranking, Maddison knows all about fear when he almost died in a freak accident a few months ago and sustained numerous injuries during the Texas championships. But question him about it, and he brushes off the incident: "I'm thankful that it wasn't a more serious injury." (He twisted his knee, tore ligaments and couldn't walk for weeks.)
It seems Texas didn't prove lucky for the Spanish rider Dany Torres either, who broke both his ankles and his wrist when he went down in a blaze of glory while coming off the ramp. Recalling the crash, Torres says: "It's hard to describe. What happened to me was I jumped about 28 metres and landed too short, so I came down on a big mound. Instinctively, I grabbed the bike as hard as I could and just braced myself for impact, which I knew would be brutal. When I hit the ground, I didn't fall over but it felt like I'd snapped both ankles and wrists. Fortunately, in the end it didn't turn out all that bad."
Maddison adds: "We are constantly pushing the limits with our bikes, and this means you have to be incredibly careful. Just one small lapse in concentration can mean putting your life on the line. Broken bones and bruises are part and parcel of the sport."
So the question really is, why? Why would you constantly put your life on the line when you could do something just as thrilling, minus the threat of cutting a one-way ticket to experience the afterlife? "It's fun," comes the simple, yet, profound response by reigning world champion Mat Rebeaud. "I love riding my bike and flirting with danger. Plus, the added bonus is getting to travel the world and spending time with my biker friends."
But the Swiss champion seems to have inherited the trait from his genes. Both his father and grandfather were freestyle motorcross riders and gave the talented youngster his first motorbike at the age of four.
However, riders like Torres and Maddison have a different take, saying the bright lights are what really attracted them to the dangerous sport. "Growing up I wanted to be rich and famous like a movie star and meet glamourous women," laughs Maddison, adding, "But I didn't qualify in that department."
Even the now 27-year-old admits that at 18, he still didn't think he could earn a living just riding his dirt bike. "Life happens in a strange way and by the time I was 23, my hobby had turned into a sport and suddenly I found myself living in America, travelling the world and meeting all sorts of people."
Red Bull Communications Manager Dalal Harb states that the growing popularity of the sport is what has attracted big names like American legend Travis Pastrana to the sport. "Freestyle motocross began in the 1990s as an extreme sports leisure pursuit of motocross riders with a weakness for performing jumps and has since become an unbelievably spectacular sport in its own right – not least thanks to the huge popularity of the Red Bull X-Fighters events," she says.
"Since 2001, every event has been sold out weeks in advance, with live television broadcasts, the production and worldwide sale of DVDs and the emergence of new stunts, new ideas and new talents. Each of the events has also pushed the envelope of the sport."
Of course, if fame is in hand, then money is probably not far behind as an added incentive. And even though Swiss champion Rebeaud is not very forthcoming in the money he makes in a year, French rider Thomas Pagés [brother of Charles Pagés] admits that the money can pour in once you start winning tournaments. The 23-year-old says: "I've just started out as an X-Fighter so what I currently earn is very little to what some of the big names earn on the circuit. People can get more than $500,000 (Dh1.8 million) a year."
Maddison himself admits he has netted a cool $2m over the years, at events and through sponsorship deals. "The money is a great incentive and for up and coming riders, $500,000-$800,000 annually is a good draw," he says. "It's hard to get money in life, but it pours in with success. If you win events then promoters want you at their event and sponsors want to be associated with you. So you ride for a few years, impress, make your money and retire at your beach house."
And while Rebeaud and Pagés won't even contemplate retiring at this point in their careers, the comparatively older Maddison is already preparing for the inevitable by investing in real estate. "I've already bought a home in Australia and two in the US. And hopefully a beach home will follow," he says.
So does the real estate boom in Dubai hold appeal? "Of course. I'm looking to tap into Dubai real estate. I need some of that oil money under me."
Extreme marketing
Over the years, Red Bull has associated its name with the entertainment side of sports – a move that can be largely credited to the brand's position in the market as a caffeine energy drink. While some of these events have already made their way to the UAE, others have not. Here are but a few:
- X-Fighters: Taking inspiration from freestyle motorcross events and debuting in bullfighting arenas, the Red Bull X-Fighters involves a group of 12 dirt bikers riding 250cc machines and flying through the air while performing tricks like the tsunami (leaping off the bike while suspended in air and waving your legs) or a holy grab (jumping off the rider's seat of your bike while suspended in air and grabbing the passenger seat to land).
- FlugTag: Dubai has already hosted two Flugtag events. Last year a record 53,000 people turned up at the Creek Park as amateurs showed off their creative flying contraptions by jumping off a ramp and attempting to fly these engineless aircrafts.
- Air Race: Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi played host to 12 daredevil pilots, as they took to the skies in the annual Red Bull Air Race challenge at the Corniche. This is the fourth consecutive year when the capital hosted the event, where pilots raced across an obstacle course, showing off their flying skills.
- Cliff Diving: Contenders have to jump off a cliff from 27.5 metres up, reaching 90 km/h within two-and-a-half seconds before hitting the water – and from that, decelerating to zero within four metres. Although collecting points also demands the most creative figures possible, the jumpers have to make it into the water as straight as a board. Any slovenliness, any minimal mistake, could have fatal consequences.
- Wakeberg: As bizarre as it sounds, wakeberg is what you get when you marry wakeboarding and an iceberg. Debuted in Newfoundland, Canada, wave riders skip the artificial kickers to perform tricks on – you guessed it – icebergs. And no, we don't see this piece of entertainment debuting in the Arabian Gulf any time soon.
- Street Style: Next month, footie fans can catch Red Bull Street Style in action where three minutes is all the time there is for two freestyle footballers to show off their smooth skills. Qualifiers will be held in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, with the final being held in Dubai on August 29.