2013 Latvian FIM Freestyle MX World Championship | Preview

2013 Latvian FIM Freestyle MX World Championship | Preview

2013 NIGHT of the JUMPS at Riga Preview

There are three rounds to go in the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship. The first of these takes place on October 26, when Riga hosts NIGHT of the JUMPs and the 2013 Latvian Grand Prix.

A fortnight later, the competition returns to the Czech Republic after a two-year absence. The venue will be Liberec which last staged NIGHT of the JUMPS five years ago.

For the grand finale on December 14, the freestyle motocross circus makes its now customary end-of-term visit to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. The new FMX World Champion will be crowned there and then – if the outcome has not already been decided.

The front-runner in the title chase is David Rinaldo. The young Frenchman has made stunning progress over the past two years and has already won two Grand Prix events during the current campaign. In three others, he finished as runner-up – a set of results that sees him topping the table on a score of 116 points.

His closest pursuer is Czech rider Libor Podmol on 112 points. The 2010 world champion may only have won one Grand Prix event so far this year, but he has steadily been accumulating points with podium finishes in four more.

The other leading contenders were Spain’s Dany Torres (84 points, #3) and the French duo of Brice Izzo (83 points, #4) and Remi Bizouard (72 points, #5). Torres is now presumably out of the running after sustaining a long-term injury. Meanwhile, Izzo and Bizouard will themselves be hoping for speedy recovery so that they too can have a say in the destination of the title, but they certainly won’t be fit in time for either Riga or Liberec.

Consequently, it looks like the championship will be a straight fight between Podmol and Rinaldo, leaving the rest of the field to scrap it out for the bronze medal. This includes Podmol’s fellow countryman Petr Pilat (65 points, #6), Germany’s Hannes Ackermann (61 points, #7) and Spain’s Jose Miralles (61 points, #8). Even Maikel Melero back in ninth on 53 points still has a mathematical chance of claiming the final championship podium spot.

So the last three NIGHT of the JUMPs featuring the 2013 FIM Freestyle MX World Championship promise to be high-voltage affairs, keenly contested all round.

Remaining 2013 FIM Freestyle MX World Championship:

October 26, 2013
NIGHT of the JUMPs Riga
FIM Freestyle MX World Championship Round #8
Arena Riga / Latvia

November 8, 2013
NIGHT of the JUMPs Liberec
FIM Freestyle MX World Championship Round #9
Tipsport Arena Liberec/Czech Republic

December 14, 2013
NIGHT of the JUMPs Sofia
FIM Freestyle MX World Championship Round #10
Arena Sofia / Bulgaria

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