2013 NITRO CIRCUS News
Saturday, Nov. 23, may well have been one of the best days, even the best day, in the life of the 15-year-old Thuringian so far. It was the day that Luc Ackermann, German Freestyle Motocross whizz kid, made it to the starters line-up of the NITRO CIRCUS Live Tour in Hamburg.
Riding alongside his older brother Hannes and 17-times X Games gold medallist Travis Pastrana, Ackermann was able to show what he is made of.
But more exciting still for Luc was what came next. In the changing room afterwards Travis Pastrana had another surprise in store for him. Watched by the assembled team members, the living American FMX legend presented the German with a Red Bull helmet, signaling his official induction into the Red Bull team.
The floodgates opened as Ackermann accepted the helmet from the hands of his idol. The emotion of the occasion left the young man too choked for words – and this although he already holds three world records.
In October 2010, at the NIGHT of the JUMPs in Cologne, he became the youngest biker to pull off a back flip. At the same venue exactly two years later, on 6th October 2012, he topped 9 meters in the MAXXIS Highest Air, the high-jump section of the NIGHT of the JUMPs / FIM Freestyle MX World Championship Series, making him the youngest freestyler ever to achieve that height. And in March 2013 he was one of 18 FMX riders performing a simultaneous back flip at the Nitro Circus film premiere in London, a Guinness world record.
The new helmet will see duty for the first time at the other two Nitro Circus Live Tour dates, when he will ride alongside his brother Hannes.in Cologne (09.09.13) and Berlin (12.12.13).
Next year will be the Thuringian’s first FMX European Championship season, with NIGHT of the JUMPs dates in Linz (January 17-18, 2014), Graz (January 25-26, 2014), Munich (April 26, 2014) and Mannheim (10th May 2014). And in the company of Hannes, Luc will also be representing Team Germany at the Freestyle of Nations on May 31, 2014 in Gelsenkirchen.
To watch a video of the action, click here.
