Mike Mason Wins ASA World Champs
Written by Goba Tuesday, 07 September 2010 11:51
LOS ANGELES (September 5, 2010) — Last Sunday night before the L.A. County Fair's opening night crowd, the top pros of freestyle motocross competed in a head-to-head contest in the ASA World Championships of Freestyle Motocross. When the dust cleared, Nevada's Mike Mason stood atop the podium for the second year in a row ahead of Nate Adams (Glendale, AZ) and Adam Jones (Warrendale, PA) after a battle that ended much like Mason's first win in 2009.
Through competitive quarterfinal and semi-final rounds, Mason and Adams emerged to stand side-by-side in the finals, sparking thoughts of deja vu for those who had witnessed their final round matchup in 2009. No one could have ever imagined, however, that history would virtually repeat itself so exactly.
In 2009 Mason was the first man to take his final round run during which he threw everything he was capable of, knowing that he would have to be nearly perfect to beat the man they call "The Destroyer". To everyone's shock, however, when Adams hit the course he was only able to throw a few tricks before mechanical problems left him without the power to continue, and Mason won the title.
This year Adams took the first final round run, ready to perform tricks like the 360* he had done in earlier rounds, which set him apart and seemingly above the competition. After expertly landing two tricks, Adams merely sailed over his next jump, then rode to the top of a ramp to wave to the crowd and left the course. The same mechanical malfunction that he experienced in 2009 had struck again and left him unable to finish. Mason simply had to have a complete and cleanly executed run in order to win. Refusing, however, to just coast to the finish, Mason performed all of the tricks he had planned and wowed the crowd with his skill and expertise. He showed everyone that he deserved the title for the second year in a row and accepted it in true championship style.
"Of course it feels good to win two years in a row," said Mason. "But this year I felt very good from the first jump in practice - 10 times better than last year. I am really bummed for Nate [Adams], but I am very happy that I was able to win an event that I love."
In the contest's first round of competition, 18 year-old Levi Sherwood (Palmerston, North New Zealand) set off on what spectators described as an "epic" run, displaying the innovation and extension that earned him a silver medal at the X Games earlier this year. Then, upon hitting a set of the course's double-doubles he miss-stepped and accidently shifted his bike into neutral, leaving him without power to do his next trick. He landed hard and injured his right leg and right wrist. His injury permitted Todd Potter (Temecula, CA) to advance to the semi-finals. Potter had earned his spot in the competition as a result of a hand injury suffered by Javier Villegas (Spring, TX) during the day's practice rounds that forced him to withdraw.
All the competitive and behind-the-scenes action of the ASA World Championships of Freestyle Motocross will be broadcast nationally in November on Fox Sports Net as part of event producer, ASA Entertainment's action sports block on Fox Sports Net. Stay tuned for broadcast details and find complete event results at www.ActionSportsTour.com
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