X-Fighters Egypt: Qualifying Format

FMW News

The special qualifying format for the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2010 is set to be showcased in its entirety at the second stop of the year in Egypt.

Six seeded riders, four qualifiers and two wildcards will make up the field in front of the ancient pyramids and imposing Great Sphinx as the best freestyle motocross riders of the modern day go head-to-head in the biggest FMX tour on the planet.

The mega-event in the desert outside Giza will also see a brand new trick-for-trick format decide the winner.

One of the major changes in the 2010 edition of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour is the new qualifying format.

Unlike in previous seasons when the World Tour was strictly invitation only, this year sees the biggest FMX tour on the planet adopt a new approach by giving up-and-coming talent the chance to mix it with the best riders in the world.

The top six riders from the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2009 are guaranteed a starting place at every stop of the World Tour 2010, with the remaining six places in the starting field made up at each event by two wildcard riders and four riders qualifying from the pre-event Ranking Session.

Once in the starting field for the main event, these two wildcards and four qualifiers must then finish in the top six to guarantee themselves a place at the next event on the Tour.

Riders who fail to finish among the six best riders must attempt to re-qualify for the next stop either through the pre-event Ranking Session or by receiving a wildcard.
As well as the new qualifying format, the second stop of the year is also set to showcase a brand new trick-for-trick competition format.

In the Semi-Finals and Final riders will go head-to-head in a classic battle of FMX one-upmanship. The lower-ranked rider goes first and performs a trick, with his opponent then having to "answer" this trick within ten seconds.

A total of eight tricks in the Semi-Final and ten tricks in the Final will be performed in this format to decide the event winner.

As the clock ticks down to the start of the first ever Red Bull X-Fighters stop on Egyptian soil, the best FMX riders in the world have been indulging in some unconventional training to beat the heat in the desert outside Africa’s most populous city and get their tricks dialled in before the main event.

The Olympic-sized swimming pool in the official riders’ hotel just outside the Cairo has been a popular meeting point over the last few days. However, when members of the international freestyle motocross elite meet in the water, you can be pretty sure that there will be more than a few relaxed lengths of the pool on offer.

Frontflips, backflips and pretty much every kind of insane trick you can imagine have been going down at the deep end over the last few days as the riders aim to get used to the new trick-for-trick format scheduled to make its debut in Egypt this weekend.

"It’s a great way to prepare. In fact, diving into the water is pretty similar to jumping the bike into the foam pit," comments Japanese rider Daice Suzuki ahead of the showdown on Friday night.