Mach one, dubbed as the dopest club of Nurnberg. At first, a name without any meaning, just like the city of Nurnberg. Never heard of it. Soon, it became clear that this gig was deep down south in Germany. After a high-speed drive down from Amsterdam, we got to the club and seemed like we stepped right into a spaceship. 
Or even better: the place looked like a futuristic version of the Milk bar, well known from the Kubrick flick A Clockwork Orange. Round shapes everywhere, going to the toilet was like stepping right into a maze and the DJ booth was shaped like an UFO. A good setting for a flatland contest! In the contest itself, only German flatland pro’s competed. In the preceding qualifications, the best German riders were selected. The cream of the crop of German flatland BMX was present in the Mach One club! Especially for this leg of the Battle in da Club, organizer Flo Sailor introduced a ‘tag team battle mode’. It sounds like an extra button on your PS2 game console, but it is not. In teams of two, the riders went head to head on the battle floor.
The riders teamed up themselves, which obviously created some interesting teams. For example, outsiders for a good score were young guns Waldemar Fatkin and Lasse Sutnig, and on the other hand, established names such as Matti Rose and Frank Lucas, who have been hitting the contest scene for years now, teamed up. 
While the tag team battles progressed and the finals were almost in sight, the audience, who had gathered around the battle floor, started to choose their favourites. Highlight of the contest was without a doubt the battle between the two best friends Chris Bohm and Dan Hennig from Bitterfeld, East Germany, and the experienced dup Matti Rose and Frank Lucas. The amount of energy Chris Bohm showed, seemingly on the verge of a spastic attack, the long, solid combos of Dan Hennig and the way they both played with the audience finally tipped the scales in their favour. This resulted in a final battle between the two friends, which eventually turned into a friendly one-two by the boys from Bitterfeld. Chris threw in a little strip action to convince the audience, but in the end, the
audience decided democratically to exclaim them both as winners. Next stop of the Battle in da Club tour: the Sven Vaths Cocoonclub in Frankfurt!
Story: Hoite Polkamp
Photos: Matt Pingel
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.