2023 Red Bull Imagination: Extreme Teams
With three years of success under its belt, Red Bull Imagination hit 2023 with a vengeance.
In the past, 10 riders competed against one another trying to create the best tricks and biggest jumps individually. This year riders were separated into teams of five after being drafted by Team Maddo captained by Robbie Maddison and Team Twitch led by Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg.
With the teams set, riders had their assignments, but not before there was a lot of debate.
Action came early. Brian McCarty, who was supposed to compete in the Big Dawg category for Team Twitch, was hospitalized after a practice crash. Twitch was able to steal one member from Team Maddo to even out an eearlier mistake made by the judges during the opening coin flip.
Before the competition began, Tyler Bereman focused on the atmosphere and culture that his event was creating. By adding teams, he also added more competition and created greater camaraderie among the riders. In years past riders practiced and had fun riding together during the week. But then they would get quiet and turn inwards before competing all out on game day.
With this simple move, Bereman brought this event back to the collegial feel that is the roots of freestyle motorcycle competition.
“I'm excited to see the camaraderie that comes from all of us all working together, which is what free riding is,” Bereman told to NBC Sports. “Motorcycles are more or less an individual sport, but we are now turning this into a team sport, and that's what freeriding is to me. It’s a big team and a family, and we all work together to push and progress each other.”
The scheduling and competition change was also heralded by the riders.
“We get to interact with everyone as if we're together and it releases a bit of pressure,” Vicki Golden said. "It’s a friendly competition at the end of the day and I think that makes it a bit better for all of us.
"It keeps that vibe alive that we're trying to showcase here and the special moments that we do have out the hills where no one can see us riding. It helps capture that and showcase what Tyler is truly trying to showcase in free riding.”
Team Twitch:
Julian Vanstippen: Big Dawg, Best Whip
Guillem Navas: Best Whip
Christian Dresser: Best Whip
Josh Hill: Speed and Style
Vicki Golden: Creative Line
Team Maddo:
Patrick Evans: Style + Speed, Best Whip
Tom Parson - Best Whip
Kohl Denney -Creative Line
Tyler Bereman - Big Dawgs, Best Whip
Creative Line
The competition opened with Golden, one of just two riders invited to and making every Red Bull Imagination event, taking the course for Creative Line. The subject of 805’s recent film Inverted Perspective took to the new course, which was built way out of the box. There were jump options around every corner and she had to find lines that fans and fellow competitors were not expecting.
“You have to think outside the box on a course that’s already outside the box, " Golden told to NBC Sports. “It gets tricky and it motivates me and pushes me to try and get creative and find things.”
When Golden took to the course, she quickly took advantage of the tree jump: the one feature that has stood the test of time. Golden threw a series of whips and successfully performed a Superman seat grab over the tree jump.
Her competition Kohl Denney wowed the teams by finding lines no one rode in the days leading up to the competition.
Only the day before, he built a new ramp aimed at the top of a shipping container. Other riders chose to shoot the obstacle through to achieve massive air. Kohl's jump landed him atop the shipping container and set him up for another brand-new line, Unfortunately, Kohl fell on the last jump of his run and Golden’s big whips and seat grab propelled her to the first victory for Team Twitch.
Speed and Style
The next matchup fell between Red Bull Imagination rookie Patrick Evans and SuperMotocross rider Justin Hill.
Evans and Hill had the most chirps thrown at them in the days leading up to the competition. This friendly shade comes as part of fabric of the Speed and Style category. Before the judges can determine who had the best tricks, riders had to show speed first. Evans was first on the track and successfully completed his first competition dirt backflip, a skill he only learned and started practicing earlier in the week.
“Coming out here there's no ramp, it’s all dirt”, Evans told NBC Sports the day after he completed his first dirt backflip. “I had to do my first dirt backflip at practice, and I knocked it out.”
Hill, who is known in Supercross for fast and strong runs that must be finessed in the tight confines of a stadium, did just that in the Kansas sandpit. But Hill’s speed and strength were not enough to woo the judges away from Evans' spirited style-filled run.
Evans became the only individual two-time winner in this year's event as he also took home Best Whip.
Big Dawg
It was always clear that Bereman would be sent for the Big Dawg category. The realm of the extreme is Bereman’s comfort zone and this section of the track was the most intimidating to most new riders.
Before taking to the track, Bereman’s friend and competitor Golden explained why it’s important for him to be a leader at this event.
“He's our in-house guinea pig,” Golden said. “He makes things a bit easier for us. I know, I speak for a lot of us, that if Tyler wasn't here trying things for the first time, I don't think we would be jumping as much as we are.
"It's cool to just watch him do his thing. I mean, he has the most incredible timing on a bike that I think all of us have ever seen."
Julian Vanstippen joined Bereman after wowing team captains in the opening days of practice, enough so in fact that Twitch used his steal to secure the French rider.
Both riders took to the arena and focused in on the shipping container and Fasthouse roof, two of the biggest features of the event. Both had the speed and momentum to throw a jump longer than 180 feet.
Vanstippen threw two competition jumps through the container, performing an Indian Air and a Double Grab.
Bereman followed his competition and found air off a huge jump in the middle of the course that had not been attempted yet. After a successful first jump Bereman took the chance to fire up the crowd before heading towards the container chute and flying over the Fasthouse roof while performing a Nac Nac. Made famous by Supercross rider Jeremy McGrath, this radical trick forces a rider to swing one leg behind the bike before bringing it back into place before landing.
Team Jam
Team Twitch took home the title of best synchronized effort during the three-minute Team Jam.
The team joins Golden who was the only rider to win an individual competition.
Team Maddo walked away with the Big Dawg, Speed and Style, and Best Whip wins after a day of spirited competition.
