Freestyle: Red Bull Empire of Dirt at Alexandra Palace this weekend. World's best BMX riders push their sport to the next level at iconic London landmark
The RedBull Empire Of Dirt kicked off with qualifiers today at the garden of Alexandra’s Palace in London. The place filled up quickly with BMX fans, 10.000 of them. The course winds down the hill slowly and takes the riders near a minute to complete. The mobile big screens on site keep everyone informed on what’s happening on the curved wall, the mini mega ramp, the start-off kicker into the donut turn or the last three sets at the bottom of the hill. It’s tough to get used to such a unique course in just a few days as it’s one of a kind.
The reactions of the riders have been amazing. They’re stoked to be part of the event and with all the fans cheering them on, it pushes them to the next lever. 16 riders make it to the finals and as always it was tough on the judges to get a score down. Ben Wallace (UK) sure was on fire and blasted everything a few feet higher than the rest. Being a park and dirt rider sure helps on this course as you need both skills to make it through. “Good old” Ryan Nyquist 360-d his way to the bottom in both directions and did a double barspin over the “spine”, an obstacle that
Pro Park qualification results. FISE 2012.1. BANASIEWICZ Brett 17 ans South Bend In 91.67 pts Q
2. DHERS Daniel 27 ans Caracas 91.00 pts Qualified
3. SANDOVAL Daniel 17 ans Chateauneuf 90.67 pts Q
- WEBB Mark 27 ans Fareham 90.67 pts Qualified
5. MEYN Todd 20 ans Perth 88.67 pts Qualified
6. PEYTAVIT Jean-Baptiste 25 ans Nice 88.00 pts Q
7. CASEY Pat 18 ans Placentia, Ca 87.33 pts Qualified
- WATTS Jack 15 ans Portsmouth 87.33 pts Qualified
FISE 2012 Pro Dirt results:1. BANASIEWICZ Brett 17 ans South Bend In 95.83 pts
2. CASEY Pat 18 ans Placentia, Ca 91.67 pts
3. SALAZAR Victor 19 ans Fountain Valley 88.50 pts
4. SALYERS Glenn 24 ans South Bend 87.67 pts
5. KLINGER Seth 24 ans Winfield 85.67 pts
6. MASSARDIER Vincent 27 ans Serignan 81.83 pts
7. PEYTAVIT Jean-Baptiste 25 ans Nice 80.83 pts
8. MEYN Todd 20 ans Perth 79.67 pts
9. WEDEMEIJER Daniel 22 ans Amsterdam 77.50 pts
10. TAYLOR Ryan 19 ans . 73.83 pts
11. GLEW Thomas 22 ans Sydney 72.17 pts
12. MUSSO Tristan 25 ans Villars 66.83 pts
Qualifying results Pro DIRT. Top 13 to the finals.1. BANASIEWICZ Brett 17 ans South Bend In 91.00 pts Qualified
2. CASEY Pat 18 ans Placentia, Ca 88.50 pts Qualified
3. PERAZA Kevin 17 ans Tucson, Arizona 88.33 pts Qualified
4. PEYTAVIT Jean-Baptiste 25 ans Nice 87.50 pts Qualified
5. MUSSO Tristan 25 ans Villars 83.00 pts Qualified
6. SALYERS Glenn 24 ans South Bend 77.67 pts Qualified
7. KLINGER Seth 24 ans Winfield 75.17 pts Qualified
8. SALAZAR Victor 19 ans Fountain Valley 73.83 pts Qualified
9. GLEW Thomas 22 ans Sydney 73.00 pts Qualified
10. MASSARDIER Vincent 27 ans Serignan 72.33 pts Qualified
EOD 2 More well needed practice on Friday. It’s good to give the course some time. Riding something like this ain’t easy because it’s different, and big at the same time. One mess up and you’ll be scraping some skin off on the grippy surface at best. The over and under wallride of Lima Eltham and Matt Priest for instance went wrong which has Lima sidelined with a hurt wrist at least till tomorrow. Matt dove straight into the ground but is up and about and able to continue. The riders have many hours of practice while the working crew makes sure that everything is in place for the big weekend. Logo’s have been added,
