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The Freestyle Motocross World Championship conquers the Far East


“Nǐ hǎo NIGHT of the JUMPS” will be heard many times on the 15th and 16th September when the eighth and ninth rounds of this year’s FIM Freestyle MX World Championship take place at the International Sports Arena in Guangzhou. The event marks the end of the three-month summer break for the world’s largest FMX sports series and China’s first appearance as a venue on the freestyle motocross map. A big showdown with many new experiences for riders and the entire international FMX scene is on the cards at this premiere in the Far East.

The two Chinese grands prix will kick off the second half of the 2012 freestyle motocross world championship and should provide a pointer for the rest of the season. The extreme motocrossers have been working hard during the long break on new tricks and combos. They will be aiming to impress fans and judges to secure maximum points in the overall standings.

The field boasts no less than six NIGHT of the JUMPS winners in total. Two-time World Champion Remi Bizouard from France in particular will be going all out to extend his lead in the championship standings by executing 360s, Hart Attack, Ruler and Cliffhanger Flips. His main rivals in the former Kanton are likely to be fellow Frenchman Brice Izzo, Libor Podmol (CZE) and the Australian, Josh Sheehan. In the first half of the season, Izzo just kept getting better and out-tricked plenty of riders on his way to third place in the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship. Sheehan celebrates his NIGHT of the JUMPS comeback after a long spell out of action due to injury. Will the record holder (six NIGHT of the JUMPS consecutive wins) once again wheel out his Heelclicker 360s? We’ll have to wait and see!

Podmol, Remi Bizouard’s toughest opponent in the world title fight will also be lining up at the start. The 2010 world champion won the last two World Championship competitions in Switzerland and Russia, moving up into second place overall. He will be firing on all cylinders as he mounts an attack on Bizouard.

Javier Villegas is also back. The 2011 FIM Freestyle MX World Champion suffered a bad fall in Italy but then went on to win in Berlin. However, he is only in seventh place and will risk everything to get back up front where he belongs.

Jose Miralles is the sixth member of our little group of NIGHT of the JUMPS winners. El Loco has also been out of contention nursing an injury, but the birth of a son and heir might spur him on to push really hard in China.

Hannes Ackermann is another rider ‘on fire’. The motocrosser from Germany’s east has progressed through to the jump-offs in three World Championship finals already during 2012 and is currently placed fifth overall; he has worked hard to expand his repertoire of tricks over the summer. Bianconcini follows him in sixth position. The X Games high jump participant will be out to demonstrate in Maxxis Highest Air that he’s not an old codger yet.

Maikel Melero, the latest FMX Torerro to come out of Spain will be back on the start line at the NIGHT of the JUMPS track. After securing a second place at the World Championship opener in Turin, he had a really bad smash in Berlin whilst performing a Seatgrab Flip, injuring his hand. He was on excellent form way back in July 2012 at the Red Bull X-Fighters in Madrid and maybe he will show off a Double Seatgrab Flip in China and end up on the podium, which is exactly what David Rinaldo, the third Frenchman in the gang of six would also like to do. Currently fourth in the World Championship, he has been practising the Double Seatgrab intensively after a long break and hopes it will see him through to third place.

The two Red Bull riders Aleksey Koleshnikov (RUS) and Petr Pilat (CZE) complete the line-up. Czech Flip Machine Pilat deserves an especial mention: he had already marked himself out as a likely Top-3 finisher in this year’s World Championship but suffered major injury whilst training in the U.S. He will be contesting his first World Championship competition of 2012 in China and will be out to make a big impression to celebrate his return.

NIGHT of the JUMPs Guangzhou 2012
FIM Freestyle MX World Championship Round 8+9
15th/16th September 2012
Guangzhou / China
International Sports Arena Guangzhou

Riders:
Remi Bizouard (FRA)
Libor Podmol (CZE)
Brice Izzo (FRA)
David Rinaldo (FRA)
Hannes Ackermann (GER)
Massimo Bianconcini (ITA)
Javier Villegas (CHL)
Maikel Melero (ESP)
Jose Miralles (ESP)
Josh Sheehan (AUS)
Petr Pilat (CZE)
Aleksey Koleshnikov (RUS)

FIM Freestyle MX World Championships
Ranking (after 7 contests)
1. Remi Bizouard/FRA/RFME/Honda/132 Punkte
2. Libor Podmol/CZE/ACCR/Yamaha/122 Punkte
3. Brice Izzo/FRA/FFM/Yamaha/102 Punkte
4. David Rinaldo/FRA/FFM/Yamaha/90 Punkte
5. Hannes Ackermann/GER/DMSB/KTM/63 Punkte
6. Massimo Bianconcini/ITA/PZM/KTM/59 Punkte
7. Javier Villegas/CHL/FMC/Yamaha/47 Punkte
8. Maikel Melero/ESP/RFME/KTM/44 Punkte
9. Lukas Weis/GER/DMSB/Suzuki/38 Punkte
10. Ivan Zucconi/ITA/PZM/KTM/37 Punkte
11. Clinton Moore/AUS/MA/Yamaha/34 Punkte
12. Martin Koren/CZE/ACCR/KTM/21 Punkte
13. Gabriel Villegas/CHL/FMC/KTM/15 Punkte
14. Jose Miralles/ESP/RFME/KTM/14 Punkte
15. Kai Haase/GER/DMSB/Suzuki/12 Punkte

Communication - www.NIGHToftheJUMPs.com -