FMX Insider No.40: Road to X Games

Transmoto’s weekly web-exclusive column, the FMX Insider, penned by Ben Heidrich.

The road to glory and success is never a serene one. Over the past two months I have witnessed strength, struggles and accomplishment, day after day. Professional freestyle motocross rider, Australia’s Jackson ‘Jacko’ Strong, has the Austin X Games Quarter Pipe Best Trick in his sights; learning and pushing the physical limits of what is possible on a dirt bike.

Jacko is known around the globe for his world-first FMX tricks. He stuck the first-ever dirt bike Frontflip on the Crusty Demons of Dirt tour and also scored Gold at X Games in 2011. Jacko took out another Gold at X-Games 2012 for his world-first body varial trick, The Jack.

With the arrival of the Quarter Pipe Best Trick at X Games this year, Jacko has now turned his attention towards the BMX-style vertical ramp. Watching Jacko practice his new trick in the foam pit really goes to show how much progression there is in this sport right now. This trick is insane and I can not wait to see him take it to dirt in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.

“I’ve been working day and night for the past few months to bring this trick alive,” said Jacko. “Its one of the hardest and gnarliest things I’ve done on a dirt bike.”

To pull something like this off, you need the perfect blend of calculation and determination. So much time, practice and preparation goes into that one moment; pulling a world-first trick in front of thousands of screaming people and changing history. “The Best Trick category is one jump – one shot to do the best, most hardest trick you can do on a motorcycle,” Jacko continued.

After months of jumping in his home foam pit, Jacko and I boarded the plane for America. We’ve spent the last week at X Games Gold medalist Brian Deegan’s house in Temecula, California. “Deegan’s is a place I have come to for years to put the final touches on tricks before I take them to X Games,” said Jacko. “I’ve just been working on getting this trick perfect before I head off to Austin. I’ve tested with so many different things like suspension, gearing and different bikes. It’s been a lot of work over the last few days but I’m starting to feel more confident with the trick and not so nervous.”

Jacko has put his heart and soul into making this trick a reality. Now all the practicing is done and X Games is only days away. We are about to jump on a flight to Austin and get stuck into the X Games hype. Make sure you follow Jacko’s Facebook page to keep in sync with the journey!

Jacko would like to thank his sponsors – Valvoline USA, Rockstar Energy Drink, Metal Mulisha and Deegan 38.

To watch Jacko training for X Games, click here.