Cheered on by 25,000 fans, Australia’s Robbie Maddison tamed Madrid’s legendary bullfighting ring on Friday night as he secured victory against the best freestyle motocross riders on the planet. Second place went to the Swiss rider Mat Rebeaud, with the Red Bull X-Fighters filling the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas right down to the very last seat for the ninth year running.

The sound of wailing motors rang through the tunnels around the famous bullfighting arena as the two-wheeled toreros raced towards the kickers at up to 60km/h. It was Aussie superstar Robbie Maddison – famous for jumping over London’s iconic Tower Bridge in 2009 and sailing across the Corinth Canal in Greece in 2010 – who raised the bar yet again in the Spanish capital with a brand-new trick, completing one full rotation of his body over the bike while 15 metres in the air before returning to the saddle to nail the trick and ride away.



“The Volt Body Varial definitely helped me win,” grinned the man from Down Under after his victory, adding: “I still can’t believe it!”

Just weeks after beginning training following a major crash, Switzerland’s Mat Rebeaud celebrated a comeback to remember as he defeated the local favourite and 2009 winner Dany Torres (ESP) in the Semi-Finals.



Despite having to settle for fourth place, the Spaniard had nothing but words of praise for the huge Madrid crowd and event winner Robbie Maddison: “The atmosphere here is just insane. Next year I’ll be back to take revenge, but Maddison deserved to win here tonight. Thank you to all the fans.”

Third place went to Andrè Villa (NOR), who managed to defend his lead in the overall points classification thanks to yet another strong performance. The Norwegian has a 45-point lead over Maddison going into the fifth stop of the season in London (GBR) on 14 August 2010. “I’ve got to stay consistent and finish on the podium in London and at the season finale in Rome. If I manage to do that then nothing can stand between me and the overall title,” commented Villa.



Levi Sherwood doing an extended Deadbody Backflip took home the 5th position in Madrid and places 4th overall in the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2010.

Credit: Joerg Mitter, Andreas Schaad, Daniel Grund, Predrag Vuckovic for Global-Newsroom