Red Bull X-Fighters: What to expect

Cape Town - Over 100 000 spectators have witnessed the world's FMX elite in action so far heading into the final round of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour's epic 14th season in Pretoria.

The stops in Mexico City, Osaka, Madrid and Munich have demonstrated that the top dogs of freestyle are more closely matched than ever.

Australian Josh Sheehan’s win in an action-packed final at the last round in Munich, Germany tightened the X-Fighters World Tour championship battle, slashing Levi Sherwood’s lead to just five points going into the nail-biting finale in front of the historic Union Buildings on August 23.

Top 5 standings before the Pretoria finale:

1. Levi Sherwood (NZL) – 265 pts

2. Josh Sheehan (AUS) – 260 pts

3. Thomas Pagès (FRA) – 190 pts

4. Dany Torres (ESP) – 185 pts

5. Taka Higashino (JPN) – 120 pts

Learn more about all the riders competing HERE

Wildcard local hero Nick de Wit may just be able to shake up the standings however.

As part of the FMX4EVER team, South Arica's top FMX rider ‘Sick Nick’ travels around the globe inspiring FMX fans in such places as Brazil, Turkey and Egypt with world-class freestyle motocross on the Red Bull X-Fighters Jams tour.

Nick has been so busy with demos lately that he has not been able to ride many contests, but you can be sure that he will push his limits on home soil.

And a lot of soil there is too: 8 000 cubic meters of dirt, to be exact. Some 12 000 tons in total! Each truck takes 15 cubic meters or about 20 tons. The track build required a total of 600 truck loads each way (for a total of 1200 truck loads after the event). Each truck trip is 68km round trip, that’s 81 600km of total truck kilometres. That’s twice around the equator!



So now you know. Here’s what else to know:

Tickets – General standing tickets are still available at Computicket (Grandstand sold out

Schedule - Gates open 11:30, show starts at 13:30. Show ends at 15:30 

Parking - Free park n ride, Fountains Valley – Groenkloof (There will be no parking facilities available at the Union Buildings for the event). More info HERE

After party - Trademarx Bar, Loftus Versfeld

Photos - Take plenty! All we ask is you share your photos with us on social media: #xfighters @RedBullZA.

You will be in a photo too - Red Bull will be taking a 360-degree high resolution panoramic image during the opening ceremony. More info HERE

Expect:

Traffic congestion, so arrive early and plan to leave late.

Wear a hat and sunscreen – there is limited shaded viewing and none on the grandstand. The entire venue is unreserved seating and standing on a first come first served basis.

There will be food vendors as well as a number of public bars open throughout the day.

Flags and face painting will be applauded. And screaming and shouting is encouraged.

For more info, click HERE