Ten riders went big at the German World Championship round of NIGHT of the JUMPs in the Mercedes Benz Arena. Unfortunately for the Berliner and local hero, Kai Haase, he wasn’t able to compete after an injury suffered in a crash during practise. For the two remaining Germans, their night wouldn’t get much better with Hannes Ackermann already suffering from a previous shoulder injury and showing some mistakes in his run including a backflip dead-sailor (without a combo). The younger brother, Luc Ackermann showed promise with a good run but then crashed after almost landing a flair on the Quarter Pipe. Thus, their finals hopes were buried early.
Remi Bizouard and Rob Adelberg were quick to stamp their authority in qualification by premiering the Egg Roll (Open-Loop) to the German crowd. While Maikel Melero showcased the California Roll in a near perfect run to take 2nd place going into the finals. David Rinaldo seemed to have the handbrake on in the preliminary round compared to what we normally expect from the 2013 World Champion but it was enough to make it through to the final in front of Petr Pilat who showed all of his crazy and different Flip Combos.
The newcomer, Pat Bowden (AUS) also secured a shot in the finals at his Berlin debut with 6th place in Qualification. He would then go on to celebrate a win in the LifeProof Best Whip competition. With this result in Berlin it took him to his fifth consecutive Best Whip victory.
In the Maxxis Highest Air Contest, Massimo Bianconcini won with an impressive display. The Italian flew over the 9.00 metre mark and gave the reigning World Champion Jose Miralles yet another defeat in a row. It appeared the 4-stroke machine of Bianconcini was more the decider for grip and drive in the Maxxis competition against the lighter 2 stroke powerplant.
Pat Bowden opened the final round and the Australian made an impressive appearance, but missing a couple of the bigger tricks in FMX it wasn’t enough to retain the spot on the Hot-Seat. Petr Pilat surprised the judges with the Steriliser Landing amongst a great run and it was enough to push Bowden from the Hot Seat.
But Pilat didn’t stay on the Hot Seat for long as Rob Adelberg (AUS) started his run with the Open Loop Cordova Flip. After landing the California Roll to No Hand Lander, it would be enough to secure at least a podium position. It would come down to splitting hairs between David Rinaldo from Rob Adelberg, when Rinaldo opened his account with a Rock Solid Backflip and then the California Roll of his own. But with some small mistakes, he just missed out on a podium position and was relegated to 4th place.
It was then time for the reigning World Champion to make his mark. Melero dominated from the start with the Egg Roll and then Double Hart Attack Backflip, a California Roll and Tsunami Flip before finishing with the Nac Nac Flair on the 2nd Quarter Pipe. Becoming the only rider to use both quarter pipes in Berlin. In the end he would take away a whopping 462 points from the judges.
Only Remi Bizouard could battle Melero for the victory, and the Frenchman put it all on the line. Also showing his own Egg Roll and Ruler Flip, Remi then showed different variation with the Cliffhanger and Shaolin Flip and then finished with the cleanest Volt we’ve seen from the 3-time World Champion. The Audience erupted after Remi’s performance, but it wouldn’t be enough to take down Melero. Nevertheless, Remi was content with his second place in such a high stakes competition.
With his win at the first German FIM World Championship round of NIGHT of the JUMPs, Maikel Melero has built on his World Championship standings and also set a new record at the same time. Melero has now pushed his current winning streak to seven consecutive wins, passing the record set by Josh Sheehan. Not to be outdone, Melero wants to push this record even further the following day at the second round in Berlin, and the fourth round of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championships in the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Results NIGHT of the JUMPs – Final
1. Maikel MeleroESPRFMEYamaha462 Points
2. Remi BizouardFRAFFMKawasaki442 Points
3. Rob AdelbergAUSMAYamaha430 Points
4. David RinaldoFRAFFMYamaha426 Points
5. Petr PilatCZEACCRKTM398 Points
6. Pat BowdenAUSMAYamaha363 Points
Results Qualification
1. Remi BizouardFRAFFMKawasaki389 Points
2. Maikel MeleroESPRFMEYamaha380 Points
3. David RinaldoFRAFFMYamaha370 Points
4. Rob AdelbergAUSMAYamaha369 Points
5. Petr PilatCZEACCRKTM360 Points
6. Pat BowdenAUSMAYamaha350 Points
7. Jose MirallesESPRFMEKTM286 Points
8. Brice IzzoFRAFFMYamaha207 Points
9. Luc AckermannGERDMSBHusqvarna306 Points
10. Hannes AckermannGERDMSBKTM306 Points
Results Lifeproof Best Whip Contest
1. Pat BowdenAUSMAYamaha
2. Remi BizouardFRAFFMKawasaki
Maxxis Highest-Air
1. Massimo BianconciniITAPZMKTM9,00 Meter
2. Jose MirallesESPRFMEKTM8,50 Meter
3. Luc AckermannGERDMSBHusqvarna6,50 Meter
FIM Freestyle MX World Championship
Ranking (after 3rd contest)
1. Maikel MeleroESPRFMEYamaha60 Points
2. Remi BizouardFRAFFMKawasaki52 Points
3. David RinaldoFRAFFMYamaha46 Points
4. Rob AdelbergAUSMAYamaha46 Points
5. Petr PilatCZEACCRKTM36 Points
6. Jose MirallesESPRFMEKTM27 Points
7. Pat BowdenAUSMAYamaha26 Points
8. Luc AckermannGERDMSBHusqvarna25 Points
9. Marc PinyolESPRFMEYamaha16 Points
10. Brice IzzoFRAFFMYamaha14 Points
11. Thomas WirnsbergerAUTOSKSuzuki11 Points
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