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