Tours, 28th March 2015: A drama filled night concluded in unbelievable style at the French NIGHT of the JUMPs World Championships round, with the French crowd getting behind David Rinaldo for an emphatic win in front of the current series leader, Maikel Melero and first time World Championships competitor, Japan’s Taka Higashino. However it was the arrival of one of the regular French riders, Brice Izzo with his own Quarter Pipe for a Flip Transfer, an element of Course Use never seen before at NOTJ and add even more pressure to a round featuring one of the toughest rider line-ups in World Championships history.
In front of his home nation crowd, Brice would unveil a brand new trick, the Nac-nac Flip Transfer, otherwise known as the Egg Roll Nac, but he was unable to successfully land it for the Double Up and missed out on a top 6 final berth.
Not to be outdone, Germany’s Hannes Ackermann surprised everybody with two new tricks for him personally, a flat 360 over the super kicker and finishing with an Egg Roll of his own, but with an equal score of 331 and tied with Remi Bizouard, Hannes lost due to a 5-judge countback decision and it was by the slightest of margins that Remi would join the final in front of his French family and friends.
The French connection was almost complete, with a tough battle in the Lifeproof Best Whip competition, Nicolas Texier showed huge turn-downs, however Taka Higashino would snatch victory away with style. In the second event in a row, Jose Miralles would also claim another Maxxis Highest Air competition over his main rival and multiple champion, Massimo Bianconcini with a wrist-jarring height of 10 metres.
The final would kick off with a crowd favourite, Remi Bizouard, who showed an impressive run with clean tricks and finishing with a Volt, the first time we’ve seen this trick from Remi in 2015, however against such tough competition it was only enough for 5th place. Libor Podmol had also showed an impressive run and he too tried to finish with his own Volt body varial, however he couldn’t hold onto the bike and crashed after landing. Luckily he was able to get back to his feet but the major mistake would put Libor in 5th place. Australia’s Rob Adelberg missed out on a podium finish for the first time in 2015 after being relegated to 4th place, despite a run with pin-point accuracy and perfect extension.
In his first ever appearance at NIGHT of the JUMPs, Taka Higashino performed exceptionally well in the FIM judging format and finished in a respectable 3rd place, showing why he is one of the world’s best riders. Taka unleashed a huge Tsunami backflip, coupled with the California Roll which he invented and completing his run with a hair-raising Rock Solid Indy Back Flip.
Showing an impressive run, Maikel Melero (ESP) claimed a solid 2nd place in a pressure filled event proving why he was the 2014 overall World Champion. Melero broke away from the field as the only rider to perform the Flair in his run, and landing his own version of the California Roll with a side-saddle take-off for extra technical points.
However it wouldn’t be enough to defeat the final French rider of the night, David Rinaldo. David led the way from qualifications and into the final, where his night culminated in a late change of mind before the final run to switch his tricks around and add both of his body varials, the Volt and California Roll, inside the regular time limit and to finish with a Double Grab Indy Flip for the Double Up. A brave decision, needing to maintain concentration through the run with an incredible depth of tricks and it was enough to impress the judges to secure David’s second FIM FMX World Championships event in a row.
NIGHT of the JUMPs/FIM Freestyle MX World Championship
Tours, 28th March 2015 – Round 5
Results NIGHT of the JUMPs – Final
1. David Rinaldo FRA FFM Yamaha 417 Points
2. Maikel Melero ESP RFME Yamaha 404 Points
3. Taka Higashino JAP Yamaha 404 Points
4. Rob Adelberg AUS AMA Yamaha 395 Points
5. Remi Bizouard FRA FFM Kawasaki 392 Points
6. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Yamaha 333 Points
Results Qualification
1. David Rinaldo FRA FFM Yamaha 369 Points
2. Taka Higashino JAP Yamaha 360 Points
3. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Yamaha 356 Points
4. Rob Adelberg AUS AMA Yamaha 341 Points
5. Maikel Melero ESP RFME Yamaha 338 Points
6. Remi Bizouard FRA FFM Kawasaki 331 Points
7. Hannes Ackermann GER DMSB KTM 331 Points
8. Jose Miralles ESP RFME KTM 289 Points
9. Brice Izzo FRA FFM Yamaha 288 Points
10. James Carter USA MA Honda 283 Points
11. Nicolas Texier FRA FFM Yamaha 213 Points
Lifeproof Best Whip Contest
1. Taka Higashino JAP Yamaha
2. Nicolas Texier FRA FFM Yamaha
Maxxis Highest-Air
1. Jose Miralles ESP RFME KTM 10,00 Meter
2. Massimo Bianconcini ITA PZM KTM 9,50 Meter
3. Maikel Melero ESP RFME KTM 6,50 Meter
FIM Freestyle MX World Championship
Ranking (after 5th contest)
1. Maikel Melero ESP RFME Yamaha 78 Points
2. David Rinaldo FRA FFM Yamaha 76 Points
3. Rob Adelberg AUS AMA Yamaha 66 Points
4. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Yamaha 56 Points
5. Remi Bizouard FRA FFM Kawasaki 42 Points
6. Brice Izzo FRA FFM Yamaha 38 Points
7. Jose Miralles ESP RFME KTM 34 Points
8. Luc Ackermann GER DMSB Husqvarna 33 Points
9. Hannes Ackermann GER DMSB KTM 30 Points
10. James Carter USA AMA Honda 28 Points
11. Petr Pilat CZE ACCR KTM 24 Points
12. Filip Podmol CZE ACCR Yamaha 23 Points
13. Taka Higashino JAP Yamaha 16 Points
14. Kai Haase GER DMSB Suzuki 12 Points
15. Marcin Lukaszczyk POL PZM Yamaha 11 Points