Bizouard marches onwards in Berlin

On Friday, Berlin witnessed the magnificent return of NIGHT of the JUMPS. Twelve freestyle artists from seven countries were at the o2 World arena to contest the third round of this year’s FIM Freestyle MX World Championship. The German freestyle brigade in the shape of Hannes Ackermann, Fabian Bauersachs, Lukas Weis and local hero Kai Haase lined up against the international FMX elite. In the qualifying round, Thuringian rider Ackermann put together a fine run with a series of backflip combos to finish ahead of his fellow countrymen in seventh, but still agonisingly short of a place in the final. Also missing out was Clinton Moore who crashed in practice attempting at 360 and consequently decided to save himself for the Best Trick Contest. Since world record high jumper Massimo Bianconcini (ITA) also failed to make it through to the top six, the honour of qualifying was shared amongst Libor Podmol (CZE), Maikel Melero (ESP) Brice Izzo (FRA), Javier Villegas (CHL), David Rinaldo (FRA) and Remi Bizouard. Clinton Moore’s strategy paid off, as he took the generous prize money in the Best Trick Contest with his version of ‘The Volt’. Victor in the Best Whip Contest was Javier Villegas, with the Maxxis Highest Air trophy going to Massimo Bianconcini who recorded a jump of 8.00 metres. The final promised to be another cracker. Melero was aiming to repeat his Turin podium, but his attempt at a Seatgrab Flip ended in a horror crash. Miraculously, he was unharmed and finished sixth. David Rinaldo was also keen to defend his second place in the preliminary round, but a couple mistakes saw him slump to fifth. Despite pulling out a super-extended Cliffhanger Flip plus a sequence of underflip combinations, a visibly disappointed Libor Podmol had to settle for fourth. Third place went instead to Brice Izzo who conjured up a Tsunami flip plus another Heelclicker Underflip to claim his first podium in ages. Javier Villegas more than compensated for the disappointment of Turin, performing the best of his repertoire to secure second. But Remi Bizouard was once again in a class of his own. The Frenchman thrilled the fans with Cliffhanger Flip, Tsunami Flip, 360 and Hart Attack Flip to notch up his second victory in the third contest of the season and extend his lead in the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship. He is now eight points ahead of Podmol (50 points). The NIGHT of the JUMPs continues a mere 24 hours later in Berlin with the second of a two-part bill. Results – Final
1. Remi Bizouard FRA RFME Honda 437 points
2. Javier Villegas CHL FMC Yamaha 425
3. Brice Izzo FRA FFM Yamaha 422
4. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Yamaha 417
5. David Rinaldo FRA FFM Yamaha 404
6. Maikel Melero ESP RFME KTM 355

Results Qualification
1. Remi Bizouard FRA RFME Honda 377 points
2. David Rinaldo FRA FFM Yamaha 357
3. Javier Villegas CHL FMC Yamaha 356
4. Brice Izzo FRA FFM Yamaha 353
5. Maikel Melero ESP RFME KTM 349
6. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Yamaha 336
7. Hannes Ackermann GER DMSB KTM 326
8. Massimo Bianconcini ITAL PZM KTM 313
9. Lukas Weis GER DSMB Suzuki 293
10. Fabian Bauersachs GER DMSB Suzuki 264
11. Kai Haase GER DMSB Suzuki 260
12. Clinton Moore AUS MA Yamaha 225

Results Whip Contest 1. Javier Villegas CHL FMC Yamaha
2. Kai Haase GER DMSB Suzuki

Results Best Trick Contest

1. Clinton Moore AUS MA Yamaha

2. Remi Bizouard FRA RFME Honda

 3. Maikel Melero ESP RFME KTM


Mountain Bike

1. Pavel Alekhin RUS

 2. Nico Scholze GER


Results MAXXIS Highest Air
1. Massimo Bianconcini ITA 8,00 meter
2. Kai Haase GER 7,50

FIM Freestyle MX World Championships
1. Remi Bizouard FRA RFME Honda 58 points
2. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Yamaha 50
3. Maikel Melero ESP RFME KTM 44
4. Brice Izzo FRA FFM Yamaha 40
5. David Rinaldo FRA FFM Yamaha 36
6. Clinton Moore AUS MA Yamaha 24
7. Javier Villegas CHL FMC Yamaha 27
8. Hannes Ackermann GER DMSB KTM 24
9. Massimo Bianconcini ITAL PZM KTM 23
10. Ivan Zucconi ITA PZM KTM 15
11. Vanni Oddera ITA PZM KTM 10
12. Jose Miralles ESP RFME KTM 10
13. Lukas Weis GER DMSB Suzuki 7
14. Fabian Bauersachs GER DMSB Suzuki 6
15. Lukas Weis GER DMSB Suzuki 5