Steezin' them whips at the Helm Trails. ONK 2013 was a blast. By BdJ

May 07, 2013

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 5530 times

The Open Dutch BMX Dirt championships took place in Helmond yesterday. It wasn't the usual 4 jumps in a straight row that was offered to the riders. The locals had made a challenging course for the participating riders and dirt fans. Making it through the rollercoaster line was a challenge for most, but there were other lines to take in case you didn't feel comfy on the big line and wanted to do your tricks and whips somewhere else. The sun was out all day, the music was blasting, people were riding which resulted in happy faces.

After a few hours of Open practice the contest started off with the -13 class. The kids need to have a platform to show that they're the future of BMX and plenty of them showed up in Helmond. It's funny to see the kids getting really anxious before they have to do their runs. Each rider had two runs to qualify, and three runs if they made the final (with the best two scores forming the overall score). At the end of the day it was Maarsenbroek local Jocki de Groot who grabbed the title with big no-footed one-handers over the table line and a barspin in his last run. He's 9 years old. 12 years old Jordy Burhenne and Jarno Henraat are locals at the Helm Trails and finished in second and third respectively. "ET-s", one-handers, whips and one-hander one-footers

were thrown by these guys who had built this table line at the Helm Trails.

The 13+ class was open to the other BMX riders. Some chose the "Middle line", one rider chose the table line and the rest picked the Rollercoaster which had many hips and lots of turns. Making it to the end wasn't easy and every "full pull" was celebrated. Paul Thoelen from Germany qualified for the finals and finished 8th. I believe he crashed on two of his three runs but walked away and kept riding afterwards. Tom Selbeck and Daniel Wedemeijer both scored 273 points for a tied 6th place. Dennis Keunen had spent some time digging at the Helm Trails and now finally got to ride it. He managed to get a 5th place for doing supermans, back cans, no-footed cancans, tables and even a flip over the hip. Just missing out on the podium was Sven Grieten from Belgium. The Deluxe rider was beat at the end of the day because he rode so much. In fact, he has already made plans to come back next weekend to ride the trails some more.

Sven got 280 points from the judges, two points less than third place winner Dimitris Araouzos from Asten Heusden. The hard working local was surprised to make the podium before he mainly does whips. But he does them well, made three "Full Pulls" and threw in a few more tricks along the way. He makes riding trails look good. 285 points went to Desmond Tessemaker, who did a transfer into the rollercoaster line that no one had done before and also took a different option at the end of the rollercoaster line where he blasted T-bogs and no-handers. Also Desmond had a great day riding and went home with a silver handlebar trophy.

The Open Dutch BMX DIRT champ of 2013 title belongs to Kenneth Tancre from Belgium. It's a bit of a drive for Kenneth and his dad to get to Helmond, but they like to come back again and again. Although winning isn't their main focus when they're coming to these events, it makes the 3 hour trip back home a lot more pleasant. Check the videos what tricks Kenneth did, he's the guy in the green Vans tanktop.

As a bit of a bonus, the Best Moto Whip session took place. With Trailboss' Steez That Whip

playing out of the Red Bull Hummer speakers, a twenty minute Whip session took place on all lines. No tricks counted, only whips. It was more like a live video clip taking place at the Helm Trails as 50 riders did whip trains for 20 minutes. A new fresh Whip Contest judging team declared a winner in Dimitris Araouzos and he'll get to hang out with Trailboss himself when the occasion arises. For now the Moto Whip Trophy will have to do. It was a nice way to end the day. Only 2 band-aids were needed, time to leave it right there.

These events aren't possible without the support of the sponsors, media, volunteers and the riders who show up. Thanks to all for showing up and helping out in your own way. Together we can do this. Let's keep BMX fun.

BdJ

Results ONK 2013:

-13 Class:
1) Jocki de Groot
2) Jordy Burnhenne
3) Jarno Henraat
4) Noah van Stokkum
5) Rowen Driessen
6) Philip de Jong
6) Sylvano Verhoeven
8) Titamba Jansen

13+ Class:
1) Kenneth Tancre
2) Desmond Tessemaker
3) Dimitris Araouzos
4) Sven Grieten
5) Dennis Keunen
6) Daniel Wedemeijer
6) Tom Selbeck
8) Paul Thoelen