Levi Sherwood Re-Signs With Unit

Eighteen-year-old New Zealand FMX prodigy Levi Sherwood has just signed on the dotted line and secured his place a part of the 2010 Unit FMX Team.

Sherwood shot to fame in 2009, when he surprised the FMX world by winning the opening round of the Red Bull X-Fighters tournament in Mexico.

His first ever international contest, Levi held no expectations going into the event, and has since cemented his name among the top freestyle motocross athletes in the world.

A run of injuries tainted the remainder of his 2009 series and erased any hope of an overall series win.

"I had my ACL in my right knee replaced with two of my five hamstrings, which meant I had five months of physio before I could ride again," says Sherwood.

"It was good to go home to NZ and spend time with my friends and family after five months in California.

"After five months off the bike, I am freshened up and ready to get back in action for 2010.

"This year I decided to switch to riding two strokes, after having trouble making some jumps on my 250f last year."

The opening event for the International FMX calendar was the same one Levi won last year - the Red Bull X-Fighters opener in Mexico City.

Levi went in confident and was feeling better then ever on his bike.

Unfortunately, heavy rain hampered the event and forced the main event to be cancelled. In this situation the winners are determined by qualifying results, which in Levi's case weren't very good.

"Qualifying didn't go so well, I didn't realize that they were judging show in qualifying," says Levi.

"Since it is judged off crowed reaction and there wasn't any one out there apart from the judges, I didn't really do anything apart from focus on the run I had to do.

"I ended up losing some points from that and qualified 7th, so now its back to practicing and getting ready for Egypt, I can't wait to see what it's like there!"

After seeing Levi perform in New Zealand at the Farm Jam, we have every faith he can make a strong comeback in Egypt and fight to get ahead in points for the series win.

Stay tuned to Levi's latest news at the Unit Blog or by following his personal website www.levisherwood.com