NIGHT of the JUMPs lights up Poland

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Monday, 28 November 2011 08:20

Over two successive NIGHT of the JUMPs staged at the ERGO Arena in the Polish port city of Gdansk, spectators were thrilled by a double bill of the best in freestyle motocross sport.

On Sunday night, Remi Bizouard (FRA) once again took all 20 FIM Freestyle MX World Championship points, thereby narrowing Javier Villegas’s (CHL) current lead to 17. So at the end of a highly successful weekend in Poland, the Frenchman goes home with maximum haul of 40 championship points.

As Alastair Sayer (BOT) sustained an injury the day before, only twelve FMX riders contested the qualifying round on Sunday. And with the exception of Brice Izzo (FRA) who came of his bike attempting a Miniflip, it was the same line-up of finalists as on Saturday: taking Izzo’s place was Jose Miralles, alongside Maikel Melero (ESP), David Rinaldo (FRA), Petr Pilat (CZE), Villegas and Bizouard.

German rider Fabian Bauersachs in P8 finished two places higher on the leader board than the night before. Local hero Artur Puzio (POL) followed up a Miniflip with his own version of Long Distance Flip on Dirt, which sadly ended in a crash. Still on the mend after injuring himself quite badly earlier this year, Libor Podmol finished tenth, a creditable result in the circumstances.

Massimo Bianconcini (ITA) put in a good run and was unlucky to miss out on the final by just seven points. But the Italian once again dominated the side contests after his double triumph on Saturday, claiming victory in the Whip contest and in the Maxxis Highest Air on Day 2.

The Top Six stepped up a gear for the finale, pulling out their most spectacular tricks. Jose Miralles pleased the crowd with a Saran Wrap Flip, while David Rinaldo performed an Airplane with super-clean extension and Maikel Melero showed off his new Doublegrab Flip. But even stunts of this complexity were not enough to deprive Petr Pilat of third place: the Red Bull rider has now taken his second podium in the last three contests.

But this was of minor interest once Javier Villegas rode out onto the track. If the Chilean could see off the challenge from Bizouard, he would then wrap up the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship on the night. Villegas summoned up all his best routines: Pastrana Trick with No-Hand Landing, Tsunami Flip and a Suicide Flip Lookback in which he almost touched the rear protective board with his helmet. But he was ultimately undone by a botched No-Hand Landing. Bizouard was once again firing on all cylinders, finishing three points ahead thanks to consummately executed Ruler and Hart Attack Flips.

The upshot of which is that the destination of this year’s FIM Freestyle MX World Championship trophy will not be known until the final round of the competition on 17th December in Sofia. Remi Bizouard is still behind Villegas in the overall standings but his double victory this weekend has reduced the deficit to 17 points. So maximum tension is guaranteed for the NIGHT of the JUMPs premiere in Bulgaria, which is also the closing round of the championship.

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