TRAVIS PASTRANA

'Travis Alan Pastrana' (born October 8, 1983, in Annapolis, Maryland) is a motorsports competitor who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several events, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing.

Contents

Freestyle MX

Motocross/Supercross

Rallying

2006 Rally America Championship Results

2007 Rally America Championship Results

Plans for 2007-09

Injuries

Travis and the Nitro Circus

External links

Notes

Freestyle MX

Travis Pastrana is best known for his exploits in freestyle motocross. He invented many of the young sport's tricks and became the sport's world champion at age 14.[1] He landed a double backflip in his film ''Nitro Circus 3.'' On August 4, 2006, at X Games 12 in Los Angeles, he became the first rider to land a double backflip in competition, winning his first Moto X Best Trick Gold Medal.[2] It is believed that only one judge did not rate the run 100/100, making the final score a 99.00[3] Pastrana said after the competition that he has no plans to attempt the trick again. Travis' X Games participation ended when he injured his knee while walking to see his friends in the stands, so he could not perform a glory run for his Moto X Freestyle Gold Medal.
In 2007, Travis came out of retirement from FMX and will compete in the Red Bull X-Fighters tour.[4]

Motocross/Supercross

Pastrana has earned two Dirtbike racing championships: the 2000 AMA 125cc National championship, and the 2001 125cc East Coast Supercross Championship. His hard-charging, go-for-broke attitude makes him a podium threat in any race he enters. Pastrana's stand-up style, ability to spot jump combinations and great speed through the whoops make him easy to spot on the track.
Pastrana has always raced and competed on Suzuki motorcycles, and remains fiercely loyal to the brand. His motorcycles and rally cars carry the number 199.
In a recent interview, Pastrana said he will stop racing supercross races due to problems he has had in his left and right knees.

Rallying

In 2003, Pastrana opened a rallying career in the Race of Champions, and began driving for the Subaru-backed Vermont SportsCar rally team in 2004. Starting in 2006, Travis was signed by Subaru to lead their new Subaru Rally Team USA, being paired once again with veteran co-driver Christian Edstrom. On August 5, 2006 Travis won the gold medal in the first Rally Car competition at the X Games, edging out rally legend Colin McRae by 0.53 seconds after McRae rolled his car through the last jump.
Pastrana and Edstrom clinched the 2006 Rally America National Series Overall and Open Class Championship on October 20, 2006 during day one of the Lake Superior Performance Rally. The team finished out the 2006 series with another first-place victory at the Wild West Rally in Olympia, Washington on December 3, 2006.
On December 16, 2006, Travis competed at the 2006 Race of Champions at the Stade de France in Paris. He represented the United States in the Nations Cup by himself, after injuries forced teammate Jimmie Johnson and his replacement Scott Speed to withdraw. Driving alone, Pastrana finished in second place to the team of Heikki Kovalainen and Marcus Grönholm from Finland.[5]

2006 Rally America Championship Results

Event	Location	Position
Sno ★ Drift	Atlanta, MI	2nd In-class, 2nd Overall
100 Acre Wood	Salem, MO	DNF
Oregon Trail	Portland, OR	2nd In-class, 2nd Overall
Susquehannock Trail	Wellsboro, PA	2nd In-class, 2nd Overall
Maine Forest	Rumford, ME	2nd In-class, 2nd Overall
Ojibwe Forests	Bemidji, MN	1st In-class, 1st Overall
Colorado Cog	Steamboat Springs, CO	1st In-class, 1st Overall
Lake Superior Performance Rally	Houghton, MI	3rd In-class, 3rd Overall
Wild West Rally	Olympia, WA	1st In-class, 1st Overall

2007 Rally America Championship Results

Event	Location	Position
Sno ★ Drift	Atlanta, MI	1st In-class, 1st Overall
100 Acre Wood	Salem, MO	2nd In-class, 2nd Overall
Oregon Trail Rally	Portland, OR	DNF
Olympus Rally	Olympia, WA	DNF
Susquehannock Trail	Wellsboro, PA	3rd In-class, 3rd Overall
New England Forest Rally	Bethel, ME	1st In-class, 1st Overall

As of July 2007, Travis is in second place in the Top Overall and Top Open Class Driver classifications of the Rally America Championship standings; his co-driver Christian Edstrom is first in the Top Overall and Top Open Class Co-Driver classifications.

Plans for 2007-09

On December 13, 2006, Subaru Rally Team USA announced plans to enter Pastrana in certain World Rally Championship events in 2007, 2008, and 2009. In 2007, he is set to race three WRC events in the Group N class, driving a Subaru Impreza WRX STI–based rally car. In 2008, SRT-USA plans to enter him in the Production World Rally Championship, a series that runs concurrent with the WRC.[6]
During March 9–11, Pastrana competed in his first world rally at the 21º Corona Rally México. He finished 15th overall and fifth in the PWRC (Group N) class. His finish was the best by an American in a WRC event since John Buffum finished 3rd in the Acropolis Rally in 1988.

Injuries

Injuries have often taken Pastrana off the circuit for weeks or months. His medical record includes multiple concussions, a broken back, and severe knee problems due to cartilage degeneration.

In 1998 at a Triple Crown event in Lake Havasu, when he was 14-years-old, he jumped a 120-foot ramp and came up short. In the process of the crash he rag dolled and separated his spine from his pelvis, which put him in the medical books and left him in a coma for two weeks. It also left him in a wheel chair for three months. “I was in and out of consciousness for about three days and had six blood transfusions,” says Pastrana. He also adds that according to doctors only three people in the U.S. have ever lived after this kind of injury.


“I don’t remember most of the injuries there have been so many.” His laundry list includes: the dislocated spine, in his left knee he’s torn his ACL, PCL, LCL, MCL, his bucket handle meniscus, broken his tibia and fibula, he’s had surgery on his left wrist twice, left thumb once, two surgeries on his back, one on his right elbow, nine on his left knee, six on the right knee, one shoulder surgery which left him with the only piece of metal he has in his body.[7]

Travis and the Nitro Circus

Pastrana is featured in many motocross stunt videos, most notably in Gregg Godfrey's four "Travis and the Nitro Circus" DVDs.
The series can be seen on Fuel TV or purchased via iTunes.
A fifth Nitro Circus film is scheduled to be released this fall and will include another Grand Canyon jump by Travis Pastrana and Jolene Van Vugt. (http://alpinestarsinc.com/jolene-van-vugt-grand-canyon-jumps)

External links

★ Pastrana's official website

★ Travis Pastrana site at EXPN (X Games) site

Notes

# Red Bull USA Profile
# Travis Pastrana Bio
# FINAL: Pastrana Lands First Moto X Double Backflip
# Moto X Best Trick Results
# Red Bull X-Fighters 2007
# Pastrana/Edstrom take 2nd on 100 Acre Wood.
# Pastrana Headed to the WRC
# Finnish stars thwart USA hero in the 2006 ROC-Nations Cup
# Why Travis Pastrana is The Man Shanti