Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Aaron Colton Street Tour: Philippines

The multiple-time U.S. Freestyle Champion Aaron Colton will be taking over the streets of Metro Manila with his daring motorcycle stunts!

Manila, Philippines, May 7, 2014 – There is a new reason for motorcycle enthusiast to celebrate as motorcycle stunt prodigy Aaron Colton will be visiting the Philippines from May 13 – 16 for several nighttime runs at several spots in the Metro, The event is to give the Philippines its first taste of Sportbike Freestyle.

When asked what excites him most in doing his stunts in the Philippines during interview, the 22-year old said, “The Philippines will be a great country to share my riding! I would really like to get in touch with the motorcycle community over there and expand my sport. That is exciting not just for me but my sport as a whole!”

Coming from Shakopee, Minnesota, USA, Colton started young with a 50cc motorcycle when he was two years old. His fame and success began when he became the youngest XDL National Stunt Riding Champion at the age of 15. Since then, his career continued to boom, having joined over five competitions and 30 events in the US yearly.
Colton has joined different prestigious competitions such as XDL National Stunt Riding Championship,, AMA Pro Road racing, AMA Flat Track, Street Freestyle, and Moto GP throughout his professional career.

When asked about joining any competitions in the near future, Colton said: “Currently I am not. My last competitions went really, really well! My competition series is undergoing a restructure. I am taking this opportunity to travel and ride everywhere and anywhere I can!” Colton toured several countries such as Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica for the last two years.

Colton expressed that he hopes to improve the state of motorsports in the Philippines through excitement. “I do not only encourage freestyle riding, I love all types of motorcycle riding! Buzz and excitement of my riding will hopefully encourage all others!” he added.
Colton will entertain the crowd with his 2 KTM 690 Duke, the first in the USA and the latest generation of its type. His street bike freestyle consists of mainly wheelies, Endos, Burn outs, Drifting, and Acrobatics. “It’s the open expression of being able to do anything that you had ever dreamed of controlling the bike,” he said.

Colton will be performing a four-day tour around Metro Manila to display his stunning stunts on the following dates and locations:

·        May 13th at Eastwood, Quezon City
·         May 14th at Capitol Commo9ns, Pasig City
·         May 15th at A Venue, Makati City
·         May 16th at Fort Strip/High Street, Taguig City

“Knowing that by the end of the tour, I will have met so many amazing people! My favorite thing about touring is the great people I get to meet and places that I get to stay. I am so incredibly thankful to be able to do what I do for a living but without amazing people it would be very difficult!” Colton remarked when asked what he looks forward to the most in touring.

Eastwood Libis, May 13th- I was invited to be a part of a press conference organized by Red Bull for the Aaron Colton Street Tour held at Publiko Bar, It was a motorcycle freestyle event which showcased Colton’s talent in doing motorcycle stunts using a KTM Duke 690cc street bike. We were treated with a sumptuous meal while we waited for the program to start; Aaron was wearing his red bull cap, t shirt, short and rubber shoes when I saw him. He was a very approachable guy, but only the body guards where a little bit annoying. The program started with a power point presentation highlighting Aaron Colton’s achievement and followed by a video of him doing the stunts in the street of Chicago, after the presentation, they opened up the question and answer for the media. As a former stunt rider, I decided to ask a question on how he can be an inspiration for the young Filipino riders. I gave him an overview that I started stunt riding in 2003 and that stunt riding here in the Philippines are not 100% supported by the sponsors. Most of the time stunt shows here in the country is part of the manufacturer’s marketing activities to draw crowds. I also asked Aaron if he already eaten Balut that put a smile in everyone’s faces. Inside the room, it’s like that I am the only one connecting with Aaron because I myself is sharing his passion in motorcycle stunt riding. After the Q and A, he prepared for 20 minutes and gave us an actual demonstration on what he can do. He started with the basics of Wheelie like doing the sit down wheelie, standing wheelie, one hander up to the technical ones like the High chair wheelie, One hander 360 up to the famous no hander 360 standing up wheelie. After the demo, I asked for his autograph on my Nolan helmet and we took a picture together.


I would like to thank E. Jay Miranda, the Field Marketing Manager of Red Bull Philippines for inviting us to be part of this event, we hope that they will continue to support our passions for extreme motorcycle riding and hopefully support our local talents in fulfilling their dreams! Thank you also to Sir Fabian Go and Venson So for allowing me to use the KTM Duke 390.     

by: Mel Aquino





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