The Sports Syndicate’s Andre Villa made quick work of fellow competitor David Rinaldo in the opening round of head-to-head competition in Speed & Style at X Games Foz Do Iguacu. With Villa’s win he headed to the Semi-Final, where he faced off against Mat Rebaud. Villa didn’t have trouble the second time against Rebaud, and he dominated his semi-final, which sent him to the final to face off against Lance Coury. This time, Villa had his work cut out for him. Villa believed his tricks were better than Coury’s, but he didn’t want to rely on that to win the event. On the last lap, Coury made an error in the rhythm section just when Villa was about to triple out of the section, as he was the only rider to do that all night. In order to avoid landing on Coury, Villa went flying off of the track, through the plastic retaining wall that surrounded the circuit. Coury fell, too, in the melee, but was quick to get up and get going again. Coury took the win, but Villa won a lot of fans with his go-for-broke move on the final lap. Villa was awarded the silver medal in his first attempt at Speed & Style. “That was a lot of fun,” Villa said. “I’m going to dedicate myself to Speed & Style and I want to start winning these. I think I could’ve won tonight, and if I dedicate myself to this, I think I can win a lot.”
