With the jump box in front of the quarterpipe it was tough to get the needed speed to get high. Jumping the box backwards with a few pedal strokes added launched Irek, Tom, Paul, and Kenneth into the 2,60meter range. The technique to go higher was to go around the box jump and line up to the quarterpipe to shoot for the moon. Jake Leiva (USA), Alex Nikulin (RUS) and Daniel Wedemeijer (NED) changed top three positions multiple times in the 20-minute session. The lowest point of the bike was used to define the highest point and in the end it was Alex Nikulin who blasted a hugh flattie in the 3,50 meter range followed by Daniel Wedemeijer in second and Jake Leiva in third. The three of them had collected a check before their finals even began!
The sun turned up just in time for the Pro BMX Park finals. The crowd gathered around the elevated park to see the 12 finalists go at it. Riders from 9 different countries made it to the final of the 2nd stop of the World Series making this an international spectacle. Each rider had two runs with both runs counting towards their final score. On top of that each pro had the opportunity to go for a best trick after every group of three had finished their runs. The final trick did not count towards the score of the contest so if a rider wasn't feeling it, they could let go the opportunity to try a certain line, a new trick, or push BMX to the next level. Two attempts for each rider were given in the Best trick contest but the freedom was there to continue a bit more for personal satisfaction or to please the big crowd. It's these situations where the best riding comes out of the riders. 
They're warmed up, the buddies are on the ramps for advice if needed and the cameras are pointed in the right direction to capture the moment. In Chengdu Logan Martin (AUS) walked away with the extra check by doing a perfectly executed barspin-backflip-to-tailwhip on the Honor box.
The vibe on the deck was good when the green light was given to start the Pro Park finals in Chengdu. Holland's Tom van den Bogaard was up first and started ripping straight from the start. 
His second run included another perfectly pulled 360 triple downside whip on the box. Kostya Andreev (RUS) turned it up a notch right away with all his tech moves and added barspins to his tricks a split second before landing in the ramps. Paul Thoelen (GER) missed most of Friday's practice because of a flat tire (nobody had a pump) but by the time the final came around, the 16 years old German was definitely used to the FISE set-up. Paul does his moves at height. All of them. It makes his indian-seatgrabs and barrel rolls sick to watch. Alex Nikulin started his runs with a flair drop-in on the 10 ft 
quarter and continued to stay rad. The Russian isn't afraid to go upside down in all variations and on every ramp on the course. Belgium's Kenneth Tancré was posessed when it was his turn to show what he's got. 720 barspins and 720 tailwhips were on the program as well as big flips over the titties. A few too many crashes hurt his final score but making the final in this strong field is something to be proud of to start with. Mike Varga (CAN) is one rad rider. He's got it all. The style, the tech moves, the big tricks, creativity and a smile on his face at all times. Task for the Canadian was to come out of the contest unscatched as he's finishing up his edit back home and has a couple more bangers to complete. That didn't show in his riding however. He decided to do a trick on the box that he hadn't done in three years; the cashroll. Perfectly executed at that. The dude can do it all. Fellow Canadian Drew Bezanson was loving it in Chengdu. His second run was full of radditude and smiles and if you are a Bezanson fan it will not surprise you that he found original lines that nobody else did. Daniel Wedemeijer (NED) is also one of those riders that needs to have extra obstacles on the course to shine. He wasn't feelin
g the way the ramps were set up in China too much but pleased the crowd with moves that resulted in an 8th place finish which will help his overall score in the 2015 FISE World Series. Jake Leiva was ripping on the FISE course. It was nice to see him pull all his tricks including the truckdriver drop-in from the top of the bowl corner to start off his run. He's got those 540 nose wheelies on the box platform on lock as well and alley-oop 270 transferred into the spin with an added barspin. Jake made the podium and was hella stoked with third place. Daniel Sandoval (USA) whipped his way around the park set-up and layed it down to finish fourth. If only had had pulled that invert again on the quarter just like he did in the semi-final.....(haha). A few too many little mistakes will cost you a few too many points in this pro class, the competition is tight! The battle between first and second place was between Venezue
la's Daniel Dhers and Aussie Logan Martin. Both riders deserved to win but that's not how it goes in BMX. With different game plans last year's FISE World Series overall winner Dhers and Martin gave to crowd an unbelievable demonstration of what BMX Park riding at the top level is all about. Martin dropped in and did a triple tailwhip into the bank out of the spine. Dhers didn't hold back and did an alley-oop 270 double tailwhip on the same part of the course. Although the skill level of tricks of Martin might be a bit higher, Dhers pulled off runs that were flawless, all over the place and included more tricks than anyone had shown all day in their single runs.
Round two is in the books. The final round of the FISE World Series will take place on Langkawi Island in December. A new champion will be crowned in Malaysia. Who will it be? We'll have to wait and see.
BdJ
Results BMX PRO:
1 Daniel DHERS 30 ans Caracas 92.66 pts
2 Logan MARTIN 21 ans Brisbane 91.66 pts
3 Jake LEIVA 21 ans Californie 88.00 pts
4 Drew BEZANSON 26 ans Truro, Nova Scotia 86.66 pts
5 Daniel SANDOVAL 21 ans Californie 86.33 pts
6 Konstantin ANDREEV 22 ans Saint-Petersburg 83.00 pts
7 Paul THOELEN 80.33 pts
8 Daniel WEDEMEIJER 25 ans Helmond 80.00 pts
9 Mike VARGA 18 ans Toronto 78.00 pts
10 Alex NIKULIN 23 ans Krasnodar 77.66 pts
11 Tom VAN DEN BOGAARD 19 ans Ale Blie 74.00 pts
12 Kenneth TANCRE 20 ans ieper 72.00 pts
High air results:
1. Alex Nikulin
2. Daniel Wedemeijer
3. Jake Leiva
Best Trick winner:
Logan Martin (barspin backflip to tailwhip)
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.