On August 24th, NIGHT of the JUMPs summer break ended with the return of the world’s best riders to battle at the next round of the FIM Freestyle Motocross World Championship round in Daqing, China. The oil-field capital of China which is located Heilongjiang Province is growing into the location for many International Motor Sports at the Daqing Racing Car Town. NIGHT of the JUMPs became the biggest World Championship series to host a round, with the world’s longest running Freestyle Motocross series at the new motorsport site. Including Daqing, NIGHT of the JUMPs has now entertained Chinese fans in five cities across China over the past eight years.
Nine freestyle athletes from six nations competed in the 6th round of the World Championship series. Pat Bowden unfortunately couldn’t compete due to visa issues. However, the Japanese rider Hitoshi Takahashi celebrated his debut at NIGHT of the JUMPs with a string of big tricks such as Double Grab Flips and Lazyboy flips. Although Hitoshi suffered a few first-event nerves which led to a few mistakes and unfortunately he wasn’t able to make the final. The oldest rookie at a FIM FMX World Championship round, Edgar Torronteras who was one of the pioneers of Freestyle Motocross with his first shows in 1995, 3 years before Luc Ackermann was born, set the Chinese crowd on fire with his style to enter the Top 6 final after qualification. Edgar also blitzed the field to win the Best Trick trophy with his incredible upside-down whips.
Brice Izzo was looking to improve his trick level since Zurich and while Brice put together a solid run, it wasn’t enough to make the Top 6 final. Also, to miss the final was the German, Hannes Ackermann who crashed heavily on a Ruler Indy flip on his 3rd jump of the run by coming up a little short on landing and being thrown into a 180-degree crash at the bottom of the landing. Kai Haase (GER) and Filip Podmol (CZE) were able to advance to the final. Adam Jones (USA) put together a clinical display of FMX tricks to also make his 3rd World Championship finals in 2019.
The duel for the World Championship title between Maikel Melero and Luc Ackermann was raging again in China. The German had to show his cards first as Melero was the overall leader from the previous round. Ackermann put together a massive run filled with the Front Flip on the mechanical ramp, Flair, 360 and Double Flip which heaped the pressure on the 5-time World Champion. Melero countered with his own Front Flip and Flair, but only managed 3rd position in qualifying.
Melero must have been feeling the heat in the finale when he simply forgot to add the Front Flip and then also crashing his Nac-Nac Flair which put him in 5th place overall for the first round of competition in Daqing. Unlike the lack of concentration from Melero, Filip Podmol was ice cold. The young Czech rider landed in 3rd overall with his Ruler Flip, Cliffhanger Flip and Seat Grab Flip to take his first ever podium finish in a NIGHT of the JUMPs World Championship round.
Adam Jones had an almost perfect final round with Ruler, Cliffhanger, Double Grab and Dead Body Flips. But it was the impressive upright tricks such as the Turntable and McMetz to Heelclicker which impressed the crowd with his own personal style and secured his second position for the night.
Against Jones’ stylish run, Luc Ackermann was going to push on and show his biggest tricks, even in the slippery conditions where the ramps were becoming more and more wet with the evening dew. Luc pulled out all of the stops when he landed his Front Flip, Flair, 360 Nac Nac and Surfer Tsunami Flip and finishing with his Double Backflip which he had previously felt ‘wheel-spin’ on in the qualifying round. With more than 50 points ahead of Jones, the judges honoured the 21 years old German’s performance and the top place points secured his lead in the overall title fight before the next round. Ackermann now leads with 109 points over Melero with 104 points.
Maikel Melero will have the opportunity to put together his best run the following day when the world’s best riders meet again for the 7th round of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship series.
FACTS
NIGHT of the JUMPs/FIM Freestyle MX World Championship
Daqing, 24th August 2019 – Round 6
Results NIGHT of the JUMPs – Final
1. Luc AckermannGERDMSBHusqvarna384 Points
2. Adam JonesUSAAMAYamaha335 Points
3. Filip PodmolCZEACCRYamaha298 Points
4. Kai HaaseGERDMSBSuzuki278 Points
5. Maikel MeleroESPRFMEKTM267 Points
6. Edgar TorronterasESPRFMEYamaha264 Points
Results Qualification
1. Luc AckermannGERDMSBHusqvarna347 Points
2. Adam JonesUSAAMAYamaha306 Points
3. Maikel MeleroESPRFMEKTM293 Points
4. Filip PodmolCZEACCRYamaha262 Points
5. Kai HaaseGERDMSBSuzuki251 Points
6. Edgar TorronterasESPRFMEYamaha240 Points
7. Brice IzzoFRAFFMHusqvarna225 Points
8. Hitoshi TakahashiJAPMFJYamaha186 Points
9. Hannes AckermannGERDMSBKTM 64 Points
Results Best Whip Contest
1. Edgar TorronterasESPRFMEYamaha
2. Kai HaaseGERDMSBSuzuki
Results Synchro Contest
1. Adam JonesUSAAMAYamaha
Filip PodmolCZEACCRYamaha
FIM Freestyle MX World Championship 2019
Ranking (after 6th contest)
1. Luc AckermannGERDMSBHusqvarna109 Points
2. Maikel MeleroESPRFMEKTM104 Points
3. Pat BowdenAUSMAYamaha74 Points
4. Filip PodmolCZEACCRYamaha52 Points
5. Adam JonesUSAAMAYamaha50 Points
6. Libor PodmolCZEACCRHusqvarna42 Points
7. Javier VillegasCHLFMC Suzuki41 Points
8. Kai HaaseGERDMSBSuzuki41 Points
9. Rob AdelbergAUSMAYamaha40 Points
10. Leonardo FiniITAPZMKTM36 Points
11. Hannes AckermannGERDMSBKTM31 Points
12. Petr PilatCZEACCRKTM29 Points
13. Brice IzzoFRAFFMHusqvarna26 Points
14. Jeremy RouanetFRAFFMYamaha12 Points
15. Fred KyrillosBRACBMHonda12 Points
16. Edgar TorronterasESPRFMEYamaha10 Points
17. Hitoshi TakahashiJAPMFJYamaha 8 Points
18. Mat RebeaudSUIFMSAlta 7 Points
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