Poland hosts Round 3 of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship next weekend
On 22nd March, ten of the world’s top freestyle motocross riders will contest the third round of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship in the Gdansk Ergo Arena. Local favourites Artur Puzio and Marcin Luksczcyk will also be in the mix, having qualified via the wildcards of the Polish FMX federation. Both are assured of a fantastic reception from the knowledgeable home crowd when they take on the might of the freestyle elite.
And the Polish duo will certainly need all the help and support they can get if they are to make it through to the final six. They are up against the likes of three-time world champion Remi Bizouard and winner of the 2010 title Libor Podmol as well as those two motorised bullfighters from Spain, Maikel Melero and Dany Torres. Melero won the back-to-back rounds on the opening weekend of the new season in Berlin and has established a commanding lead in the standings. Torres is also back in top form, as he proved at the Red Bull X Fighters in Mexico last weekend.
With Brice Izzo and Jose Miralles also on the bill, the event boasts two former championship runners-up, both of whom qualified for the final six in the campaign opener, and they will certainly settle for nothing less in the Polish Grand Prix. Izzo is bound to have been fine-tuning his new Surfer to 9-O-Clock.
Australia’s Rob Adelberg also has good cause to be extra motivated: having won NIGHT of the JUMPs in Riga in 2013, his performance in Berlin was something of an anticlimax: twice he missed a trick, and on both days, he failed to make it through to the finals. If he is serious about remaining in contention for the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship title, he needs to make a major breakthrough in Gdansk.
The Czech Republic’s Petr Pilat also has to mount a credible attack: after taking a tumble in Berlin, the Red Bull rider is currently ranked last.
Meanwhile, Hannes Ackermann is under no pressure at all. Following a two-month lay-off due to injury, the four-time German FMX champion celebrated his comeback in Berlin by qualifying for the final, and he is hoping for a repeat of his Top Six result from the equivalent fixture in 2013. The twelfth and final name on the bill is Italy’s Massimo Bianconcini.
Fans in the Ergo Arena or watching the live stream at home can expect a bonus thrill in the form of a tandem trick on snowmobile. Stian Pederson will attempt the jump on his 350kg machine with Miss Poland Marcelina Zawadzka as his passenger.
This will be the third time that the world’s biggest freestyle motocross series has been contested in Poland’s biggest port city. It also represents the top event on the country’s motorsport calendar.
NIGHT of the JUMPs / FIM Freestyle MX World Championship (Round 3)
22nd March 2014
Ergo Arena
Gdansk, Poland
Line-up of contestants:
Remi Bizouard (FRA) – World Champion in 2012, 2008 & 2009
Libor Podmol (CZE) – World Champion in 2010
Dany Torres (ESP)
Rob Adelberg (AUS)
Brice Izzo (FRA) – Championship runner-up in 2010
Petr Pilat (CZE)
Maikel Melero (ESP)
Jose Miralles (ESP) – Championship runner-up in 2009
Hannes Ackermann (Four-time German FMX Champion, fifth in 2012 World Championship)
Massimo Bianconcini (ITA)
Artur Puzio (POL)
Marcin Luksczcyk (POL)
Communication Freestyle - www.nightofthejumps.com