Levi Sherwood triumphs over hometown hero

New Zealand’s Levi Sherwood won an epic battle against Dany Torres in front of a pulsating crowd of 20,000 frenzied Spaniards at the Madrid stop of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour.

The world famous Las Ventas bullring proved a spectacular setting for the one of the world’s most exciting freestyle motocross events. “It was pretty intense,” said Sherwood, who also won the season opener in Dubai and moved ahead of American Todd Potter into first place overall after four of six events in 2012. “It was really tough going against Dany and his home crowd.”

Sherwood also beat home rider Melero, who was wearing a Spanish national soccer team jersey and bought the ecstatic crowd to their feet with the ride of his life, placing third. Defending champion Torres, who had struggled earlier this season due in part to a series of injuries, delivered an inspiring performance before falling just one helmet, or one of five categories, short in the final.

Sherwood now leads the championship with 230 points, followed by Chile’s Javier Villegas sitting second on 150 points. Todd Potter, who had to pull out of Madrid with injuries suffered in a heavy crash suffered in training on Friday, is third with 145 points. The series moves on to Munich’s Olympic Stadium for the next stop on August 11, ahead of the seasoned finale at Sydney’s Cockatoo Island on October 6.