Aussie Robbie Maddison continues to build his reputation as this generation’s Evel Knievel with his second-straight New Year’s Eve stunt.

Last year it was a world-record breaking jump (since broken) in the parking lot of the Rio.  Not bad, but any Vegas regular will tell you that no matter how nice it is, Rio is still decidedly “off-strip” and therefore always going to be a red-haired stepchild to the likes of Caesar’s Palace (site of Knievel’s most famous jump).

This year, Maddo moves up in the world by setting up shop with Red Bull at Paris, which definitely ranks as strip-worthy.  The hotel has a replica of the Arc de Triomphe that is about 100 feet high and Maddo will jump on top of the Arc, ride along it, then do a freefall of 50 feet onto a landing ramp below.

This isn’t exactly a world record — unless you count doing something for the first time a “world record.”  But it should be pretty cool to watch.

Maddo won’t be alone on the night.  Kiwi Rhys Millen is going to pull off the stunt he couldn’t attempt last New Year’s Eve due to injury.  He’ll be the first person to attempt to land a backflip in an off-road truck.  Unfortunately, the backflip attempt will take place at a different (as of yet undisclosed) location than Maddo’s jump.

ESPN, as it did last year, will broadcast the event live — assume it will take place around 8:00 p.m. PT / 11:00 p.m. ET (details forthcoming).

Find out more about the event at www.redbullnewyearnolimits.com or keep reading for the full press release.

RED BULL: NEW YEAR. NO LIMITS.
New Year’s Eve Event from Las Vegas to Feature 100-Foot-High Motorcycle Jump and Truck Back Flip By Motorsports Stars Robbie Maddison and Rhys Millen, Telecast Live on ESPN

Santa Monica, Calif. (November 18, 2008) – Deviating from the standard New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking or save more money, two world-class athletes have resolved to break boundaries before the clock strikes midnight on December 31, at Red Bull: New Year. No Limits. in Las Vegas. Robbie Maddison will follow up his history-making motorcycle distance jump with another world-first performance. Rhys Millen seeks redemption for what was supposed to be a New Year’s celebration a year ago before a training accident derailed his plans, but only temporarily.

Red Bull: New Year. No Limits. will be televised live on ESPN/ESPN HD immediately following the Chick-Fil-A Bowl (approx. 11:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. PT). The show will also be simulcast live on ESPN360.com. Viewing of Maddison’s jump at Paris Las Vegas is free to the thousands of revelers on the world famous Las Vegas Strip.

LET IT RIDE Having broken the Guinness World Record for a motorcycle with a leap of 322 feet, 7.5 inches over the length of a football field during the 2007 Red Bull New Year’s Eve event, Maddison will attempt a more finessed, but equally challenging jump this time. The 27-year-old Aussie will jump his bike more than 120 feet high and land on the top of the 96-foot-high and 40-foot-deep replica Arc de Triomphe in front of Paris Las Vegas. What goes up must come down, and Maddison’s not going to argue with physics. Upon completing the jump, he will then drop off the Arc and freefall 50 feet to a massive landing ramp below. Maddison’s impressive resume, in addition to his record-breaking distance jumps, includes a very successful freestyle motocross career. In March, Maddison leapt an astounding 378 feet in Australia.

“I had some doubts last year whether or not I could jump a football field,” said Maddison. “But as I practiced, I got more and more confident and realized I could pull it off; and I did, twice. This year, the doubts are way bigger. The jump has never been done before, but I’m confident in my ability and I believe that as I start training, the dream that seems impossible will become a reality.”

Millen will attempt to become the first person to complete and land a backflip in an off-road truck. The flip will take place at a location to be determined in Las Vegas. Millen’s flip demands the truck to travel a distance of 80 feet at a height of 50 feet. During his final practice before the 2007 New Year’s event, Millen overshot the landing, resulting in injury, damage to his vehicle and his withdrawal from the event. The 36-year-old New Zealand native is fully recovered and more determined than ever. Millen’s motorsports credibility is unrivaled. He was the 2005 Formula Drift champion and 2008 Red Bull Drifting World Championship winner, Pikes Peak International Hill Climb world record holder and has been the lead stunt driver in several commercials and movies, such as Dukes of Hazzard and Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.

“Last year we attempted what was before then thought impossible,” said Millen. “Laws of physics and vehicle dynamics were pushed to the limits with success, but failure came in one small miscalculation. My body can be broken but my mind cannot. This year, people will witness the first ramp to ramp back flip in an off-road truck – ever!”

Maddison and Millen will be practicing for their epic night at the Red Bull Compound training facility north of Los Angeles, which features massive foam pits for each athlete to safely prepare to make history.

Additional details for Red Bull: New Year. No Limits. will be released in the coming weeks. For event information, as well as information on Maddison and Millen, visit www.redbullnewyearnolimits.com.

Watch highlights from the action below…

Adam Jones was the big winner Sunday at the PlayStation Pro, not only taking home the title for the individual contest, but also grabbing the Dew Cup and its $75K award.  Jones’ biggest competition for the Dew Cup, Aussie Blake “Bilko” Williams (who won one event this season) did not compete as expected.

Robbie Maddison was close behind Jones in second place, both for the contest and for the Dew Cup, while Metal Mulisha rider Jeremy Lusk was third in both races.

FMX was only a contest event in three of the five AST Dew Tour stops this season, and Jones won this event and last month’s Toyota Challenge in Salt Lake City.

For more about the final, check out AST.com.

FMX Final Results – PlayStation Pro
October 19, 2008 – Orlando, FL
1. Adam Jones, Minden, Nev., 93.67
2. Robbie Maddison, Australia, 93.10
3. Jeremy Lusk, San Diego, 92.57
4. Beau Bamburg, Gresham, Ore., 91.90
5. Jeff Kargola, San Clemente, Calif., 90.23
6. Mike Mason, Carson City, Nev., 88.03
7. Myles Richmond, Cherry Valley, Calif., 86.67
8. Wiley Fullmer, Corona, Calif., 86.10
9. Derek Garland, San Clemente, Calif., 85.10
10. Ronnie Faisst, Mays Landing, N.J., 84.33

Yes, the AST Dew Tour still has FMX and while a couple of major names missed the Toyota Challenge Saturday in Salt Lake City, the field left still represented most of the top riders in the sport.  Nate Adams and Blake “Bilko” Williams, who battled for first in Baltimore at the Panasonic Open, both had problems during their first runs.  Adams fell during a lazy boy backflip and was knocked out of the competition with two broken fingers.  Williams, who broke his ankles last year in Baltimore, was injured after crashing in practice on Friday and rode hurt.  He was unable to have a clean run and was obviously in pain after it finished.

That opened the door for the rest of the field, though former X Games gold medalist Adam Jones has proven his skill before and did it again scoring a 94.17 on his first run.  Robbie Maddison finished in second with a 92.13, followed by Metal Mulisha rider Jeremy Lusk in third with a 91.59.

Williams did come out for his second run but didn’t score high enough to break the top five, even though he landed three 360 variations.

Check out the full results below.

FMX Finals Results – Toyota Challenge
September 13, 2008 – Salt Lake City, UT

1st – Jones, Adam – 94.17
2nd – Maddison, Robbie – 92.13
3rd – Lusk, Jeremy – 91.50
4th – Bamburg, Beau – 89.9
5th – Mason, Mike – 87.43
6th – Faisst, Ronnie – 86.03
7th – Williams, Blake – 85.83
8th – Potter, Todd – 81.67
9th – Adams, Nate – 66.13
10th – Rebeaud, Mathieu —

AST Dew Tour: Dew Cup Current Standings
FMX Points

1. Adam Jones, 165
2. Blake Williams, 160
3. Robbie Maddison, 145
4. Nate Adams, 140
5. Jeremy Lusk, 140
6. Mat Rebeaud, 125
7. Beau Bamburg, 115
8. Mike Mason, 115
9. Ronnie Faisst, 83
10. Thomas Pages, 75

FMX Prelim Results – Toyota Challenge
September 11, 2008 – Salt Lake City, UT

1st – Jones, Adam – 90.03
2nd – Maddison, Robbie – 89.57
3rd – Potter, Todd – 88.97
4th – Lusk, Jeremy – 84.93
5th – Bamburg, Beau – 84.30
6th – Mason, Mike – 84.23
7th – Faisst, Ronnie – 82.77
8th – Kargola, Jeff – 81.87
9th – Richmond, Myles – 81.30
10th – Fehr, Jeff – 79.93
11th – Fullmer, Wiley – 79.53
12th – Garland, Derek – 79.4
13th – Nielson, Sean – 77.83

Still following me?

Now word comes that on June 21 a rider named “Bird” smashed that record by making a huge jump in California of more than 394 feet. Unlike the last records, this one doesn’t seem to have been witnessed by the Guinness folks so we’ll see if it holds up, but it will be on the upcoming DVD “On the Pipe 5′” from Powerband Films.

But you can still see this huge jump for yourself below…

The prelims were run later in the evening, helping make sure wind would be less of an issue. Still, some familiar faces missed the cut including Metal Mulisha riders Takayuki Higashino, Ronnie Faisst, Todd Potter and Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg. The Mulisha will still be represented by Maddison and Jeremy Lusk, who placed fourth in the prelims.

The FMX finals will take place on Sunday from 1-3 p.m. ET and will air on NBC.

Here’s the lineup for Sunday’s final (in order)

10. Thomas Pagès
9. Jim McNeil
8. Nixy Danielson
7. Jeremy Lusk
6. Blake Williams
5. Mathieu Rebeaud
4. Robbie Maddison
3. Mike Mason
2. Adam Jones
1. Nate Adams

FMX Prelim Results
June 19, 2008 – Top Seven Advance

1st — Maddison, Robbie — 88.67
2nd — Rebeaud, Mathieu — 88.33
3rd — Williams, Blake — 86.33
4th — Lusk, Jeremy — 85.5
5th — Danielson, Nixey — 86.37
6th — McNeil, Jim — 86.17
7th — Pagès, Thomas — 82.67
—————————————
8th — Bamburg, Beau — 80.67
9th — Fullmer, Wiley — 80
10th — Pages, Charles — 79.7
11th — Garland, Derek — 78.67
12th — Fehr, Jeff — 79.93
13th — Faisst, Ronnie — 76.83
14th — Higashino, Takayuki — 76.67
15th — Richmond, Myles — 76.67
16th — Potter, Todd — 69.33
17th — Stenberg, Jeremy — —

FMX had the most interesting wild card picks, with Dany Torres, a Spainard who has done well on the X-Fighters tour, joining the tour as a rookie. Robbie Maddison, who competed in 2006 on the tour, will make a triumphant return after setting a world record earlier this year. The final wildcard, Mathieu Rebeaud, has been on the tour since 2005.

Keep reading for all the pre-qualified athletes and the full press release.

AST ANNOUNCES PRE-QUALIFIED ATHLETES FOR
2008 AST DEW TOUR

Roster of Pre-Qualified Athletes Expected to Compete at Panasonic Open Include Baltimore’s Bucky Lasek and Three-Time Dew Cup Winners
Ryan Sheckler and Jamie Bestwick
NEW YORK – June 10, 2008 – The AST Dew Tour, the world’s premier season-long action sports tour, today announced the roster of athletes that are pre-qualified for the 2008 AST Dew Tour. The Panasonic Open kicks off in Baltimore, June 19-22 at Camden Yards Sports Complex.

Athletes are pre-qualified based on their rankings at the end of the 2007 AST Dew Tour season. Additionally 3-4 wild cards per discipline have been selected. Athletes who are not pre-qualified may compete as Open Qualifiers at the Panasonic Open to earn a spot in the preliminary rounds. The full list of pre-qualified athletes is as follows:

Skateboard Park
Ryan Sheckler
Greg Lutzka
Rodolfo Ramos
Austen Seaholm
Carlos de Andrade
Fabrizo Santos
Kurtis Colamonico
Tulio de Oliviera
Danny Fuenzalida
Mike Peterson
Danilo do Rosario
Jason Barr
Mathieu Therres
Rodil Araujo Jr
Jereme Rogers
*Chaz Ortiz
*Paul Rodriguez
*Chad Fernandez

Skateboard Vert
Shaun White
Bucky Lasek
Pierre-Luc Gagnon
Bob Burnquist
Andy Macdonald
Rune Glifberg
Jean Postec
Alex Perelson
Danny Mayer
Anthony Furlong
*Adam Taylor
*Rob Lorifice
*Sandro Dias

BMX Park
Daniel Dhers
Mike Spinner
Ryan Nyquist
Scotty Cranmer
Dave Mirra
Dennis Enarson
Allan Cooke
Steven McCann
Garrett Reynolds
Josh Harrington
Diogo Canina
Rob Darden
Kevin Kiraly
Alistair Whitton
Marcus Tooker
Craig Mast
Colin Mackay
Ryan Guettler
Gary Young
*Mike Laird
*Ben Wallace
*Dan Sieg
*Austin Coleman

BMX Vert
Jamie Bestwick
Simon Tabron
Steven McCann
Chad Kagy
Jimmy Walker
Kevin Robinson
Jay Eggleston
Dennis McCoy
John Parker
Zack Warden
*Francisco Zurita
*Koji Kraft
*Austin Coleman

BMX Dirt
Ryan Nyquist
Cameron White
Dennis Enarson
Luke Parslow
James Foster
Corey Bohan
Anthony Napolitan
Diogo Canina
TJ Ellis
Chris Doyle
Ryan Guettler
Colin Mackay
Allan Cooke
Joey Marks
*Steven McCann
*Morgan Wade
*Rob Darden
*Chris Gerber

FMX
Nate Adams
Adam Jones
Mike Mason
Jeremy Lusk
Todd Potter
Jeremy Stenberg
Wiley Fullmer
Myles Richmond
Tkayuki Hadashino
Beau Bamburg
*Robbie Maddison
*Mathieu Rebeaud
*Dany Torres

*Indicates wild cards
**All 2008 AST Dew Tour pre-qualified athletes are not guaranteed to compete at all five stops of the ’08 season

The complete 2008 AST Dew Tour schedule is as follows:

Event Date Location
Panasonic Open June 19-22 Baltimore, Md.-Camden Yards Sports Complex
Right Guard Open July 17-20 Cleveland, OH-North Coast Harbor
Wendy’s Invitational Aug. 21-24 Portland, Ore.-Rose Quarter
Toyota Challenge Sept. 11-14 Salt Lake City, UT-EnergySolutions Arena
PlayStation® Pro Oct. 16-19 Orlando, Fla.-Amway Arena

Stenberg was happy with his win though he acknowledged his ride didn’t go as planned.

“Unbelievably difficult. Some of the riders here were really afraid of the course. This victory means a great deal to me. I have never seen such a challenging course. One trick went completely wrong and I thought that it was all over, but Rebeaud made a mistake too.”

It’s hard to believe that it was only two years ago that Stenberg suffered a massive crash that shattered both his ankles and relegated him to a wheelchair for months.  He’s definitely returned to form and should be a big factor in this summer’s AST Tour and X Games.  He also had a strong showing at last month’s inaugural Moto X World Championships, taking second to Nate Adams in the Moto X Freestyle category.

In the overall X-Fighters rankings, Stenberg (155 pts.) now ranks second to Rebeaud (180 pts.), who won the first stop in Mexico City last month.  Dany Torres from Spain, who finished fourth on Saturday and second in Mexico, is third in the rankings with 135 pts.

A webcast of the action from Brazil will be available Tuesday, May 6, on the official X-Fighters site.  We’d post more photos from the event, but for some reason Red Bull hasn’t made many pictures of Monster-sponsored Stenberg available.  Yet, plenty of photos of the Red Bull-sponsored Rebeaud (including the haunting portrait after the jump) exist.  Hmmmm…

The next stop in the X-Fighters five-city tour is Ft. Worth, TX on June 14, followed by stops in Germany and Spain in July.

The official press release follows.

Samba on Two Wheels – Stenberg Grabs Win in Rio

Jeremy Stenberg (USA) soared to victory last Saturday 3rd of May, with a spectacular performance at the second event of Red Bull X-Fighters 2008. Mat Rebeaud from Switzerland had to settle for second place after a hard-fought final round, with Australian Robbie “Maddo” Maddison claiming third in the former capital city’s legendary Sambadrome. Andre Villa (NOR) remained unhurt after crashing out.

A total of nine kickers spread out along a 96-metre course proved a real challenge for the world’s FMX elite, a fact confirmed by winner Stenberg shortly after an emotional victory ceremony: “Unbelievably difficult. Some of the riders here were really afraid of the course. This victory means a great deal to me. I have never seen such a challenging course. One trick went completely wrong and I thought that it was all over, but Rebeaud made a mistake too.” Despite his disappointment, Swiss high flyer Rebeaud was stoic after the final: “That’s sport for you. I had a big mistake in the final and that probably cost me victory. But it could have been a lot worse. I’m glad I didn’t crash.”

A heavy fall by Andre Villa (NOR) at the quarter final stage brought the vibrant crowd to a hushed silence, but the Norwegian walked away unhurt. “I go to the gym five times a week and the muscles paid off today. I landed on my stomach, but I’ll be back on the bike,” commented Villa shortly after his fall.

Backflips, heelcrackers and superman seatgrabs were among the incredible tricks on show to a capacity crowd in the city’s legendary Sambadrome, where two large dirt jumps and a ‘six pack’ (three jumps in a row) catapulted the riders to dizzying heights.

The 30,000 FMX fans were on their feet as four local riders and eight members of the international FMX elite, including Aussie Robbie Maddison, fought it out for victory. “I can’t imagine it was even louder here during the Carnival in February,” beamed winner Stenberg after stealing the show.

After two rounds Mat Rebeaud (180 points) heads the overall riders’ classification, with a narrow lead of just 25 points over Jeremy Stenberg (155 points).

After Rio de Janeiro the Red Bull X-Fighters move stateside to Texas, USA. On July 14 the rodeo arena in Fort Worth will host the third of the tour’s five stops before the most breathtaking freestyle motocross series in the world returns to Europe with a stop in Wuppertal (GER) before the traditional grand finale in Madrid (ESP).

Final Results of Red Bull X-Fighters Rio de Janeiro:
1. Jeremy Stenberg (USA/Yamaha),
2. Mat Rebeaud (CH/KTM),
3. Robbie Maddison (AUS/Honda),
4. Dany Torres (ESP/KTM),
5. Andre Villa (NOR/Suzuki),
6. Eigo Sato (JPA/Yamaha),
7. Ronnie Faisst (USA/Honda),
8. Brice Izzo (FRA/Yamaha),
9. Gilmar Flores (BRA/Yamaha),
10. Gian Bergamini (BRA/Yamaha)

Mat Rebeaud at X-Fighters Rio.  cr. Balázs Gárdi /Red Bull Photo-Files