Freestyle: September 2005: Ben Wallace wins IFMA Spine Contest

Ben Wallace wins penultimate round of the Braun cruZer Tour Spine at IFMA Bike Challenge in Cologne.

Cologne / Düsseldorf, September 19th 2005 - The penultimate round of the Braun cruZer Tour Spine took place at the IFMA Bike Challenge at the IFMA bike trade show in Köln on the 17th and 18th of September with about 30,000 spectators.
As well as the Pro tour round, an Amateur event was held to give the local young talent a chance to shine….

In AM qualifying Axel Reichertz stoked all with what may have been his first public appearance since a photo sequence in a 1990 issue of Invert, and despite being too yellow or old to jump the spine he schooled everyone in what riding a mini with a front brake was all about. Unfortunately Alex chose not to show up for the final on Sunday, which allowed Axel Teschner to sneak in and grab first place with a solid run of tech tricks. He beat pre-final favourites Leroy Windmann and Felix Kirch who both experienced slight technical malfunctions mid-run, whilst Eric Schmuck nailed a flair to grab third place.

Amateur results
1 Axel Teschner
2 Leroy Windmann
3 Eric Schmuck
4 Felix Kirch
5 Johannes Koch
6 Patrick Windeck
7 David Theisen
8 Anton Wilms
9 Steve Pleilschiffer

Onto the Pros. Series leader Mark Webb pulled out every trick in his book, nailing 540 disasters, tailwhip to manuals and icepicks, both on the sub, flairs and much more to qualify in first.
In the 8 man finals on Sunday the IFMA Bike Challenge crowd were treated to a tech fest, an air fest, and a slam fest, mostly within the space of every rider’s run. Pete Marselle 540 tyre tapped the sub to ice pick run, then blitzed the rest of his run attempting 900s.. Mark König’s pulled some tech frontwheel moves, then pulled something in himself.. Cameron Hardy was as smooth as the creamy milk on his cornflakes for sixth, whilst Barry Kohne appeared at the last minute to pull vert-ramp size whip airs and close flip to manual attempts.
The top four were tight, and someone had to be disappointed to miss out on the top three. This fell to Alex Etzold, who was inched out into third by Craig Stevens. Alex pulled some huge airs, smooth grind to over tricks on the spine, and a gnarly disaster on the sub, whilst Craig introduced the ramp to opposite spine 360s, burly sub-box 5050 grinds, a few harsh 360 whip slams over the spine and more.
Top two was also a close call. Mark Webb didn’t want to lose, but his whip to manual on the sub didn’t want to be pulled. After trying this a few times he moved onto truckdriver the spine, back to back flair, and also nailed every whip to tyre tap variation possible. However, Ben Wallace was not to be beaten as he rolled in and packed both his 90 second runs with solid tech tricks, massive airs and a killer downside whip at height to 540 to flair combo.

Pro Results
1 Ben Wallace
2 Mark Webb
3 Craig Stevens
4 Alex Etzold
5 Barry Kohne
6 Cameron Hardy
7 Mark König
8 Pete Marselle

Mark Webb is still leading the Braun cruZer Tour Spine Ranking.

The final round of the Braun cruZer Tour Spine is in London, as part of the “Weekend at Dave’sâ€? event, September 24th and 25th.
The overall "Braun cruZer Tour Spine Champion" will receive a brand new Suzuki Jimny 4x4. The rider who throws down the "Braun cruZer Tour Best Trick" will receive a sponsorship deal with Lazer helmets.

The final round of the Braun cruZer Tour Flatland will be held at the Braun Flatground in Amsterdam, from September 23rd to 25th.
The overall Champion of the Braun cruZer Tour Flatland wins a brand new Suzuki bandit motorbike.

http://www.cruzertour.com