World capital of motorsport
Jerez became the world capital of motorsport, hosting the FIM World Cup competitions in Enduro, Superbike and MotoGP. Tonight, it was time for the NIGHT of the JUMPS FIM Freestyle MX World Championship to arrive in Southern Spain. It is the first time a World Championship has been hosted inside a bull-fighting ring, the Plaza de Toros, and with 20,000 cheering fans, they were treated to an exciting 8th round of competition on Saturday.
Ten of the best NOTJ athletes came together to compete in the first outdoor contest of the season, including the local Spanish heros, Dany Torres, Jose Miralles and Marc Pinyol. However, the reigning World Champion, Maikel Melero was unable to start after suffering a hard fall in training, requiring treatment in hospital.
In the final, the Body Varial specialists would prevail. Third place went to Libor Podmol (CZE) who featured a huge run including all of his tricks including his Volt body varial, the technical SuperCan Backflip and a transfer whip out of the Quarter Pipe. It left only the two Frenchmen to try take the win, Remi Bizouard and David Rinaldo. Remi attacked the course to take down Podmol and with a huge Ruler Flip, Cliffhanger Flip and Hart Attack Indy Flip, Remi wowed the Spanish crowd. After busting out the Volt body varial in the Double Up, it looked as though Remi would sure be the winner of the day.
But Rinaldo knew how to counter, displaying a California Roll to No Hander on the first jump, Rinaldo unleashed a stylish run including impressive whipped out tricks including his Mase-Twist to Hart Attack combo and then transferring from the Super Kicker to the 21 metre landing ramp, Rinaldo whipped out a big Indy on the transfer. David then finished with the Double Hart Attack Flip on the Double Up and finish the night with 411 points, 7 points ahead of his compatriot, Bizouard.
With his triumph in Andalucia, Rinaldo takes the lead in overall World Championship standings, forcing Maikel Melero back to second place. Fortunately, Melero suffered only a broken collarbone from his horror crash and we hope that he will return very soon to NIGHT of the JUMPs.
Credit: NIGHT of the JUMPs
