The unlucky crash happened on his 2nd and final run of the Best Trick competition. He has also crashed on his first run however was not hurt. Both attempts were due a slow rotation in the three sixty portion of the trick, landing sideways with the bike landing on his right leg in both jumps.

The “TP Roll” (also known as the Toilet Paper Roll or Rodeo 720), is Travis’ latest trick which he has worked on for 4 years. He attempted it last year at X Games 16, however crashed in a similar fashion without a fracture or any broken bones but did suffer a back injury. He would later land the trick filming Nitro Circus Country Fried some months later.

Travis Pastrana has also completed his fourth double backflip. That’s right, during his Freestyle run. That makes him the second rider to perform the trick during an FMX run, after Cam Sinclair of course. His gear is very reminiscent of his 2004 gear and bike and oddly enough, Travis said he was going to to perform a double backflip during his FMX run but was knocked out by a failed 360; 6 years later and he does it!

Travis at X Games 16 :: Chris Tedesco/ESPN Action Sports(c)

You can catch Travis on the bike once more at X Games 16 during Speed and Style and let’s face it, this is Travis’ event – he has the tricks to win and the speed, all the best to wonderboy for this one. Check your local guides for when the events are, or if you are without ESPN, you can watch this online stream here and do some timezone conversions with this guide.

Here is the gold medal winning run:

At X Games 16 he plans to enter 5 events, 1 more than X Games 12 – except this time he has a broken collarbone, but that hasn’t stopped Travis before and it seems it won’t now as he plans to throw down the TP Roll or Backflip 360. He attempted it last year but over rotated the backflip part of the trick causing him to fall 40 or so feet to solid ground causing more back problems for the already injury stricken athlete.

The events which Travis is entering as of this moment are:

• Rally Racing
• Rally SuperRally
• MotoX Best Trick
• MotoX Freestyle
• MotoX Speed and Style

Travis’ previous history suggests he’ll score high in all these events but he hasn’t entered an FMX contest since 4 years ago and faces some steady competition from his fellow Rally racers – we can however expect a show like no other; that is Travis Pastrana.

For an up-to-date X Games 16 Invite List, check out the ESPN page here.

Travis In Sydney

Today Travis backflipped his Suzuki RM-250 over a helicopter to promote next years tour. Travis is set to return to Australia on  May 7th for the first show in Brisbane until June. The last time Travis was in Australia he raced the Australian Supercross back in 2002. Unfortunately he crashed during that race.

Next year, Travis, Jolene, Andy and the rest of the Nitro Circus plus top freestyle motocross riders will team up for a 5 stop tour to all major Australian cities. Tickets for all the Nitro Circus shows are on sale now, see Nitro Circus Live for more details about the show.

Here is video of Travis doing the jump.

P.S. I’ve got my VIP tickets!

Travis attempting the 720 at X Games 15

Well this isn’t too big of a surprise but Travis has landed the first 720 on a dirt bike! As stated by Travis’ mom in 199 Lives, when Travis gets something in his head, he’ll do it as we’ve seen. No video has been released just yet, presumably it will be a feature of the next Nitro Circus film (like the Double Backflip was) or possibly an episode although they have finished filming for the TV Series.

The trick, also known as the Toilet Paper Roll, 720 Rodeo or Backflip 360 is fairly old as far as it’s creation. Travis first tried it in a Nitro Circus film and came close to landing it. It wasn’t until Travis’ fellow Subaru team mate, Dave Mirra, challenged Travis to perform a backflip 360 at X Games 15 which Mirra had previously done on a BMX bike.

The 720 is two tricks in one. The first part is an off axis backflip, better known as a 360. The second part is a perfect, BMX style 360. It can be considered a 720 since in the FMX world, an off axis backflip is considered a 360. The official name for it, is aptly, the TP Roll.

Now the only question is, will Travis return to X Games once more? You only have to wait 11 more months to find out!

You can see Travis’ first attempt to dirt, at X Games 15, here:

Travis mid way through the Toilet Paper Roll. He is about half way going into the second rotation.

Well this year wasn’t the best for Travis. He returned to the motorcycle once again for MotoX Best Trick and was ready for his 4th year in Rally. The hype was huge to say the least with Travis attempting his new trick. The most talked up trick for years was the Backflip to 360 also as the 720 Rodeo or as Travis called it the “Toilet Paper Roll.”

Travis hadn’t attempted this trick to dirt or even practiced in weeks since he came to L.A. early for the Red Bull Toasted event just days prior to X Games. He was still confident saying he is “1 for 5, which was about how I was with the double back[flip].” Unfortunately for Travis he didn’t quite land it however on the bright side he was able to walk away and was in good shape for Rally; that EVS padding held up well! Travis was one of many who crashed with only Kyle Loza, Blake Williams and Todd Potter landing with a trick and Willy Watts not landing any trick(s). Travis ended up fourth at the end of the night.

Travis was, as usual, a favorite to win. He dominated every race he was in which is no surprise, last year he got Gold and before that he got Bronze and another Gold. First race he was up against ACP but fortunately for Travis (and unfortunately for ACP), ACP nudged a water barrier which cost him crucial seconds. Next round Travis was up against Brian Deegan of the Metal Mulisha. Brian had previously had turbo troubles and the affects still lingered to the next round because for some reason his team didn’t fix his car! Apparently a hose had slipped of and needed to be reattached. Brian without a turbo obviously couldn’t match Travis in a primed Subaru USA car. Brian couldn’t make the jump and was disqualified; Brian got a bit emotional in the car. Ken Block had fallen to the same fate as Brian, not doing the jump and getting booted from the competition.

Travis and his custom steering wheel from Red Bull :: PhotoCredit: Subaru USA Rally

In the final it was Travis against Kenny Brack (not Bartram). Travis and Kenny were neck-and-neck for most of the race but Travis had a slight advantage. On return to the stadium Travis came into the corner with too much speed for the terrain; a slippery concrete-dust mixture which forced Travis to lose control and wedge the car in between the barriers on either side of the track.

Travis’ face expressed disappointment obviously after losing another gold medal to such a small error. After review of a replay Travis can be seen smiling after he crashed with his face in his palms. In classic Travis character he was in good spirits, congratulating Kenny Brack and thanking his team for such a good effort.

Travis now has 2 Golds, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal from the Rally car event and is the only competitor to race in at every X Games Rally Car event in the 4 years it has been held (2006 – 2009). Travis missed out on a medal by one spot in best trick which would have been the first time a rider gets a medal without doing a trick. Best of luck to Travis next year!

A quick word on the championship. Travis is in the lead by 42 points over team mate Ken Block.

1. Travis – 106 points
2. Ken – 64 points
3. ACP – 63 points

It seems the fight is now for second place to fourth place, separated by 4 points between them!

Travis' Silver Medal :: PhotoCredit: Subaru Rally USA

A collection of names so far are:

• No Handed Backflip 360
• “Spinny Flippy Thingy”
• Rodeo 360
• Toilet Paper Roll

Travis says he doesn’t know exactly what will happen once he is in the air but there is a 50/50 chance he will land it. By the looks of this video he has a very very slim chance. This trick will be gold for sure.

The trick looks to be a Backflip AND a 360 all at one time. Enjoy!

Travis states “I am warming up with Double Backflips, that’s how much harder this trick is” and “It morphed into some kind of spinny flippy thing” which means we’re in for a show!

Australian Rider, Blake ‘Bilko’ Williams has tried to do the 360 No Hander, but let’s hope Travis doesn’t have the same fate.

This also means fellow Nitro Crew member, Jim DeChamp will not be going after the frontflip after he broke his back last year while attempting it. He later performed it on MTV’s Nitro Circus.

Moto X Best Trick

Red Bull Toasted with Travis Pastrana

Well for those who are out of the Pastrana loop, Red Bull have organized a celebration of their most famous and most talented athlete, Travis Pastrana. The event will recap his life much like his film, 199 Lives and celebrate what Travis has achieved.

As the title says, all the tickets are gone! However you might be able to grab some from Filter magazine or KISS-FM. The event will be held at Avalon on 735 Vine Street, Hollywood CA on the 28th of July 2009. To make the event even more spectacular the Nitro Circus, James Stewart and Ryan Sheckler will be there and to top it off, Arj Barker will host it.

If you are still eager to get a glimpse of Travis, you might be able to line the red carpet however don’t get your hopes up.

Times are:
7pm; Red Carpet
8pm; Start of the show
11pm; Expected close

If you want to catch Travis, he is in L.A. for a short while, competing at X Games which starts the next day.