At the age of 16, Travis Pastrana was the greatest FMX rider around. Now the 23-year-old has shifted his focus on driving rally cars. In a recent interview, he reviews the Red Bull X-Fighters in Mexico City and talks about the obstacles to his comeback at Slane Castle.

Travis, how did you like Dany Torres' rendition at the Red Bull X-Fighters in Mexico City?

I wasn't able to follow the event because I was competing in the Arizona Rally at the time, but I heard all about it: in the end it seems Dany put down a really good run. But the last few competitions have already shown what he's capable of.

Was it a case of a young, talented rider putting down the run of his life that evening - or did we witness the birth of one of the new superstars of the future?

There may have been an element of luck involved - but you don't win the Red Bull X-Fighters by chance. The standard is just too high for that and the other riders are just too ambitious.

Shortly before the Red Bull X-Fighters, you also racked up a less spectacular but nevertheless great sporting achievement in Mexico: fifth place in your debut PWRC race, the Corona Rally Mexico. How was the race for you?

Simply fantastic. We learned an enormous amount. And we also learned that we still have a lot to learn.

How happy are you with your achievement - after all, you proved to your doubters that you can race with the best of them on the international circuit as well?

We reckoned we could make it into the top ten and are proud that we ultimately finished fifth. Until then I thought we had reached the limit of what rally cars can do in the US series. Now I've realized that much more is possible.

You will be at all three of the remaining X-Fighters events - the next of which takes place at Slane Castle on May 26. How do you manage to fit any practice into your rally schedule?

Good question: no idea. I'm just happy to be able to make it to the events at all; there won't be much time to practice.

You're fortunate to have a collection of extraordinary vehicles at home, which includes a 1944 fire truck. So you can at least switch on the siren when you're rushing from event to event, can't you?

Not really, these days I need it to pull my rally car out of the dirt whenever I get stuck ...
Alex Schelbert
Travis Pastrana
Red Bull
Travis Pastrana
Alex Schelbert
Travis Pastrana