Australian Freestyle Motocross sensation Josh Sheehan is the newest rider to perform the double backflip in Freestyle Motocross, and in doing so, has won the Bronze medal inside the Staples Centre at X Games 17 Best Trick in Los Angeles, CA.

With only 24 hours’ notice before competition that he would be an alternate for fellow injured Australian Freestyle rider, Robbie Maddison, Sheehan landed his first double backflip in Best Trick competition perfectly.

“Best Trick was something I didn’t really prepare for, as I had another trick I wanted to land. But I had the Double Flip on lock and thought I’d show everyone I had it before Freestyle. I was over the moon to get a 3^rd place, I only expected 5^th or maybe a 4^th. But unexpected things do happen in FMX, and I was just happy to be at X Games and land my first Double Flip” Sheehan said.

Sheehan had spent the past 2 weeks training and working on the Double Flip with Travis Pastrana in Maryland. But it was after Sheehan’s Double Backflip that Travis would attempt the corked 720 but crashed out. “I could see the disappointment on Travis from the other side of the course. Trav has tried them so much into the foam pit, and he had them dialled” Sheehan continued.

Josh was a favourite to do well in Freestyle the following night, however during his first 60-second run, Josh suffered a dislocated shoulder during a Ruler-Flip and he was unable to get back on the bike in time and crashed.

“Freestyle was disappointing for me, as that is what I had prepared for. I did the Ruler Flip fairly late and my shoulder dislocated while in the air so I couldn’t pull back on straight and I slid out. There’s no damage, but after two crashes (one in practice) I’m happy I have no serious injuries and I’ll be back for more next year!”

Despite sliding out of Freestyle, Sheehan left his mark on X Games 17 with his Bronze Medal and already has a new trick for 2012 X Games. Josh is now focused on healing his injured shoulder, fingers and ankle to be able to compete in Red Bull X-Fighters in Poland this weekend coming, August 6.

Photo Credits:

Double Backflip Sequence – RedBull.com Media House
Best Trick – RedBull.com Media House
Ruler Flip – MotoUSA.com

With less than 24 hours before X Games Best Trick is to commence in the Staples Centre, Los Angeles, Aussie Josh Sheehan has been confirmed to compete in the 17^th X Games in Best Trick and Freestyle MX disciplines.

“I was very surprised when I went to register with X Games as an Alternate rider today, and then I was told that I was now riding in both Freestyle and Best Trick. It really made my day!” Sheehan said of the confirmation.

Sheehan has produced one of the best rookie performances in 2011 and has been rewarded with an invitation to compete in ESPN’s X Games, the premier single event in freestyle motocross. Sheehan has stood on the podium in every Freestyle competition he has entered in 2011, with a win at New Zealand’s Farm Jam, six consecutive wins at IFMXF Night of the Jumps and then placed third at both rounds of Red Bull X-Fighters in Rome and Madrid.

After two weeks of training at Travis Pastrana’s home in stifling heat, Sheehan was preparing to hopefully ride at X Games and had always kept his hopes high of an invitation. Although Josh was confirmed to ride X Games one day prior to competition, he has been training in the hope of making Freestyle.

“I feel really confident to compete in Freestyle. I spent this past week working on some new tricks, and improved on a few little things in my run. The main difference is X Games has a different judging system to the 5-judge system of X-Fighters, but I think I will be fine to just go big” Sheehan said.

“I am now just busy organising my bike and parts in LA, but really it’s great to know that my dreams really have come true to ride at X Games!”

Josh Sheehan is supported by Carlton Dry Honda racing team, Red Bull, Valyside Apparel, Dragon and DEFT gloves.

For more information on X Games, visit: http://espn.go.com/action/xgames/summer/2011/

Schuie and I are making our very speedy return to Perth as part of our Freeriding road-trip and we anticipate to be over there for FMX Coaching day on August 14th for a Sunday.

I know most of the guys who were there for the last Under the Fender were itching to come back to Valyside, and we do only have the one day of Sunday to coach, so spots are going to be limited.  And guess what, Red Bull and Valyside rider, Josh Sheehan will finally be home and able to come to the coaching session!

I hope you don’t mind being filmed, because Schuie and I are filming for FuelTV for the full road trip around Australia, and Under the Fender will be a great aspect to put in, so if you want to be part of a FuelTV show, we’d love to see you!  Oh, and did I mention, we will be going to Esperance to spend a few days riding the dunes!  Schuie has ridden there before and swears it’s the best riding he’s ever done.  So I’ll get to see it for the first time, Sheeny will be tearing it up, and we welcome any of you to come join in for the camera’s!!

This time for coaching, it’ll be a full session of riding, so you will get as much trick and jump technique coaching as possible, to the point you can barely hold onto the bars!

Time:
There will be a morning and afternoon session of 4 hours each, which is as much if not more riding than the first Under the Fender day.
Each session (am/pm) will only be 10 riders, so 20 riders maximum for the day.

We will organise the riders the same, 5 riders under Schuie and 5 for myself.  We will then do a cross-over too, so basically run the same.

Price:
As it is such a short notice coaching course, we’re offering this coaching for better value:

$250 for a morning or afternoon session
If you are bringing friends or Family, it’s only $200 each rider.
As we found last coaching day, it’s definitely a lot more fun if you have a mate riding with you, or brothers/sisters, so we want to promote that fact.
(If you don’t have a MA Licence, it will be an extra $20 for a One-day Recreational Licence – or if you have been thinking of getting a year licence with MA, it’s a good reason to sign up.  But for $20, that’s really cheap for insurance in case anything was to go wrong)

What you will need to do:
If you are interested, simply come and pay on the day.  But please, let me know if you are interested in coming so we can group riders for Morning and Afternoon sessions.

Email underthefender@valyside.com with:

Full name:
Phone Number:
MA Licence Number (if applicable):
Morning or Afternoon preference?:

Thanks guys, hope to see a lot of the faces we saw last time, there was a lot of progress and I’m sure we can build on that!

RED BULL X-FIGHTERS MADRID – HIGHLIGHTS

RED BULL X-FIGHTERS MADRID – BEST ACTION

RED BULL X-FIGHTERS MADRID – THE RONNIE RENNER SHOW

Australian Freestyle MX rider Josh Sheehan has continued his consistent run of podiums in 2011, with another 3^rd place at the Red Bull X-Fighters in Madrid, Spain which has moved him up to 6^th place overall after only riding two events of the four so far this season.

After a very impressive first appearance at X-Fighters for 2011 in Rome three weeks earlier, Josh arrived to the Spanish competition with more experience and more confidence to take on the world’s best in the X-Fighters 10-year anniversary in the Plaza de Toros de las Ventas in Madrid.

“I felt much better coming to Madrid. I had a good week of Freestyle practice at Travis Pastrana’s house before I came, and after the first practice here, I felt pretty comfortable in the tunnels and on all the ramps” Sheehan said.

In the head to head rounds, Josh rode against Adam Jones in the first round which wouldn’t be an easy task. With a flawless run from Josh in the 75 second run, Josh looked sure to move on. Jones overcame a foot injury to put in a great performance, but in the end, it was a 5-helmet win to Josh, who would move on into the Semi-Finals with Dany Torres.

Torres, who would become the eventual round winner, used the home-town crowd to his advantage and sent the Spaniards into a frenzy with his blistering freestyle run. Sheehan’s run was solid with 360 Heelclickers and Lazyboy Flips, but it just wasn’t enough to reach the final.

“Dany was on fire, and I’m not surprised being his home country and having the crowd behind him that he would advance to the final. It must have been a real buzz for him! I was happy with 3^rd place because everyone was riding so well.” Sheehan said.

Sheehan is preparing for the next round of X-Fighters in Poland, August 6^th, and he knows what it will take to move up the ladder. “Coming into Poland, I am more comfortable with riding the courses faster and I know more about what the judges are looking for”

We hosted the impressive first Freestyle MX coaching event on Saturday, July 9^th, and in doing so, discovered the next generation of Freestyle MX stars with S & S FMX Coaching’s Matt Schubring and Steve Sommerfeld.

The sold-out freestyle coaching event exceeded all expectations, and delivered not just a great course, but a relaxed environment that each of the riders were inspired to learn new aspects of jumping, trick development and some riders learning to jump a Freestyle ramp for their first time.

Based in Queensland, Schubring and Sommerfeld had received many requests from Western Australian riders interested in S & S FMX Coaching, but it was a partnership with Valyside Apparel and Red Bull that the ‘Under the Fender’ coaching idea would become a reality.  It is also the first FMX Coaching clinic run under Motorcycling Australia’s insurance umbrella, one that helps coaches to work more professionally with riders.

The ‘Under the Fender’ coaching clinic was built with a specially designed Freestyle MX course featuring three metal ramps from small distances of 45 feet up to competition size 75 feet, which were all built by DirtShape WA.  Steve and Matt also delved into all aspects of the industry including; obtaining sponsors, entering competitions, and how to set up bikes.

“This was definitely one of the best coaching days Schuie and I have been part of.  Valyside have spent a lot of time and effort to build the course, and turn it into an event.  Not to mention Red Bull bringing in a DJ to give us music all day in the lounge area beside the course.  The riding was also equally as impressive, from the beginners to the advanced riders, everyone took home something from the day” Sommerfeld said.

Schubring, who has been one of Australia’s best riders for the past decade was equally impressed with the quality of riders coming out of the day.  “We saw some guys really step it up and a few names to watch will be Daniel Ford, Jake Holloway and Callum Hodgins.  But not only that, every single rider on the day had improved dramatically, with riders jumping a ramp who have never even tried before, and seeing other riders advance from the smaller jump up to 60 feet and 75 feet” Schubring explained.

With the huge success of the first Valyside FMX coaching day, there are already plans to create this into a regular coaching series in WA and to replicate the format in other states of Australia.

Under the Fender could not have possibly happened without great support from Valyside Apparel, Red Bull, KTM, DirtShape WA, FreeriderMX Magazine and Liquid Surf.

For more information regarding Valyside’s ‘Under the Fender’, visit www.valyside.com

For information regarding S & S FMX Coaching, please email steve@stevesommerfeld.com

They say hard work pays off, and it definitely seems to be true for West Aussie FMX rider Josh Sheehan, who over the weekend in Rome for Red Bull X-Fighters, was rewarded with a flash new Red Bull helmet and welcomed to the Red Bull team by Aussie FMX legend Robbie Maddison

Brought up on a farm in the Australian town of Donnybrook, Josh Sheehan got his first bike to play around on at the age of 14. By the time he was of 16 he was totally hooked on riding and progressed from C-grade to A-grade in MX in just one year. One year later he started to ride more and more FMX with his mates and, in early 2007, he entered his first FMX competition. Despite crashing out of the comp, Josh knew he had the skills to progress and do better in the future. Healed up and with a few new tricks in his bag, he entered the Narrogin Revheads the same year and finished third.

Proof, if any was needed, of the 25 year-old’s talent was provided in 2008 when he won the AFMX round during the Brisbane Super X, beating the likes of Kain Saul, Cam Sinclair and Levi Sherwood as he blew the competition and the crowd away during his run with the biggest ruler-flip ever performed.

After his huge win, “Sheeny” was chosen to join the Crusty Tour in New Zealand, but an injury suffered as a result of a workplace accident forced him out. Unknown to the international FMX scene, Josh set a further benchmark in his young career when he became the first rider in the world to ruler-flip a 450 four-stroke bike.

Sheehan is today one of the freshest and biggest talents to emerge from Australia in a long time and was all fired about joining the Red Bull stable. He’s what he had to say:

Josh, big news signing with Red Bull, tell us all about it: Yeah I’m pretty stoked. My manager Steve Sommerfeld has been talking to them lately and while I knew things were progressing I didn’t think it would happen so quick. It was a pleasant surprise today when Robbie “Maddo” Maddison welcomed me to the Red Bull family and handed me my first Red Bull helmet. Red Bull really help out their athletes a lot and I’m really looking forward to doing some great projects and events with them, and having their support behind me!

You’ve worked really hard over the last few years, what does it now mean to you to be chosen as a Red Bull rider: Yeah, well there has been many times over the years where I’ve been riding by myself in West Oz away from the action feeling like I was getting nowhere, and thinking how good it would be to ride some of the Red Bull events as they looked so good. Red Bull really look after their riders and help them attend these events all over the world so to be finally rewarded with their support really means a lot to me. It feels like such a great privilege to be a Red Bull rider.

You’ve had a very successful year riding the Nitro Circus Live Tour, and winning six straight IFMXF Night Of The Jump events in a row over the past two months: There’s a lot of things that have fallen into place in 2011. Through riding Nitro Circus I formed a good relationship with Travis Pastrana and got to visit his place in America and spend some quality time riding with him. Travis being a Red Bull rider put in a good word for me, plus my sponsor Valyside and Steve Sommerfeld have been working with Red Bull putting together a Coaching Clinic that I will be involved with, so a number of things including my desire to ride X-Fighters led to me securing the deal, and it has all worked out nicely.

Credit for the Story and Photo’s are FreeriderMX.com.au and Grant ‘Goba’ Obrien | gobadirt.com

The second morning arrival at the stadium was nice and early to allow enough time to put the bikes together and check the track before the first practise session kicked off. Everyone was super pumped to get onto the course and test the huge variety of natural and ramp hits.

Athlete manager and FMX rider Steve Sommerfeld wasn’t scared to get his hands dirty and helped put the bike together and apply the graphics kit.

20 hours worth of flights from Australia finally got us to our destination in Rome for Red Bull X-Fighters.
We had a few extra hours to check into the hotel, then straight to the Coliseum for the Hero photo and filming session.

We couldn’t be happier to announce that Valyside team athlete Josh Sheehan is now apart of the Red Bull family.
All the hard work has payed off for Josh who recently took the world record with six consecutive wins at the IFMXF Night of the Jumps over the last two months.

Red Bull team rider Robbie Maddison welcomed Josh to the team today on the X-Fighters grounds in Rome just after their practise session.