Freestyle Motocross
Round 2 of the UEM Freestyle MX European Championship – on the same weekend and at the same venue – was once again a feast of freestyle motocross.
The Linz Tips Arena was sold out for the second successive night, and the crowd roared their riders on to even greater heights. With a second victory on the trot, Brice Izzo has instantly established himself as European title favorite.
Unfortunately, Lukas Weis was injured in practice, which meant that there were only eleven contestants in the starting line-up. In the private contest between the Austrian riders, Martin Schenk once again prevailed against youngster Thomas Wirnsberger.
But neither was able to progress through to the final; nor was Radek Bilek who took a tumble. Dennis Garhammer put on a solid display of ‘old school’ tricks, but without any flips in his repertoire, there was no way that he was going to progress to the final.
Hannes Ackermann put on his best NIGHT of the JUMPs run to date, including a new combination of Nac to Heelclicker Backflip, but in the end still narrowly missed out. So the six going through to the final were the same as on Friday: Bianconcini, Melero, Miralles, Bizouard, Podmol and Izzo
Victory in the Race & Style Contest once again went to Jose Miralles. Massimo Bianconcini took the honours in the Highest Air Contest with a jump of 9.3 metres. But no sooner had he got that title in the bag than he had to get back on his bike to lead off in the final.
A solid run secured him a P6 finish, still not good enough to take him past Maikel Melero. The Spaniard has turned out to be the FMX discovery of the weekend, producing a display of hardcore tricks that propels him straight into the pantheon of European greats.
In the internal Iberian duel with Miralles, however, Melero still came off second best. Jose leapt to fourth and must bide his time before he gets another crack at a podium. Izzo, Bizouard und Podmol slugged it out for the three top spots in what may well have been the toughest backflip contest ever staged on European soil.
It was only when Brice Izzo performed his Stripperflip to 1-Hand-Landing in the double-up that Libor and Remi knew they had been beaten fair and square. So the diminutive Frenchman was crowned the undisputed ‘Freestyle King of Austria’.
With these two rounds of the European Championship having been such a spectacular success, it is clear that NIGHT of the JUMPs will be coming back to Linz next year. The FMX elite have already made a date in their diaries for 20th and 21st January 2012 in the Tips Arena.
In the overall standings of the UEM Freestyle MX European Championship, Brice Izzo leads with a maximum points haul of 40 ahead of Remi Bizouard on 36.
Jose Miralles follows in third on 30 points. The third European Championship event is scheduled for 14th May in Hamburg. Meanwhile, the next NIGHT of the JUMPs takes place on 19th February in Turin (Italy) and features the curtain-raiser event in the FIM Freestyle MX World Championships.
NIGHT of the JUMPs/UEM Freestyle MX European Championships
Linz, 15th January 2011 – Round 2
Results NIGHT of the JUMPs – Final
1. Brice Izzo FRA FFM Yamaha 405 Points
2. Remi Bizouard FRA FFM Yamaha 402 Points
3. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Suzuki 399 Points
4. Jose Miralles ESP RFME KTM 379 Points
5. Maikel Melero ESP RFME Yamaha 365 Points
6. Massimo Bianconcini ITAL ACCR KTM 351 Points
Results Qualification
1. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Suzuki 367 Points
2. Remi Bizouard FRA FFM Yamaha 363 Points
3. Brice Izzo FRA FFM Yamaha 352 Points
4. Jose Miralles ESP RFME KTM 338 Points
5. Maikel Melero ESP RFME Yamaha 314 Points
6. Massimo Bianconcini ITAL ACCR KTM 308 Points
7. Hannes Ackermann GER DMSB KTM 301 Points
8. Martin Schenk AUT OSK Yamaha 266 Points
9. Thomas Wirnsberger AUT OSK Yamaha 260 Points
10. Dennis Garhammer GER DMSB Suzuki 249 Points
11. Radek Bilek CZE ACCR KTM 87 Points
Results Race & Style Contest
1. Jose Miralles ESP RFME KTM
2. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Suzuki
Highest-Air
1. Massimo Bianconcini ITAL ACCR KTM 9,30 Meter
2. Maikel Melero ESP RFME Yamaha 9,10 Meter
UEM Freestyle MX European Championships
Ranking (after 2nd contest)
1. Brice Izzo FRA FFM Yamaha 40 Points
2. Remi Bizouard FRA FFM Yamaha 36 Points
3. Jose Miralles ESP RFME KTM 30 Points
4. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Suzuki 28 Points
5. Maikel Melero ESP RFME Yamaha 26 Points
6. Massimo Bianconcini ITAL ACCR KTM 20 Points
7. Hannes Ackermann GER DMSB KTM 17 Points
8. Martin Schenk AUT OSK Yamaha 15 Points
9. Thomas Wirnsberger AUT OSK Yamaha 13 Points
10. Dennis Garhammer GER DMSB Suzuki 11 Points
11. Radek Bilek CZE ACCR KTM 9 Points
12. Lukas Weis GER DMSB Suzuki 9 Points
