2014 FMX Awards
FMX fans have voted French Freestyle Motocross rider Tom Pages Best International Freestyle Motocross Rider for the second year running.
Pages garnered 35.8% of the ballot, putting him firmly ahead of the runner-up, Adam Jones of the USA (23.9%). “Best European FMX Rider” was Spaniard Dany Torres with 36.5% of the votes, pipping the Czech Libor Podmol (34.4%) to first place.
Three other riders – Alastair Sayer (BOT), Javier Villegas (CHL) and Taka Higashino (JAP) – retained the titles they won in 2012. Sayer successfully defended his position as “Best African FMX Rider 2013”, Higashino again took “Best Asian FMX Rider” and Villegas from Chile was voted “Best South American FMX Rider”.
Australian Emma McFerran, too, triumphed for the second year in succession, taking “Best Female FMX Rider 2013”, albeit by a slimmer margin than last year: Jolene van Vugt (CAN) attracted 45.9% of the votes, McFerran 47.7%.
Canadian Bruce Cook nabbed first place in two categories, taking almost half the votes for “Best International FMX Rookie 2013” and over 50% for “Best Trick Innovation 2013”. His double front flip at the Nitro Circus Live Event in the USA, in which he came to grief, confining him to a wheelchair, was the clear winner over Tom Pages’ “Flair Kiss of Death”.
Travis Pastrana was voted “Best American FMX Rider”, thereby reclaiming a title he won in 2010. On the other side of the globe New Zealander Levi Sherwood was crowned “Best Australian/Oceanian FMX Rider”.
The title of “Best German FMX Rider 2013” went to Hannes Ackermann for the fourth year in a row. The Thuringian narrowly fought off the challenge from his 16-year-old brother Luc; 0.8% of the votes separated the two brothers.
Antonio Navas and Rocky Florensa from Spain are the first riders to share first place in a category. The two Tandem FMX specialists were voted “Best European FMX Rookies”.
The Nitro Circus Live Tour was awarded “FMX Series of the Year”, beating the NIGHT of the JUMPs/FIM Freestyle MX World Championship and the Red Bull X-Fighters into second and third place respectively. The Yamaha YZ 250 was voted “Best FMX Motorbike 2013” for the fourth year in succession, while fmxworld.com won “Best FMX Website 2013”.
The FMX Awards were conceived by the Berlinièros Sports Agency. The annual ceremony recognises outstanding achievement by FMX riders in the previous season. An independent international jury draws up a shortlist of five riders in each category before turning the decision over to the fans for the final vote.
2014 FMX Award Winners:
- Best International FMX Rider – Tom Pages (FRA)
- Best European FMX Rider – Dany Torres (ESP)
- Best American FMX Rider – Travis Pastrana (USA)
- Best Australian/Ozeanian FMX Rider – Levi Sherwood (NZL)
- Best African FMX Rider – Alastair Sayer (BOT)
- Best Asian FMX Rider – Taka Higashino (JAP)
- Best South American FMX Rider – Javier Villegas (CHL)
- Best German FMX Rider – Hannes Ackermann GER)
- Best Female FMX Rider – Emma McFerran (AUS)
- Best International FMX Rookie – Bruce Cook (CAN)
- Best European FMX Rookie – Antonio Navas/Rocky Florensa (ESP)
- Best FMX Series / Event – Nitro Circus Live
- Best Trick Innovation – Double Frontflip – Bruce Cook (CAN)
- Best FMX Bike – Yamaha YZ 250
- Best FMX Website – www.fmxworld.com
For additional information, visit www.fmxawards.com.
