Billabong XXL Awards tonight on ESPN2 !

Make it a late night or set your TIVO and catch the ‘09 Billabong XXL Awards Presented by Monster Energy tonight @ 10:30PM Pacific or 1:30 AM Eastern!

http://tinyurl.com/BBGXXL

Monster Energy’s Bobby Martinez Tops The World’s Best Surfers @ Billabong Pro Tahiti

Monster Energy’s Bobby Martinez Tops The World’s Best Surfers @ Billabong Pro Tahiti

American Martinez’ win at Teahupoo is the second Billabong Pro Tahiti win of his career, tops a field that includes Burrow, Slater, Fanning, Irons and the Hobgoods

CORONA, Calif., (May 20, 2009) – Monster Energy-backed surfer Bobby Martinez (Santa Barbara, Calif.) is on top of the pro surfing world after captured top honors at the recent Billabong Pro Tahiti, presented by Air Tahiti Nui, in Teahupoo. The 26-year-old Martinez bested a field of the world’s top touring pro surfers, including Taj Burrow, Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Andy Irons and the Hobgood brothers.

“I feel great and a bit emotional,” said Martinez in a press statement from the ASP World Tour. “I waited for the good ones (waves) out there and just got lucky. There weren’t too many waves and I was lucky enough to get a couple of good ones and not fall. Things just seemed to work out for me. I really don’t know what to say. It feels really special.”

Contesting the third of ten events on the ’09 ASP World Tour, Martinez opened with a strong heat, scoring an 8.73 out of a possible 10. The highly decorated Californian amateur surfer, who joined the World tour in ‘06, continued to pour it on in blazing to one of the year’s best finals’ run scores of the year – a 9.73 –  which was certainly the highest-scored run at the Billabong Pro Tahiti. And Martinez’ 9.73 couldn’t have come at a better time either as it increased his finals score versus Burrow to 18.46 out of 20, which sealed his fourth elite tour win of his young career.

And what makes this even more interesting? Martinez pulled it off on a borrowed  board after breaking a number of his own while ripping during the long waiting period leading up to the heat events.

“I actually borrowed a board from Alain Riou,” said Martinez of the local Tahitian surfer. “He rides Darren Handley shapes and the board was the same dimensions and pretty much the same shape I ride. It was great to find that as yesterday I was a bit skeptical about today in terms of the conditions and my equipment. But everything worked out perfectly.

About the best compliment an athlete can get is one that comes from another competitor, to which top European surfer and 3^rd place Billabong Pro Tahiti competitor, Aritz Aranburu – who topped surf great Kelly Slater in his draw – said: “Bobby (Martinez) is one of the best out there.”

In the end Martinez was humble and very honored with the win and congratulations from his fellow surfers, saying simply: “I didn’t start surfing to make money – I started for me, and to win today…you cannot put a price on the feelings I have. I’m really going to let it sink in and enjoy it.”

Overall, after three rounds of ASP World Tour surfing action, Monster Energy’s Martinez sits in 7^th place in the standings with 2,025 points – just 149 points out of the top five. The next stop on the ASP World Tour, Brazil ’s Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro, is scheduled for June 27 to July 5^th.

Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it surfing, off road, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Bobby Martinez digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com

Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Hacking Makes A Dramatic Bid For Sat.’s Infineon SportBike Podium

Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Hacking Makes A Dramatic Bid For Sat.’s Infineon SportBike Podium

Hacking podiums on Saturday, then gives up the overall SportBike class lead with a 13^th on Sunday; Monster’s Hayden & Davies top ten on Sat. as well

CORONA, Calif., (May 18, 2009) – A week after taking over the overall AMA SportBike class points lead with two podium finishes (3^rd & 2^nd) at Barber Motorsports Park’s AMA doubleheader in Birmingham, Ala., Monster Energy’s Jamie Hacking (Attack Kawasaki) opened this past weekend’s racing right were he left off – nailing a brilliant late-race pass to make the first of two possible SportBike podiums at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. – round five of the 2009 AMA Superbike Series.

Hacking, coming off a first-lap caution flag in the SportBike class main even on Saturday that had the pace car back out on the track for the next three laps, found himself back in 8^th place to start the contest. Gunning for his fifth podium finish of the season, Hacking made up the distance to catch all but race leader Martin Cardenas – placing 2^nd in a furious 17-lap push to the front.

“At the restart I wasn’t sure which line we were taking and I ended up inside,” said Hacking. “I knew I had to hold up a little to make a safe entry and fell back a handful of spots. I always seem to make it hard on myself, but the training really kicked in today since it was extremely hot. I’m really happy that I was able to make up the positions so I can keep the points tight.”

Hacking’s good fortune would suffer a bit of a hiccup at Sunday’s SportBike main event when the Brit crashed twice – yet still managed to make the top 15 (13^th). As it stands Cardenas now holds a 24-point lead (203-179) over Hacking after five rounds of SportBike racing in the books.

Also having good runs on Saturday were Hacking’s Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki  teammate Roger Lee Hayden and Monster Energy-backed Chaz Davies (Aprilia). Hayden made Saturday’s Superpole, qualifying 10^th, then raced back from 12^th place to finish 9^th on the day.

“I’m a little bummed with the result, but hopefully we can do better tomorrow,” said Hayden. “I felt good and didn’t think the heat was a factor, but I had a pretty big gap in between some riders and it was hard to move forward. I know we can change a few things so I can improve on my finish from today.”

Davies was on fire both days in the heat of Sonoma, matching his season-best finish with a 4^th on Saturday, then was in podium position early in Sunday’s race when a mechanical issue ended his day. “Ah, that was unfortunate on Sunday – we’d been running so well all weekend and were up front to challenge early,” said Davies. “Look forward to running it back here at Elkhart Lake.”

Davies still kept his top six position (6^th) in the SportBike standings with 108 points, while Hayden is just a click outside the top 15 having suffered a DNF as well on Sunday.

Sunday’s SuperSport race was about the best contest all weekend when Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Leandro Mercado, who won the pole position for the race in Saturday’s qualifying, got into a great battle with Ricky Parker and ended up placing 2^nd. “It was a hard race,” said Mercado. “I tried to make a pass on Ricky but I knew I couldn’t do it so I settled back and just took second place. I want to congratulate Ricky; he did a great job.”

Next up for the Monster Energy-backed AMA Superbike Series racers is the June 5-7 round at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. For more information on the series check out www.amaproracing.com

Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it road racing, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Hacking, Mercado, Hayden and Davies dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com

Monster Energy’s 2009 Desert Assasssins Rip to the Tip