TMX Says: Media masters lead the way
By Team TMX on 14th Oct 15
Our friends over at Red Bull had a fair bit on over the weekend with the Straight Rhythm hitting the spot with motocross fans around the world.
For those of you who don't know, this is basically a series of head-to-head heats and finals run over a perfectly straight half-mile supercross track built at a horse racing facility in Southern California.
With a stack of hype heading into the event, the world's fastest supercross racers involved and exceptionally good live coverage streaming around the world for absolutely nowt on t'internet, Straight Rhythm attracts a massive amount of interest around the globe.
A little earlier in the day and exactly 5,295 miles to the east – and up just a wee bit – there was another Red Bull motocross event going off although this one was a bit of a secret.
Red Bull Breakers was the brainchild of Elliott Banks-Browne and brought to fruition with the help of the G2F Media crew, the ACU and the Austrian beverage giants of course.
Calling it a dual-lane race around a scrapyard is doing it a massive disservice although that's basically what it was.
What made it way better than that description could ever make it sound was the brilliant design of the circuit that forced riders to eke out every little advantage they could during the short, sharp races that lasted just under 90 seconds.
The split-lane nature of the racing meant that wild passes, intimidation and aggression were redundant and the only way to beat the other guy – and transfer to the next round – was to simply be faster.
It made for some great riding and all in all was a bloody good event. I hope they bring it back next year and open it up to the public too...
With Red Bull's addiction to all things gruelling and extreme I'm shocked that they've never tried to get involved with the Scott Trial which rather conveniently goes off this weekend in North Yorkshire.
Now whether a cutting edge brand like that would fit in with the tradition of this aged trial is definitely debatable but even the most staunch old-school supporter surely couldn't object to a slab of Austrian cash going to the Scott Charities in return for a strategically placed arch or two and a ton of fresh exposure for the world's greatest one-day trial.
There's something about this event that really strikes a chord with me and come hell or high water – both of which regularly make an appearance at the Scott – I'll be darting around the back lanes of Swaledale on Saturday like many others of you, no doubt.
If you do venture out to the Scott this weekend then please remember to stick to the official spectator areas and respect the countryside.
This trial – and most off-road motorcycling events for that matter – only survives on the goodwill of the landowners...
To wrap things up this week I'd just like to say a big thanks to the TMX team – Beth, Jason, Sean, Mannix, David, Allan and Gavatron – for working their asses off to get the TMX Annual off to the printers on time.
You can pick up your copy from the Dirt Bike Show on October 29 when we'll also be starting the countdown to our 2000th edition with a seventies special...
