Berlin, 8th March 2013: “Welcome to Berlin” was emblazoned all over the o2 World arena as fans arrived for the first part of a NIGHT of the JUMPs Grand Prix double bill. Eleven riders from seven different countries were lining up for Round 2 of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship, including the German duo of Hannes Ackermann and Kai Haase. Berlin-born Haase was cheered on enthusiastically by his home crowd but went out at the qualifying stage in an anonymous tenth place. Having almost recovered from a debilitating back injury, Hannes Ackermann was on far better form than in the world championship opener at Kaunas but narrowly missed out on the final in P7.

Making his second guest appearance of the 2013 NIGHT of the JUMPs tour, Gabriel Villegas pulled out some decent tricks to finish eighth. American star Rich Kearns was evidently suffering from jetlag and disappointed the fans by failing to perform a single backflip. So it was all the more surprising when he triumphed in the ROCKWELL Time Best Whip.

High-jump specialist Massimo Bianconcini also went out at the qualifying stage. Winner of the preliminary round was David Rinaldo who put in a great run to come through just ahead of Petr Pilat. Remi Bizouard’s minor slip-up pushed him down to third place, while Libor Podmol will have been relieved to sneak into the finals in P5 after a dead sailor flip. Also qualifying in the Top Six were Jose Miralles and Brice Izzo.

The Best Trick Contest pitted two mountain bikers against two FMX riders. Pavel Alekhin performed a front flip which was bested by a tandem backflip from Petr Pilat. The fans could, perhaps, be forgiven for saving the loudest applause of the night for Australia’s First Lady of FMX, Emma McFerran, who pulled off a flawless backflip over the kicker ramp. It was the first time in NIGHT of the JUMPs history that a female rider had performed this trick.

Despite the mathematical impossibility, the six riders in the final were all looking to improve on their qualifying positions. A gamble that did not pay off for Brice Izzo and Jose Miralles who both flopped big time with dead sailors. Petr Pilat also committed minor errors in his final run, which dropped him down to fourth. Meanwhile, Libor Podmol staged an impressive fight-back, advancing from fifth to the top podium rung. This was due in no small measure to his maiden 360; some spectators thought he had overshot his double-up time, but the judges were satisfied that it was just inside.

Remi Bizouard delved deep into his repertoire of tricks, pulling out a Ruler and a Hart Attack Flip. But instead of a 360, he could ‘only’ manage a Whip Flip; Bizouard was visibly gutted to finish the event in a relatively lowly third position. David Rinaldo once again showed off some truly extreme jumps such as his new Heelclicker to Tsunami combo. In the double-up, he obviously hoped to pull off a Doublegrab Flip, but this petered out into a run-of-the-mill Superman Seatgrab Flip. But it was still enough for the runner-up spot, one point behind Podmol but one point ahead of Bizouard – the first time he has ever managed to out-perform his fellow Frenchman.

Friday’s victory saw Podmol take the lead in the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship. On the same number of points but still technically second is Remi Bizouard. Moving up to third place in the standings is David Rinaldo. But tomorrow is another day... That’s when the third round of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship will be contested at o2 World in Berlin. There are still a few tickets left for those fans who don’t like to plan too far ahead.

Berlin, 9th March 2013: On Saturday, o2 World in Berlin hosted the second half of a thrilling NIGHT of the JUMPS double bill. Over two nights, fans were treated to a freestyle motocross spectacular at the highest level. The elite eleven contesting the German FMX Grand Prix pulled out all the tricks in their repertoire to keep the pulse rate up for three whole hours in a sold-out o2 World arena.

The German duo of Kai Haase and Hannes Ackermann were clearly out to make a big impression, and while Haase once again finished in the Top Ten (just), Hannes Ackermann put in a perfect qualifying run to book fourth place in the final – an interim result that was all the more impressive considering Gabriel Villegas (Chile), Massimo Bianconcini (Italy) and Rich Kearns (USA) failed to make the cut. The American superstar, who arrived with a big reputation from the X-Games, was the big disappointment of the weekend, attempting not even a single upside-down trick and being marked down accordingly on both days – P11 out of eleven. Jose ‘El Loco’ Miralles crashed into the barrier coming out of a Sidesaddle Lander, which cost him so much time that he failed to progress past the preliminary round.

David Rinaldo, Libor Podmol, Petr Pilat and Brice Izzo made it through to the final for the second day in succession. Remi ‘Le Roi’ Bizouard was visibly anxious to eradicate the embarrassment of Friday and put in a flawless run to top the qualifying board.

Rich Keans at least redeemed himself in the ROCKWELL Time Best Whip, picking up the trophy for the second day running. The Maxxis Highest Air turned into a three-way battle between Massimo Bianconcini, Luc Ackermann and Jose Miralles, with the Italian eventually prevailing.

The 10,000 crowd were thoroughly entertained by the half-time acts from Australia’s Emma McFerran, who performed her second NOTJ backflip, and from Petr Pilat, who repeated his tandem backflip from the night before. Suitably fired up, the fans then roared on Hannes Ackermann. Inspired by the support of the partisan crowd, he put in a flawless final run that included Cliffhanger and Hart Attack Flip. Even so, his performance was judged to be marginally inferior to that of Brice Izzo and Petr Pilat, which consequently pushed him down into sixth.

With the non-podium places decided, the Top Three then waded into action for maximum points. Podmol gambled on his version of the 360 in the double-up, but it fell short of perfect, and so he finished third. Bizouard pulled out his own 360 right at the start of his run, following up with Cliffhanger Flip, Hart Attack Flip and Ruler Flip. But despite his best efforts, he was unable to dislodge his fellow Frenchman from the hot seat. Rinaldo’s impressive sequence of triple combos was enough to convince the judges that he had earned his maiden Grand Prix victory.

Remi Bizouard will nonetheless have been delighted to reclaim the lead in the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship. Libor Podmol drops back to second, while today’s winner Rinaldo consolidates his third position. Hannes Ackermann is the best-placed German in seventh. The riders now have a two-week break in which to recharge their batteries and quite possibly practise some new tricks. The fourth round of the World Championship takes place on 23rd March at Danzig (Poland) in the context of NIGHT of the JUMPs.